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

for area selection involved considerations of population density, proximity to major rivers, and the degree of reported internal displacement attributable to environmental factors. Central and Southern Somalia were selected for this study, as these regions are not only densely popu- lated (Fig 2A) but are also bisected by the Shebelle and Juba rivers (Fig 2B). This geographic configuration provides conducive conditions for crop cultivation and forage production (Fig 2C). Furthermore, these regions have consistently confronted internal displacement due to extreme environmental events (Fig 2D). Fig 3 delineates the study area at the district level, with a total of 16 districts selected from the Central and Southern parts of Somalia, covering an area of 111,578 km2. Detailed descrip- tions of the selected districts are provided in Table 1. Data Our objective is to scrutinise the patterns of environmentally-induced internal displacement in Somalia by analysing the indicators we derived, aiming to discern any relationships with IDPs throughout the Area of Interest (AOI). We aim to understand the connection between extreme weather events, slow-onset climate change, and internal displacement in Somalia between 2016 and 2019. This study spans from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2019. We chose the start year 2016 due to the availability of data from the Sentinel-1 (the first satellite in the Copernicus Programme launched by the European Space Agency) and Sentinel-2, an Earth observation mission from the Copernicus Programme that systematically acquires opti-

cal imagery at high spatial resolution over land and coastal waters, which we used to generate flood and drought maps. Furthermore, migration data has been available since 2015. Previous studies that take a quantitative empirical approach to the climate-migration rela- tion can be divided into micro studies, which largely focus on individual and household migra- tion [26], and macro studies, where researchers examine environmentally induced migration at regional or national levels [9]. Regarding different hazard types, many studies focus on fac- tors associated with climate change, such as changes in precipitation and temperature levels and variability [12]. This paper represents one of the first attempts to analyse climate/environ- ment-induced displacement at the district level, employing environmental indicators derived from daily, weekly, and monthly remote sensing/satellite data. Fig 3. Study area consist of sixteen districts with 111,578 km^2 coverage throughout centre and South Somalia. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304202.g003 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 5 / 27