Open AccessASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVITY TO DESERTIFICATION WITH MEDALUS MODEL IN GIS IN MAYMONA PROJECT- SOUTH OF IRAQ
Author(s) -
Mostafa S. Hamad
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
iraqi journal of agricultural science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2410-0862
pISSN - 0075-0530
DOI - 10.36103/ijas.v52i4.1417
Subject(s) - desertification , mediterranean climate , vegetation (pathology) , environmental science , land use , geography , physical geography , soil quality , remote sensing , forestry , environmental protection , soil science , soil water , ecology , archaeology , pathology , biology , medicine
The objective of this study was to identify the locations sensitivity to land desertification based on the Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use (MEDALUS) approach by the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the south of Maysan governorate at Iraq for mapping environmentally sensitive areas to desertification. Three indicators, which included climate, vegetation, and soil, were employed to estimate the ESAI and then to classify the land in critical, fragile potentially, and non-influenced sensitive areas. The results of the soil quality index (SQI) indicated that 25% of the studied area was classified as moderate quality and 21% was low quality while 54% was very low quality. Vegetation qualities were classified into moderate and low quality 19% and 81%, respectively, and climate quality was classified as moderate.