Detecting Environmental and Climatic Degradation in Kufa District Using Spectral Indicators

The growing global interest in the environment and natural resources has revealed many concepts of environmental degradation, land management, and the decline in the biological productivity of basic systems. Therefore, the study came to shed light on an aspect of environmental degradation under the influence of some natural climatic factors in Kufa District, as well as the importance of human activity in this regard, relying on five spectral indicators to obtain and analyze the results. The most prominent finding of the study was the clear fluctuation in the characteristics of the district’s climate elements for two years selected for comparison, which was reflected in the results of the studied indicators. The most prominent results were represented in the vegetation greenness index in the expansion of the poor or low-density vegetation category by (171) km 2 compared to the decrease in the dense vegetation category, which amounted to (140) km 2 during the year 2024, while the latter category was characterized by an increase during the year 2010 to approximately (185) km 2 and the weak biological crust index rose to (125) km 2 in the year 2024 by (29%), compared to its low percentage in the year 2010, which amounted to (113) km 2 by (140) km 2 . (27%), the same is the case in the results of the salt index index, in which the slightly saline lands decreased (220) km 2 by (52%) in 2024, and this is a good indicator for agricultural reclamation as a result of the increase in some rainfall rates at the expense of the expansion of the category in 2010 by (56%) and the increase in the category of moderately saline lands in 2024. The results of the modified soil vegetation index showed an increase in the land poor in vegetation cover by (216) km 2 by (51%) in 2024 after it was low by (43%) in 2010, so that the soil degradation index indicates an increase in the area of moderate to slightly degraded land for both study years, with an increase in the area of severely degraded lands during the year 2024 compared to its decrease in the year 2010.