ESTIMATING COVER AND MANAGEMENT FACTOR IN RUSLE BY NDVI TIME SERIES FOR ACROSS IRAQ-IRAN BORDER WATERSHED

Land cover is essential for accurately observing land-use changes and assessing soil erosion risks. The study area between the Wasit, Misan, and Thi-Qar governorates is an ecological zone suffering from human-made soil erosion as crop cultivation, livestock grazing, etc. This research aims to analyz...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jumana Hadi Sahib, Ali H. Al Aboodi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Faculty of Engineering, University of Kufa 2025-07-01
Series:Mağallaẗ Al-kūfaẗ Al-handasiyyaẗ
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Online Access:https://journal.uokufa.edu.iq/index.php/kje/article/view/17661
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Summary:Land cover is essential for accurately observing land-use changes and assessing soil erosion risks. The study area between the Wasit, Misan, and Thi-Qar governorates is an ecological zone suffering from human-made soil erosion as crop cultivation, livestock grazing, etc. This research aims to analyze vegetation dynamics and evaluate soil cover utilizing Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data from 2013 and 2018-2021 during summer and winter, leveraging Landsat-8, Operational Land Imager (OLI) and a Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS), and QGIS. Warmer months exhibited a decrease in water bodies and vegetative cover compared to colder months. The changes from 2013 to 2021 were about 17%, distributionally as a 21% reduction in winter and 3.5% in summer. NDVI values and C-factor of RUSLE were calculated to estimate soil erosion, where Slight erosion occurrences exceeding 70%, while moderate and higher levels are found near Lake Shewicha and temporary water bodies. High to extremely high erosion types concentrated in tributaries of the Tigris River. Soil erosion increased between 2013 and 2021 by 4.2 and 18 Km2, respectively. The erosion soil for 2013 increased in November compared to April, except for slight to moderate and very high erosion, which decreased by 2%. In 2021, erosion decreased in December compared to April for all types, except for slight erosion increased by about 6%. The findings aim to help urban planners and land-use managers promote sustainable land management and soil conservation
ISSN:2071-5528
2523-0018