Monitoring agricultural and meteorological drought using remote sensing

Many regions of Iraq were suffering from (meteorological and agricultural) drought. Middle Euphrates region is one of these regions. Therefore, this study carried out to monitor this phenomenon in this region during period from 1988 to 2018. The Reconnaissance Drought Index (RDI) and the Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) have been utilized for monitoring the meteorological and agricultural droughts, respectively. The final results showed that the overall drought percentage in the study area had been increased compared with no drought percentage. The percentage of the no drought area was ranged from 8% (in 1988 and 2000) to 17% (in 2018). The severe and extreme drought classes recorded a higher ratio in the area followed by moderate and mild droughts. There is a high level of the dry season in the region, especially in its southern and western parts. The reason for drought particularly in these parts is due to the geological composition of its soils, where it consists sandy soils that are consistently subjected to erosion by the wind. Additionally, the high porosity of these soils adversely influenced on their water maintenance limit particularly water of precipitation. In addition to the absence of a source of surface water in these parts of the region and its dependence on the water of some wells with high salinity and unsuitable for agriculture.