Environmental change detection in the central part of Iraq using remote sensing data and GIS
- PDF / 1,636,950 Bytes
- 12 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 62 Downloads / 209 Views
ORIGINAL PAPER
Environmental change detection in the central part of Iraq using remote sensing data and GIS Arsalan A. Othman & Younus I. Al-Saady & Ahmed K. Al-Khafaji & Richard Gloaguen
Received: 13 August 2012 / Accepted: 25 January 2013 # Saudi Society for Geosciences 2013
Abstract This study aims to assess the potential of several ancillary input data for the improvement of unsupervised land cover change detection in arid environments. The study area is located in Central Iraq where desertification has been observed. We develop a new scheme based on known robust indices. We employ Landsat (multispectral scanner, thematic mapper, and enhanced thematic mapper) satellite data acquired in 1976, 1990, and 2002. We use the Normalized Deferential Vegetation
Index, Normalized Differential Water Index (NDWI), Salinity Index (SI), and Eolian Mapping Index. Two new equations were applied for the SI and the NDWI indices. Validation was performed using ground truth data collected in 16 days. We show that such an approach allows a robust and low-cost alternative for preliminary and large-scale assessments. This study shows that desertification has increased in the study area since 1990.
A. A. Othman Remote Sensing Group, Institute of Geology, TU Freiberg, Bernhard-von-Cotta-Strasse 2, 09596 Freiberg, Germany
Keywords Iraq . Remote sensing . Changes detection . NDVI . NDWI . SI . EMI . MSS . TM . ETM . Land cover
A. A. Othman (*) : Y. I. Al-Saady Iraq Geological Survey, Al-Andalus Square, Baghdad, Iraq e-mail: [email protected] A. A. Othman e-mail: [email protected] Y. I. Al-Saady e-mail: [email protected] Y. I. Al-Saady Dept. of Geology, College of Science, University of Baghdad, Al-Andalus Square, Baghdad, Iraq A. K. Al-Khafaji Water Science Group, Dept. of Geology, College of Science, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq e-mail: [email protected] A. K. Al-Khafaji e-mail: [email protected] R. Gloaguen Remote Sensing Group, Institute of Geology, TU Freiberg, Bernhard-von-Cotta-Strasse 2, 09596 Freiberg, Germany e-mail: [email protected]
Introduction Change detection is the process of identifying differences in the state of an object or phenomenon by observing it at different periods; it involves the ability to quantify temporal effects using multitemporal datasets. Desertification means land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and dry subhumid areas resulting from various factors including climatic variations and human activities. Land degradation can be considered in terms of the loss of actual or potential productivity or utility as a result of natural or anthropogenic factors. It is the decline in land quality or reduction in its productivity (Khiry 2007). The process of desertification in Iraq has rapidly increased due to the reduction of surface water by upstream countries as well as the decreasing in precipitation especially in central and southern part of Iraq. A lot of efforts have been devoted to define and study its causes and impacts. (Al-Jaf and Al-Saady
Data Loading...
