Published in Scientific Papers. Series A. Agronomy, Vol. LXIV, Issue 2
Written by Assim Shabeeb AbdulHussein ABDULHUSSEIN, Mircea MIHALACHE
This study was conducted to monitor the manifestations of land degradation in the area located within the administrative boundaries of the governorates of Dhi Qar, Qadisiyah and Muthanna, which has a surface of 37,984 km and specified by the space coordinates of Path = 167 and 38 = Row with the help of remote sensing technology through the use of satellite visuals from Landsat 8 satellite with field observations. A map of soil units was prepared using the software Arc GIS. Soil samples were taken from each site for physical and chemical analysis. The results obtained from the research showed that when using the spectral index represented by the plant difference index (NDVI) its value ranged between (-0.68 to 0.78). It was found that the study area suffers from a lack of vegetation cover by 72%. As for the salinity index values, they ranged between 0.68 to -0.78. Therefore, the study area suffers from a chemical deterioration represented by the salinity of the soil, estimated at 61%. For arid lands, the index ranged between -399.4 to -28.30, and the total surface of decertified lands represented 45%. As for the land degradation index, its value ranged from 1.21 to 2.84 and the percentage of degraded lands was estimated at 75% of the total lands that were study.
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