Yaser GHasemi Arian; Hadi Eskandari Dam aneh; Maryam Naeimi; Adel Jalili; Samira Zandifar; Azadeh Gohardoust; Sakineh Lotfinasabasl
Volume 32, Issue 1 , May 2025, , Pages 1-17
Abstract
Background and objectivesLand subsidence, primarily caused by excessive groundwater extraction, constitutes the most advanced and irreversible stage of desertification and land degradation. While this phenomenon poses a significant threat to numerous plains and major urban centers across Iran, existing ...
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Background and objectivesLand subsidence, primarily caused by excessive groundwater extraction, constitutes the most advanced and irreversible stage of desertification and land degradation. While this phenomenon poses a significant threat to numerous plains and major urban centers across Iran, existing desertification assessment models have largely overlooked subsidence rates and the agricultural sector's substantial groundwater consumption. This study evaluates desertification intensity in the Qaraqom basin through the dual lenses of water resource utilization and land subsidence dynamics.MethodologyThe study employed the Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) method in GIS 10.8 to create zonation maps for three critical groundwater indices: electrical conductivity (EC), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), and groundwater level decline. Data from 273 observation wells (2001-2018) were classified into four desertification intensity categories (low, moderate, severe, and very severe). These maps were integrated with a land subsidence rate map (2015-2016 water year) derived from Sentinel-1 satellite imagery provided by the Geological Survey of Iran. Additionally, reservoir volume changes (1985-2018) were analyzed for each aquifer to assess their relationship with subsidence patterns.ResultsAnalysis revealed severe to very severe desertification across 46.6% of the basin based on EC values, while SAR indicated low degradation in 90.6% of the area. Groundwater depletion showed the most critical conditions, with 53.4% of the basin experiencing severe to very severe impacts, particularly in the Sarakhs, Fariman-Torbat Jam, southwest Mashhad, and Narimani aquifers. Subsidence rates reached severe levels in 18.1% of the basin, with maximum values observed in the Mashhad, Fariman-Torbat Jam, Taybad, and Karat aquifers. The Mashhad aquifer demonstrated the highest subsidence rates and the most significant reservoir volume changes. Integrated assessment of groundwater and subsidence criteria classified 55.9% of the Qara Qom watershed as moderately affected and 26.1% as low-intensity desertification.ConclusionAs agriculture represents the dominant water consumer in the basin, immediate implementation of water efficiency and productivity measures in this sector is crucial to prevent irreversible socio-economic and ecological consequences of ongoing desertification and land degradation.
hadi Eskandari Damaneh; Hamed Eskandari Damaneh; Zahra Sayadi; Asadollah Khoorani
Volume 28, Issue 4 , November 2021, , Pages 772-786
Abstract
Due to the prevailing arid and semi-arid climate, Iran has always suffered from the production and spread of airborne substances, especially dust. This phenomenon is very destructive due to its direct impact on the environment and human health. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate ...
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Due to the prevailing arid and semi-arid climate, Iran has always suffered from the production and spread of airborne substances, especially dust. This phenomenon is very destructive due to its direct impact on the environment and human health. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the variation trend of aerosol optical depth (AOD), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), rainfall, temperature, wind speed, and correlation between AOD and climatic parameters in Iran. Data on AOD and NDVI were collected from Modis sensor images and other data from the ECMWF climate site over 2000-2019 with a spatial resolution of 10 km. The Mann-Kendall trend analysis was used to investigate the trend of changes in these parameters, and the linear correlation model was used to check the correlation between AOD and climatic data. The results of the variations trend of AOD, NDVI, and climate data showed that the trend of these parameters was different in different regions of Iran so that NDVI and rainfall had decreased by 85.13% and 67.57%, respectively, while AOD, wind speed, and the temperature had increased by 71.43%, 71.86%, and 99.37% across the country, respectively. The correlation of AOD, NDVI, rainfall, temperature and wind speed revealed that AOD had a negative correlation with NDVI and rainfall in 50.94% and 51.31% of the country, respectively, while its correlation was positive with temperature and wind speed over 68.42% and 50.36% of the country, respectively. Therefore, the increase in airborne suspended particles strongly depends on the trend of variations in vegetation cover and climatic factors, including rainfall, temperature, and wind speed, which can be well studied using satellite and climatic data with appropriate spatial and temporal resolution.