The primary objective of this study is to employ the remote sensing data and Soil & Water Assessment Tool model to estimate sediment volume and assess the water balance of the Badra Basin (2,615km2) in eastern Iraq. Remote sensing data was utilized as the main input with the Soil & Water Assessment Tool model. These data involved a land use-land cover map that was constructed by the classification of the Landsat-8 satellite imagery for the year 2020, STMR digital elevation model, soil map was acquired from the Food and Agriculture Organization and climatic data were sourced from the NASA-funded prediction of Worldwide Energy Resource The results discovered that about 40 % and 18% of the yearly rainfall are losing by evapotranspiration and filtration. The average amount of annual sediment transported was predicted at 120.47 tons /ha, 2018 recorded the highest value of transported sediment which is about 360 tons /ha. The volume of annual runoff was assessed at about 340.74 million m3. These results proved that the Soil & Water Assessment tool model has the ability to estimation the sediment and runoff volume. The climatic elements, especially rainfall, in addition to soil classes, topography, and land use-land cover had a significant impact on the amount of transported sediments and the volume of runoff.

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<p>Sandy areas are the main problem in regions of arid and semi-arid climate in the world that threaten urban life, buildings, agricultural, and even human health. Remote sensing is one of the technologies that can be used as an effective tool in dynamic features study of sandy areas and sand accumulations. In this study, two new indices were developed to separate the sandy areas from the non-sandy areas. The first one is called the Normalized Differential Sandy Areas Index (NDSAI) that has been based on the assumption that the sandy area has the lowest water content (moisture) than the other land cover classes. The second other is called the Sandy Areas Surface Temperature index (SASTI) which was built on the assumption that the surface temperature of sandy soil is the highest. The results of proposed indices have been compared with two indices that were previously proposed by other researchers, namely the Normalized Differential Sand Dune Index NDSI and the Eolain Mapping Index (EMI). The accuracy assessment of the sandy indices showed that the NDSAI provides very good performance with an overall accuracy of 89 %. The SASTI can isolate many sandy and non-sandy pixels with an overall accuracy about 86 %. The performance of the NDSI is low with an overall accuracy about 82 %. It fails to classify or isolate the vegetation area from the sandy area and might have better performance in desert environments. The performing of NDSAI that is calculated with the SWIR1 band of the Landsat satellite is better than the performing of NDSI that is calculated with the SWIR2 band of the same satellite. EMI performance is less robust than other methods as it is not useful for extracting sandy surfaces in area with different land covers. Change detection techniques were used by comparing the areas of the sandy lands for the periods from 1987 to 2017. The results showed an increase in sandy areas over four decades. The percentage of this increase was about 20 % to 30 % during 2002 and 2017 compared to 1987.</p>

A study for the evaluation of some physical and chemical properties of soil and water of certain sites in southern Iraqi marsh called Umm Naaj, a part of Al-Hawizeh Marsh, has been carried out using the integration between fieldwork, lab analyses, and GIS techniques. Sixteen water and soil samples were collected, then transferred to the lab. In the lab, some chemical properties of water samples were determined, while soil samples are subjected to some chemical and physical analysis. IDW method in GIS software had been utilized for interpolation of spatial distribution of chemical and physical properties of soil and water through the study area. Results of analysis and interpolation maps showed that the clay fraction was the dominant in soil samples, followed by silt and sand. Regarding chemical properties, all soil samples are an alkaline reaction. The percent of minerals for silt fraction indicate that calcite was the dominant mineral followed by quartz and illite. The x-ray diffraction analysis results indicated the presence of regular Mica-Smectite mixed layer mineral. The interpolation maps indicated that there is an effect of sediments on some properties in different levels where some properties were highly affected and some moderately and some have no effect on soil and water quality.

This study was carry out to understand the effect of drying on some properties of marsh soils, and to show the degree of development by using minerals indictors. Four pedons of dried marshes soils have been selected from locations near two main marshes in Misan province, south of Iraq ,two represented samples (surface and subsurface) from each pedon are selected and collected in plastic bags, after sampling and preparation of soil by air drying , grinding and sieving in 2 mm sieve, the two samples placed in plastic container to keep them for physical and chemical analysis, many physical and chemical and mineralogical properties was determined , The physical properties results showed that the studied soils were fine and moderate texture. The values of bulk density were high, especially in sub horizon (C) of pedon3 The chemical properties results showed, increasing in salinity levels (EC), and CaC0 3 especially in the surface horizons of unreclaim soils. The cation exchange capacity was decreased with depth, while soil reaction (pH) was in the natural range of Iraqi soils. Organic matter content was decreased with depth in pedones (No. 2), due to the effect of natural conditions on the plant covering during flooding stage. The results of x-ray diffracition and weathering index showed that the drying process did not affect the mineralogical component of studied pedons, reveals that Smectite, kaolinite and Illite were the dominant minerals, in addition to small amounts of Chlorite and palygorskite.