The effect of drought in the source area of dust storms on vegetation change (case study: western parts of Iran)

Abstract

Water scarcity is one of the factors limiting plant growth and development. More than onethird of the global terrestrial ecosystems is located in arid and semi-arid regions. The mostimportant limiting factor for plant growth is water shortage. Drought could significantlychange the natural vegetation cover. Rainfall reduction in Iraq, Turkey and Syria hasreduced vegetation cover so that dust storms have increased. Therefore, these areas have ahigh potential to increase dust particles in the environment. To investigate the temporalchanges of vegetation, we focused on the source of dust particles between Tigris andEuphrates rivers and some parts of the west bank of these rivers in Iraq. The NormalizedDifference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was used. In addition, the standard precipitation indexwas calculated to assess drought events in the region. The results show that the vegetationand rainfall indexes are inversely correlated in the study area.

Keywords

• dust storm
• drought
• vegetation1