Geospatial analysis of the Khorezm oasis in terms of its vegetation cover and the impact of vegetation criteria on the desertification process

Desertification is one of the main environmental problems in arid and semi-arid regions such as the Khorezm oasis. Desertification directly affects soil fertility and the living standards of local residents. In this study, we studied the role of vegetation cover in the desertification process in the Khorezm oasis. We analyzed vegetation characteristics using Sentinel-2 satellite data. Based on these indicators, we developed a Vegetation Quality Index (VQI) to assess vegetation cover, drought tolerance, erosion protection, and drought risk across the study area. The results of our study showed that vegetation degradation is spatially unevenly distributed across the oasis. Approximately 16.07% of the buffer zone and 4.71% of the oasis were identified as areas with very high desertification risk in terms of vegetation cover density. The drought resilience analysis showed that 40.17% of the oasis is moderately vulnerable, indicating the need for targeted measures for effective land management. Areas with relatively high erosion risk accounted for 41% of our study area, while fire risk was limited, with 3.2% of the oasis area identified as high risk.