Effect of land surface temperature and moisture changes of Iraq's western desert on the dust storms In Iraq using remote sensing technique

Abstract

Dust storms have become a major problem in most parts Iraq over the last few years. The most critical which becomes the main source of dust storm formation is the western desert of Iraq. The variations in land surface temperature during the years 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009 and 2011 in this zone was studied using MODIS satellite data. as well as Landsat satellite data to identify the environmental changes. The results revealed that the drought factor due to increase of land surface temperature is the main cause of the dust storms. On another hand the results showed that the study area was affected by global climatic change, resulted with increase in temperature and evaporation, and decrease in rainfall from year 1967 to 2007.