Deciphering climate-induced displacement in Somalia: A remote sensing perspective

comparing the matching seasonal aggregates LC. In addition, the change in the agricultural class was the only component of the drought LC Change, as drought should not directly destroy the settlement class as with flood. Fig 10 shows an example of the LC Change maps that were produced between the 2019 and 2018 Gu season showing the impact of a Drought in April 2019 around the Balcad region. Both Fig 10A and 10B depict the LC maps for April 2018 and 2019, respectively. Fig 10C displays the monthly drought map for April 2019. Taking into account the LC Change maps and drought maps, Fig 10D illustrates the impact of drought on agricultural fields. A significant portion of agricultural fields within drought regions (indicated in red) were either destroyed or damaged. Linking environmental factors and Internally Displaced People (IDPs) To start with, Fig 11 presents a map of displacements taking place within and between district levels. During drought events from 2016 to 2019, Doolow emerged as the most preferred desti- nation district for individuals displaced from their home districts. In total, nine migration movements were reported to Doolow, followed by six migration movements to Luuq. Con- versely, Qansax Dheere had the highest number of departures due to drought events within the same period. Similar displacement patterns are showcased in Fig 12B. Notably, flood- induced displacements predominantly occurred within districts, suggesting that flood events were less likely to prompt individuals to leave their districts.

A series of plots were generated for all districts within our AOI to visually demonstrate the impact of environmental threats such as drought and flood on internal displacement in Soma- lia. We visually compared the plots of the Qansax Dheere and Doolow districts. The Qansax Dheere district had the highest outgoing environment-related displaced people, while Doolow district, on the border with Ethiopia, had the highest incoming environment-related displaced people. ADI and loss of agricultural fields. In this study, agricultural fields (measured in hect- ares) are of significant interest because they provide food sources for humans and livestock and are the primary income source and means of survival in rural areas of Somalia. Fig 13 illustrates the impact of drought on variation of agricultural fields in the Qansax Dheere dis- trict from 2016 to 2019. The district’s percentage affected by three different drought levels is Fig 10. Land cover maps. a. Aggregated LC map in April 2018; b. Aggregated LC map in April 2019; c. ADI map of April 2019; d. LC Change map with the impact of drought on agricultural fields. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304202.g010 PLOS ONE Deciphering Climate-induced Displacement in Somalia: A Remote Sensing Perspective PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304202 August 9, 2024 17 / 27