MONITORING DROUGHTS PHENOMENON USING REMOTE SENSING AND GIS IN WASIT/ IRAQ

Abstract

Drought considered being the most vulnerable natural hazard that affects a large number of people. Drought has nonstructural effects that spread across a vast geographic area, endangering human lives. The Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) based on Landsat 8 imaging and the meteorological-based Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) were used to monitor the drought in Wasit governorate eastern Iraq for 2013 and 2018. To accurately assess the drought-affected area and provide appropriate drought-proofing, the Arc GIS Desktop 10.5 program was utilized to examine the spatial and temporal variance of drought across the study area. Using NDVI analysis in the study area, the vegetation area decreased by 7 %. Drought classification based on 12-month SPI indicated the drought of the near-normal type. The SPI data analysis data show that in 2013, SPI values were lower in Badrah station's northern part of the study area. While in 2018, the lower SPI value - was 0.54033 in Ali al Gharbi terrestrial station. This result is considered near normal according to the SPI usual range. These findings could aid drought management programs and reveal the genuine drought situation in the area.