Detection of Land Cover Change in the Sea of Najaf / Iraq for the Period (2005-2022) using Remote Sensing Techniques

The study targeted the sea al-Najaf region, because of its geographical value, being an important water resource, as it acts as a large water reservoir, contributes to agriculture, and an important resting point for migratory birds, and has an important role in improving the climate in the region, and there are fish in it, also its Seasonal torrents gathering. Several remote sensing techniques and GIS have been used to track the effects of land cover changes. Knowing and understanding the amount, direction, and causes of land cover changes is critical to planning sustainable management of natural resources. Used ERDAS IMAGINE 2015 to do the supervised classification using maximum probability. Adopting the period from 2005 to 2022 as a period for a study in the study area. Water bodies, agricultural lands, barren lands, and clay soils were determined by multispectral satellite data (Landsat 5 TM images, Landsat 8 / OLI images, and Landsat 9 / OLI images). The results showed an increase for Water Bodies and Barren Land during the approved period by about 33.229% and 1.197% respectively, while a decrease in both agricultural lands and Clay soil was about 8.218% and 26.208%, respectively.