Analysis of the Vegetation State of the Territory of Central Iraq Using Landsat Data

Abstract

In agricultural production, there is a change in the properties of soils and the problem of land degradation is rising. It is especially important for Iraq, whose economic well-being is in oil and agriculture. The objects of authors' study are the territories of Central Iraq; the subject of authors' research is the temporary-territorial variability of vegetation. This chapter analyzes the vegetation dynamics of the five provinces' territory of Central Iraq by determining the values of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from remote sensing data in the period from 2003 to 2017. Regional features are reflected in the variability and change rate of these processes and in the valley plots occupied by vegetation of different state classes, from the total area of the province. The differences in the state classes of vegetation on the territories of Central Iraq are conditioned not by natural, but by other reasons, in particular, by the state of meliorative systems.