Assessment of Rangeland Degradation in Plateau State Using Multi-Source Remote Sensing

Plateau State's rangelands provide critical grazing resources for sedentary and transhumant livestock herders, but are increasingly degraded by overgrazing, agricultural encroachment, and climate variability. This study assesses rangeland degradation status in Plateau State using a multi-source remote sensing approach integrating Sentinel-2 optical imagery, Sentinel-1 SAR backscatter data, and MODIS time series products. Degradation indicators including fractional vegetation cover, bare soil exposure, and NDVI anomaly are computed and combined in a composite degradation index. The study distinguishes between drought-induced and grazing-induced degradation using the Rain Use Efficiency metric. Results identify approximately 340,000 hectares across the Shendam, Wase, and Mikang LGAs as moderately to severely degraded, driven primarily by sustained overgrazing and limited seasonal movement of herds. SAR backscatter data improves discrimination of degraded from intact rangeland in areas with sparse canopy cover where optical indices underperform. Keywords: rangeland degradation, remote sensing, Plateau State, overgrazing, Rain Use Efficiency