ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVITY TO DESERTIFICATION WITH MEDALUS MODEL IN GIS IN MAYMONA PROJECT- SOUTH OF IRAQ

Hamad & Et Al

doi:10.36103/ijas.v52i4.1417

Abstract

The objective of this study was to identify the locations sensitivity to land desertification based on the Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use (MEDALUS) approach by the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the south of Maysan governorate at Iraq for mapping environmentally sensitive areas to desertification. Three indicators, which included climate, vegetation, and soil, were employed to estimate the ESAI and then to classify the land in critical, fragile potentially, and non-influenced sensitive areas. The results of the soil quality index (SQI) indicated that 25% of the studied area was classified as moderate quality and 21% was low quality while 54% was very low quality. Vegetation qualities were classified into moderate and low quality 19% and 81%, respectively, and climate quality was classified as moderate.

Highlights

Desertification and drought have become serious problems which caused damaging impacts in many countries in the world, especially those countries which experience dried, semi-dried, or even semi-humid climatic conditions [13]
Soil degradation is of greatest concern, when the soil is not covered by vegetation or the surface is unprotected and directly exposed to the destructive energy of raindrops and other processes and factors [3]
The Environmental sensitivity area index (ESAI) was given by the combination of the three important indices which include Soil Quality Index (SQI), Vegetation Quality Index (VQI), and Climate Quality Index (CQI)

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Desertification and drought have become serious problems which caused damaging impacts in many countries in the world, especially those countries which experience dried, semi-dried, or even semi-humid climatic conditions [13]. Vegetation cover and erosion are the main processes of land degradation [9] These factors have been recognized as the major driving forces of soil and environmental quality, which has impacted the soil and water resources [28] [4] referred to ability of spectral reflectance to detecting the Aridisols and Entisols orders and can be detecting sub group at Typic Haplogypsids and Typic Haplosalids taxonomy units appeared to be distinguished and isolated. These are obtained from the geometric average of three indices which included SQI, VQI, and CQI (Equations 2, 3, 4) (Table 1).

RESULTS

CONCLUSION

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