Darfur Genocide
 
For this assignment we analyzed the NDVI values of Darfur, Sudan to determine if the current conditions there could be stemmed from a drought or a desertification. We used remote sensing to analyze the near-infrared radiation reflected by photosynthesizing plants. In drought conditions plants are stressed and produce less chlorophyll through photosynthesis which reflects less near-infrared radiation. The lower the amount of radiation reflected results in a lower NDVI value. We compared data collected from August of 2000 threw August of 2008. The lowest NDVI value was recorded in August 2002, shortly after which the genocide in Darfur began to unravel. After analyzing the information I have determined that the current condition in Darfur, Sudan is a desertification not a drought and their people are suffering from water shortages. The people of Darfur have been ruthlessly slaughtered since 2003 by the Sudanese military and armed Arab camel-herding nomads known as the Janjaweed. Since the beginning of the genocide between 200,000 and 500,000 people have been murdered and over 2.5 million people are displaced. The Sudanese military targeted non-Arab farmers and rebels from the fur. They have brutally murdered whole villages of unarmed men, women, and children. Life in Darfur is very dangerous; bombs are drop on villages on a regular basis. The Janjaweed ride into villages attacking and kill anything is sight. The displaced people are running blindly to escape, just hoping to avoid a gruesome murder and to hopefully survive another day in Darfur. Here are two sets of maps made with GIS showing exactly what the data collected says.
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