CHANGE DETECTION ANALYSIS OF LAND COVER BEFORE AND WITHIN THE SYRIAN CRISES USING REMOTE SENSING AND GEOSPATIAL TECHNIQUES CASE STUDY OF AL-SALAMIYAH DISTRICT, SYRIA

Since 2011, Syria has suffered from one of the longest armed conflicts in the world which have presented significant consequences including the changes within the spatial patterns of the environment including the land cover. This research used the remote sensing data and geospatial techniques to study the land cover changes in Al-Salamiyah District using Landsat images at the end of the dry season in three selective years:1989, 2004 and 2019. The results show that the actually cultivated lands were decreasing from 115 thousand hectares in 1989 to 97 thousand hectares in 2019 and the rate of change is higher in the period (2004-2019) which includes 9 years of the Syrian conflict comparing with the first one. The results shed the light on the current situation of the land cover and raising questions on the environment-related challenges resulted from the Syrian conflict and the urgent need to maintain and preserve the productive agricultural lands in this region.