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Geospatial Analysis of the 2019-20 Desert Locust damage in northern India using MODIS and VIIRS Satellite Data
   

Geospatial Analysis of the 2019-20 Desert Locust damage in northern India using MODIS and VIIRS Satellite Data

BR Parida, S Kumar, SK Swain, CS Dwivedi, AC Pandey N Kumar
Natural Hazards Research, Vol.6(1), pp.68-80
6
2026
: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nhres.2025.05.002
:
https://hdl.handle.net/10863/52713
Worldwide, locust outbreaks frequently impact large areas of land and millions of people. Remote sensing has emerged as one of the most essential data sources for effectively identifying and assessing damaged crops and its yields. This study assesses crop damage caused by the 2019–20 upsurge of the desert locust in several Indian states using multisource satellite data (MODIS, VIIRS, and Sentinel-2). The cropland covers approximately 74% of the study area, with Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh having more than 89% of their land dedicated to agriculture. During the locust upsurge from May to July 2020, about 48,669 km2 of crop area (4.6%) was damaged in India. Maharashtra was the hardest hit, with over 10% of its cropland affected. Madhya Pradesh saw 4–6.75% of damage, while Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat each experienced around 3–5% crop loss. The analysis found that Leaf Area Index (LAI) data provided more accurate damage estimates than the Fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FPAR), which often included non-damaged areas. High-risk zones were identified in Eastern Maharashtra, Central Madhya Pradesh, and Central and Southern Uttar Pradesh leading to loss of Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) up to 100 g C/m2 and crop yields by 500 kg/ha. These identified areas need targeted locust control measures to protect crop losses, supporting food security and sustainability.

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Open Access
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nhres.2025.05.002
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