Spatial Modeling of Land Degradation Index (LDI) Using Geographic Artificial Intelligence in Al-Anbar Governorate – Iraq

Authors

  • Abeer Yahya Ahmad Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59992/IJESA.2026.v5n8p5

Keywords:

Spatial Modeling, Environmental Degradation, Geographic Artificial Intelligence, Remote Sensing, Environmental Indices

Abstract

This study aims to monitor, assess, and analyze Land Degradation (LDI) in the study area for the year 2025 using remote sensing techniques. The study was based on extracting a set of environmental indicators, namely NDBSI, NDMI, NDVI, and LST, for the years 2015 and 2025. These indicators were integrated to produce the 2025 land degradation map. In addition, a predictive modeling approach was conducted to forecast land degradation for the year 2030 using Geographic Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI) in order to understand the temporal trends of environmental change and identify the future trajectory of land degradation within the study area. The prediction results generated by the Random Forest model indicated an increase in the area classified as moderate land degradation from 60.79% in 2025 to 66.90% in 2030, while the area experiencing high land degradation is projected to increase from 0.07% to 1.30%. These findings suggest a future trend toward intensified land degradation if the current environmental conditions persist.

Author Biography

  • Abeer Yahya Ahmad

    Prof. Dr., Department of Geography, College of Education, Al-Mustansiriya University, Iraq

References

1. Higginbottom, T. P., & Symeonakis, E. (2014). Assessing land degradation and desertification using vegetation index data: Current frameworks and future directions. Remote Sensing, 6(10), 9552–9575. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs6109552

2. Xie, Z., Phinn, S. R., Game, E. T., Pannell, D. J., Hobbs, R. J., Briggs, P. R., & McDonald-Madden, E. (2019). Using Landsat observations (1988–2017) and Google Earth Engine to detect vegetation cover changes in rangelands: A first step towards identifying degraded lands for conservation. Remote Sensing of Environment, 232, 111317. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2019.111317

3. Ibrahim, S. T., Sheet, H. H., & Muhammed, F. H. (2025). Modeling Vegetation Cover Maps Affecting Land Surface Temperature in Erbil City Using Remote Sensing. Tikrit Journal for Agricultural Sciences, 25(4), 101-116.

4. Gao, B. C. (1996). NDWI—A normalized difference water index for remote sensing of vegetation liquid water from space. Remote Sensing of Environment, 58(3), 257–266. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0034-4257(96)00067-3

5. Tucker, C. J. (1979). Red and photographic infrared linear combinations for monitoring vegetation. Remote Sensing of Environment, 8(2), 127–150. https://doi.org/10.1016/0034-4257(79)90013-0

6. Breiman, L. (2001). Random forests. Machine Learning, 45(1), 5–32. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010933404324

7. U.S. Geological Survey. (2021). Landsat 8-9 Operational Land Imager (OLI)–Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) Collection 2 Level-2 science products. U.S. Geological Survey.

8. Jain, A. K., Nandakumar, K., & Ross, A. (2005). Score normalization in multimodal biometric systems. Pattern Recognition, 38(12), 2270–2285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.patcog.2005.01.012

9. Xu, H. (2013). A remote sensing index for assessment of regional ecological changes. China Environmental Science, 33(5), 889–897

10. Wessels, K. J., Prince, S. D., Frost, P. E., & van Zyl, D. (2004). Assessing the effects of human-induced land degradation in the former homelands of northern South Africa with a 1 km AVHRR NDVI time-series. Remote Sensing of Environment, 91(1), 47–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2004.02.005

11. Wilson, E. H., & Sader, S. A. (2002). Detection of forest harvest type using multiple dates of Landsat TM imagery. Remote Sensing of Environment, 80(3), 385–396.

12. Yue, H., Liu, Y., Li, Y., & Lu, Y. (2022). Ecological assessment based on remote sensing ecological index: A case study of the “Three-Lake” Basin in Yuxi City, Yunnan Province, China. Sustainability, 14(18), 11554. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141811554

13. Sobrino, J. A., Jiménez-Muñoz, J. C., & Paolini, L. (2004). Land surface temperature retrieval from LANDSAT TM 5. Remote Sensing of Environment, 90(4), 434–440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2004.02.003

14. اوس علي محمد، & سعد ثامر إبراهيم. (2025). استخدام الذكاء الاصطناعي في نمذجة خرائط التدهور البيئي لمحافظة صلاح الدين. Journal of Al-farahidi's Arts, 10(1), 172-204.‏

15. سعد ثامر ابراهيم. (2026). مشكلات تمثيل خرائط خطوط تساوي المطر في قضاء المسيب وطرائق معالجتها باستخدام نظم المعلومات الجغرافية. Journal of College of Education, 63(1), 331-350.‏

16. وزارة الموارد المائية، الهيئة العامة للمساحة خريطة العراق الإدارية، مقياس 1: 1000000 لسنة 2010.

Downloads

Published

2026-08-08

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Spatial Modeling of Land Degradation Index (LDI) Using Geographic Artificial Intelligence in Al-Anbar Governorate – Iraq. (2026). The International Journal of Educational Sciences and Arts, 5(8). https://doi.org/10.59992/IJESA.2026.v5n8p5