Drought indicators in the soils of Baghdad Governorate 1990-2021

Abstract

The study of the phenomenon of drought is of great importance in modern geo-climatic studies due to its seriousness through its impact on the environment, as its effects vary according to its degrees and according to the susceptibility and vulnerability of society to it. It affects the decline of plant resources due to the deterioration of vegetation cover. The deterioration of vegetation cover is linked to drought, and the more severe the drought, the greater the deterioration. Vegetation cover, which occurs when temperatures rise during the summer seasons and in the study area. The results of the dry indicators used in the research indicate that the levels of drought in the study area, according to the results of satellite visualizations taken for the study area in the years 1990 and 2020, indicate negative changes in the year 2021 compared to what they were in The year 1990 in most of the drought indicators used in the research.

The reason for the variation in drought levels is due to the increase in the angle of incidence, the number of daylight hours, and the amount of radiation received, which is more than the amount of radiation lost, which helps in the presence of heat accumulation with a decrease in moisture content during the hot season, as well as the influence of the Tigris River as an important water source used in Irrigating agricultural lands, which helps to prevail in drought during that period, which in turn leads to an increase in the temperature of the surface layer of soil devoid of vegetation and the oxidation of organic matter despite its scarcity, in addition to the accumulation of salts on the surface of the soil and the drying and disintegration of granules of the surface layer of soil devoid of vegetation. . The absence of a governmental role in addressing the issue of drought and the absence of afforestation, and this indicates the worsening of drought in the region during the years of research after comparing it based on Landsat8 satellite data. To achieve the goal of the study, aridity indicators were chosen in analyzing the phenomenon of drought because their outputs constitute a means used by land use planners to understand the characteristics. Quantity and quality and the resulting environmental and economic impacts.