Using vegetation indices for monitoring the spread of Nile Rose plant in the Tigris River within Wasit province, Iraq

The Nile rose or water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is an aquatic species threaten socio-economic and ecological systems, by invading freshwater ecosystems, affecting their productivity and functionality, as well as causing unfixable damage to key hydrological processes. Spectral signature differences can play a common role through using remote identification for these invasive plants, by using hyperspectral data, while many other studies showed that textural and phrenological differences are also can be considered as an effective strategy in this critical problem. New generation sensors like Sentinel 2 and Landsat 8 sensors of recently launched crop with improved sensing characteristics, unlike the previous broadband multispectral sensors has been provided untapped prospective alternatives. New insights were introduced in the detecting, mapping, and monitoring the spread of Nile Rose aquatic plant in the Tigris River at Wasit province in Iraq which has caused damage to fishing nets and make it difficult for fishermen to paddle on the river. Vegetation indices have been used to assess the impacts on major socio-economic activities in the study area. Spectral reflectance of Landsat 8 operational land imager OLI (acquired at Oct 6, 2016) was used to differentiate the spectral signature of the water hyacinth from other plants. These indices recorded the highest reflection of the Nile Rose plant relative to the rest of the plants. The result showed that the green Chlorophyll Index (CL Green) with overall accuracy of 89% which proved that this study has established a promising method for monitoring the invasion of the Nile Rose in the Tigris River to insure the availability of safe drinking water as a main source for the people such as in the study area nearby the part of Tigris River.