The Effects of Climate Change on Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in the Al-Hawizeh Marsh

Abstract

This study aims to classify Landsat 7,8 satellite data using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) thresholds. Initially, visible and near infrared bands of Landsat 8 satellite were used to derive (NDVI) image. Vegetation, non-vegetation and water areas were then analyzed where thresholds for separating them are carefully determined with the aid of ground truth information of the study area. Also, The Mann-Kendall test was conducted to analyze the trend of temperature and precipitation in the study area. The results of the analysis showed a positive trend with an increase in temperature. On the contrary, a negative trend in precipitation remained constant, as it was not statistically significant. The study correlated the historical trends of climatic elements as a central factor in the degradation of swamps (vegetation cover) from 2000 to 2010 and (2015-2023). The results showed that the year 2015 witnessed an increase in the area of NDVI compared to the years studied, as the total area of vegetation cover during this year amounted to about 537.47 km2, by 79.4%. While the year 2023 was one of the worst years of the study area, as the marshes witnessed an increase in the area of dry lands at the expense of the marsh waters, as the area of these lands reached about 354.69 km2 by 52.40%. The findings of this study are that the application of the three indices is useful for evaluating land, especially NDVI in wetlands. So it is necessary to develop and integrate with other remote sensing indices.