Using Satellite Imagery to Assess Impacts of Soil and Water Conservation Measures
Klaus Deininger Daniel Monchuk
Although efforts at soil and water conservation are routinely
viewed as instrumental in reducing vulnerability to climate
change, their impact has rarely been quantified. Combining
data on the timing and intensity of soil and water conservation
interventions in select Ethiopian watersheds from 2009
to 2016 with a pixel-level panel of vegetative cover and soil
moisture data derived from satellite imagery makes it possible to assess the biophysical impacts of such measures using
a difference-in-differences specification. The results point
toward significant effects overall that vary by season, and that
tree planting and other soil and water conservation activities
are more effective on degraded than cultivated land. The
results are consistent with before-after regressions for daily
sediment load and stream flows in a subset of micro-watersheds.
It thus appears that satellite imagery can improve the
design and near-real-time monitoring of sustainable land
management interventions for watersheds and landscape.
Event: Land Governance in an Interconnected World_Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty_2018
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