Land degradation in Central Asia: a review of papers from the Scopus database published in English for the period of 2000-2020

Abstract

Land degradation has a big influence for Central Asia. The territory of Central Asia is rarely discovered and it can be seen by the number of published papers in English. There is a high potential of applying remote sensing (RS) and geographical information systems (GIS) for the mapping and monitoring of degraded lands. In the present research we tried to collect all Scopus-based publications in English for 20 years using land degradation as a keyword. We analyzed the most popular journals, top authors, top-cited papers, top countries, and the role of remote sensing (RS) and geographic information systems (GIS) in the land degradation issues of Central Asia. RS and GIS technologies are good tools, but in Central Asia researchers have to spread them widely. Data-sharing systems and lack of international cooperation could bring more joint projects and publications on land degradation issues.