Monitoring land cover dynamics in the Aral Sea region by remote sensing

The Aral Sea ecological crisis resulted from the USSR government decision in 1960s to deploy agricultural project for cotton production in Central Asia. Consequently water flow in the Aral Sea decreased drastically due to the regulation of Amydarya and Syrdarya Rivers for irrigation purposes from 55-60 km(3) in 1950s to 43 km(3) in 1970s, 4 km(3) in 1980s and 9-10 km(3) in 2000s. Expert land cover classification approach gives the opportunity to use the unlimited variable for classification purposes. The band algebra (band5/band4 and Band4/Band3) and remote sensing indices (Normalized differential Salinity Index (NDSI), Salt Pan Index (SPI), Salt Index (SI), Normalized difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Albedo, Crust Index) utilized for the land cover classification has shown satisfactory result with classification overall accuracy 86.9 % and kappa coefficient 0.85. Developed research algorithm and obtained results can support monitoring system, contingency planning development, and improvement of natural resources rational management.