Note: Intro -- Preface -- Contents -- Part IIntroduction -- 1 Introduction to "Environmental Remote Sensing and GIS in Tunisia" -- 1.1 Background -- 1.2 Themes of the Book -- 1.3 Chapters' Summary -- 1.3.1 Remote Sensing and GIS for Urban and Rural Applications -- 1.3.2 Remote Sensing and GIS for Mapping and Modeling -- 1.3.3 Remote Sensing and GIS for Natural Risks Applications -- 1.3.4 Soil Degradation and Drought -- 1.3.5 Remote Sensing and GIS to Assess and Monitor Dry, Arid and Wetlands -- References -- Part IIRS and GIS for Urban and Rural Applications -- 2 Approaching the Tunisian Human Environment by Using RS and the Dasymetric Method -- 2.1 Introduction -- 2.2 Portraying the Density of Population: An Overview of the Methods in Use -- 2.3 The Dasymetric Method -- 2.4 Related Cartographic Literature -- 2.5 Advantages of the Dasymetric Method Applied to the Tunisian Territory -- 2.6 Methodology and Methods Implementation -- 2.7 Results and Discussion -- 2.8 Conclusion -- 2.9 Recommendations -- References -- 3 The Role of GIS as a Planning Tool in a Tunisian Urban Landscape, Sfax City -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 GIS and Planning of Green Spaces -- 3.3 GIS Assessement of Natural Space Planning in Sfax City -- 3.3.1 GIS Assessement of Urban Sprawl and Consumption of Agricultural Spaces in Sfax City -- 3.3.2 GIS Assessment of Green Space Consideration in the Sustainable Development Context -- 3.4 Green Spaces Issues in the Actors' Discourses -- 3.4.1 Complicated Mission of Local Authorities -- 3.4.2 An Active and Influential Civil Society -- 3.5 Conclusion -- 3.6 Recommandations -- References -- 4 Spatio-Temporal Monitoring of the Meskat System Distribution in the Tunisian Sahel Region Using TM Landsat Images -- 4.1 Introduction -- 4.2 Meskat System. , 4.3 Recognition of the Meskat System Processing in Tunisian Sahel Region: Thematic Focus and Methodology -- 4.3.1 Study Area -- 4.3.2 Exploitation of Satellite Images -- 4.3.3 Methodology -- 4.4 Results and Discussion -- 4.4.1 Land Use Mapping -- 4.4.2 Spatio-Temporal Evolution of the Meskat System -- 4.4.3 Rate of Change of the Meskat System -- 4.5 Conclusion -- 4.6 Recommendations -- References -- 5 Spatial Distribution of Solanum elaeagnifolium in the Tunisian Arid Region Using GIS Tools -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.2 Introducing Concepts and Terms -- 5.2.1 Definitions -- 5.2.2 Biological Invasion Process -- 5.3 Mapping Is an Effective Approach to Manage Invasive Alien Plants -- 5.4 Solanum elaeagnifolium Mapping Using GIS -- 5.4.1 Methodological Approach -- 5.5 Results and Discussion -- 5.5.1 EL Alam Land Cover Mapping in 2014-2015 -- 5.5.2 Solanum elaeagnifolium Spatial Distribution -- 5.6 Conclusions -- 5.7 Recommendations -- References -- 6 PROMETHEE and Geospatial Analysis to Rank Suitable Sites for Grombalia Aquifer Recharge with Reclaimed Water -- 6.1 Introduction -- 6.2 Method -- 6.2.1 Description of the Study Area -- 6.2.2 Methodology -- 6.2.3 Calculation of Surface Needed for Aquifer Recharge -- 6.3 Results and Discussions -- 6.3.1 Spatial Datasets Used -- 6.3.2 Constraints Layer -- 6.3.3 Suitable Sites Ranking -- 6.4 Conclusions and Recommendations -- References -- Part IIIRS and GIS for Mapping and Modeling -- 7 Using RS and GIS to Mapping Land Cover of the Cap Bon (Tunisia) -- 7.1 Introduction -- 7.2 Objectives of the Present Study -- 7.3 Methodology -- 7.4 Documents Used -- 7.5 The Cap Bon as an Application Field -- 7.5.1 Overview of the Study Area -- 7.5.2 Model Space for a Better Understanding -- 7.5.3 The Conceptual, Logical and Physical Data Model -- 7.6 Creation of the Geodatabase -- 7.6.1 The Structure of the Geodatabase. , 7.6.2 The Image Processing and Loading of Datasets -- 7.6.3 The Implementation of the Geodatabase -- 7.7 Multiscalar Mapping of Land Cover and Land Use -- 7.7.1 Level 1 Mapping of the Land Cover and Land Use: Across the Cap Bon -- 7.7.2 Mapping Level 2 of the Land Cover and Land Use: Across the Plain of Grombalia -- 7.7.3 Mapping Level 3 of the Land Cover and Land Use: Local Delegation of Soliman -- 7.8 Conclusion -- 7.9 Recommendations -- References -- 8 A GIS Based DRASTIC, Pesticide DRASTIC and SI Methods to Assess Groundwater Vulnerability to Pollution: Case Study of Oued Laya (Central Tunisia) -- 8.1 Introduction -- 8.2 Assessment of Vulnerability of Shallow Aquifer to Pollution and Methodology -- 8.2.1 Study Area -- 8.2.2 Methodology -- 8.3 Results and Discussion -- 8.3.1 Thematic Maps Presentation -- 8.4 Standard DRASTIC Vulnerability Assessment -- 8.5 Pesticide DRASTIC Vulnerability Assessment -- 8.6 SI Vulnerability Assessment -- 8.7 Standard DRASTIC, Pesticide DRASTIC and SI Vulnerability Assessment -- 8.8 Conclusion -- 8.9 Recommendations -- References -- Part IVRS and GIS for Natural Risks Applications -- 9 Mapping Environmental Risk Degradation Under Climate Stress and Anthropogenic Pressure: Case Study of Abdeladim Watershed, Tunisia -- 9.1 Introduction -- 9.2 Methodological Framework -- 9.2.1 GIS: The Study's Relevance to Agricultural Productivity -- 9.2.2 The Steps of the Work -- 9.3 Conceptual and Methodological Framework -- 9.3.1 Sensitivity and Potential Sensitivity to Degradation: The Study's Interest in Preserving Agricultural Productivity -- 9.4 Abdeladim Watershed: A Fragile Natural Balanced Environment Undergoing Significant Anthropic Pressure -- 9.5 Trends in the Evolution of the River System/Hydrographic Network -- 9.5.1 Linear Erosion -- 9.5.2 Regressive Erosion -- 9.5.3 Lateral Erosion. , 9.6 Potential Sensitivity to Degradation -- 9.6.1 Potential Sensitivity to Agricultural Land Degradation to Soil Quality Degradation -- 9.6.2 Sensitivity of Sloping Agricultural Land to Degradation by Soil Loss -- 9.6.3 Sensitivity to Watercourse Erosion Degradation -- 9.7 Measures to Combat the  Degradation of Agricultural Lands -- 9.7.1 The Extension of Information -- 9.7.2 Control of Potential Soil Quality Degradation -- 9.7.3 Control of Potential Degradation by Loss of Soil -- 9.7.4 Control of Potential Degradation by Stormwater -- 9.8 Discussions -- 9.9 Conclusion -- 9.10 Recommendations -- References -- 10 Application of Remote Sensing and GIS for Risk Assessment in Monastir, Tunisia -- 10.1 Introduction -- 10.2 Case Study: Monastir, Tunisia -- 10.3 Methodology -- 10.3.1 Conceptual Risk Framework -- 10.3.2 Workflow -- 10.3.3 Data Acquisition and Development of a Geodatabase -- 10.3.4 Land Use/Land Cover Analysis Based on the Urban Atlas Standard -- 10.3.5 Hazard Analysis -- 10.3.6 Exposure Analysis -- 10.3.7 Vulnerability and Integrated Risk Assessment -- 10.4 Results -- 10.4.1 Flash Floods and Coastal Erosion in Monastir -- 10.4.2 Exposure to Flash Floods -- 10.4.3 Social Vulnerability and Flash Flood Risk -- 10.4.4 Web-Based Information System -- 10.5 Discussion and Lessons Learned -- 10.6 Conclusions -- References -- Part VSoil Degradation and Drought -- 11 Monitoring of Land Use-Land Cover Changes and Assessment of Soil Degradation Using Landsat TM and OLI Data in Zarzis Arid Region -- 11.1 Introduction -- 11.2 Materials and Methods -- 11.2.1 Study Area -- 11.2.2 Land Degradation Constraints -- 11.2.3 Landsat Image Processing -- 11.3 Results and Discussion -- 11.3.1 ISOCLUST Classification -- 11.3.2 Land Use and Land Cover Maps of 2007 -- 11.3.3 Land Use and Land Cover of 2014 -- 11.3.4 Change Analysis Using the Land Change Modeler Tool. , 11.4 Conclusions -- 11.5 Recommendations -- References -- 12 Drought Assessment in Tunisia by Time-Series Satellite Images: An Ecohydrologic Approach -- 12.1 Introduction -- 12.2 Principles of the Ecohydrology -- 12.3 Remote Sensing Integration in Ecohydrological Approaches -- 12.3.1 Overview of Remote Sensing Principles -- 12.3.2 Concepts of Remote Sensing Uses in Ecohydrology -- 12.4 Humidity Canopy Assessment at the Ecoregion Level -- 12.5 Ecohydrology Equilibrium Assessment by Remote Sensing -- 12.5.1 Water Balance Modelling with Times-Series LAI-MODIS -- 12.5.2 Water Stress Index Effect on Ecohydrologic Equilibrium -- 12.6 Data Quality of MODIS -- 12.6.1 Calibration of LAI-MODIS -- 12.6.2 Quality Assessment of MODIS Time-Series Images -- 12.7 Conclusions and Perspectives -- References -- Part VIRS and GIS to Assess and Monitor Dry, Arid and Wetlands -- 13 Monitoring of Dryland Vulnerability by Remote Sensing and Geoinformation Processing: Case of Wadi Bouhamed Watershed (Southern Tunisia) -- 13.1 Introduction -- 13.2 Global Overview of Dryland Degradation -- 13.2.1 Erosion -- 13.2.2 Desertification -- 13.2.3 Factors Affecting Land Degradation -- 13.3 Modeling and Mapping Land Degradation -- 13.3.1 Image Transformations -- 13.3.2 Image Classifications -- 13.4 Study Area: The Wadi Bouhamed Watershed -- 13.4.1 Climate Context of the Studied Area -- 13.4.2 Vegetation Cover -- 13.4.3 Slope -- 13.4.4 Human Issues -- 13.4.5 Soil Conservation Management -- 13.5 Land Degradation Over the Watershed of Wadi Bouhamed -- 13.5.1 Methods and Multi-sources Data -- 13.5.2 Land Uses Changes in Wadi Bouhamed Watershed as Inferred by Image Classification -- 13.5.3 Vegetation Cover in Wadi Bouhamed Watershed as Inferred by NDVI -- 13.5.4 Soils Distribution in Wadi Bouhamed Watershed as Inferred by Brightness Index -- 13.6 Conclusions -- 13.7 Recommendations. , References.

Note: Intro -- Preface -- Contents -- Introduction -- 1 Introduction to "Environmental Remote Sensing and GIS in Iraq" -- 1.1 Iraq: A Brief Background -- 1.2 Soil Characterization, Modelling, and Mapping -- 1.3 Proximal Soil Sensing -- 1.4 RS and GIS for Land Cover/Land Use Change Monitoring -- 1.5 Land Degradation, Drought, and Dust Storms -- 1.6 Remote Sensing and GIS for Natural Resources -- References -- Soil Characterization, Modelling, and Mapping -- 2 Using Radar and Optical Data for Soil Salinity Modeling and Mapping in Central Iraq -- 2.1 Introduction -- 2.2 Methods and Materials -- 2.2.1 Study Area -- 2.2.2 Data -- 2.2.3 Approaches and Procedures -- 2.3 Results and Discussion -- 2.3.1 Correlation -- 2.3.2 Soil Salinity Models and Maps -- 2.3.3 Assessment of the Developed Approaches -- 2.4 Conclusions -- 2.5 Recommendations -- References -- 3 Using Remote Sensing to Predict Soil Properties in Iraq -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 Case Studies -- 3.2.1 Prediction of Soil Organic Carbon and Nitrogen Forms -- 3.2.2 Prediction of Soil Salinity -- 3.2.3 Physical Properties -- 3.2.4 Prediction of Some Soil Water Properties -- 3.3 Conclusions -- References -- 4 Characterization and Classification of Soil Map Units by Using Remote Sensing and GIS in Bahar Al-Najaf, Iraq -- 4.1 Introduction -- 4.2 Geology of the Study Area -- 4.2.1 Geomorphological and Hydrological Phenomena of the Study Area -- 4.2.2 Classification of Iraqi Alluvial Soils -- 4.2.3 Remote Sensing -- 4.2.4 Accuracy Assessment of Digital Image Classification -- 4.2.5 Applications of RS in the Field of Iraqi Environment and Soils -- 4.2.6 Soil Surveying and Classification Studies of Bahar Al-Najaf Region -- 4.3 Methodology -- 4.3.1 The Geographical Location of Bahar Al-Najaf Region -- 4.3.2 FieldWork -- 4.3.3 Office Work -- 4.3.4 Accuracy Assessment for Digitalmap Classification. , 4.3.5 Preparation of GIS Database -- 4.4 Results and Discussion -- 4.4.1 Classification and Distribution of Soil Units in the Study Area -- 4.4.2 Digital Image Classification Using Remote Sensing Techniques -- 4.4.3 Accuracy Assessment of Digital Classification -- 4.5 Conclusions -- 4.6 Recommendations -- References -- Proximal Soil Sensing -- 5 Proximal Soil Sensing for Soil Monitoring -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.1.1 Proximal Soil Sensing (PSS) -- 5.1.2 Soil Spectroscopy -- 5.1.3 Acquiring Reflectance Information from Soil -- 5.2 Background of Soil Spectroscopy -- 5.2.1 Soil Spectroscopy for Soil Properties Monitoring -- 5.2.2 Soil Spectroscopy for Soil Contamination Monitoring -- 5.3 Spectroscopic Preprocessing and Calibration -- 5.3.1 Preprocessing -- 5.3.2 Calibration -- 5.4 Accuracy and Uncertainty in Soil Spectroscopy -- 5.5 Soil Spectroscopy for Iron Oxide Prediction: A Case Study in Sulaimani, the Iraqi Kurdistan Region -- 5.5.1 Materials and Methods -- 5.5.2 Results -- 5.6 Conclusions -- 5.7 Recommendations and Future Aspects -- References -- 6 Proximal Soil Sensing Applications in Soil Fertility -- 6.1 Introduction -- 6.2 Background: Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Historical Review -- 6.2.1 The Potential of Vis-NIR Spectroscopy and Its Applications to Soil Analysis -- 6.3 Materials and Methods -- 6.3.1 Study Site Description and Soil Sampling -- 6.3.2 Soil Spectra Measurements -- 6.3.3 Data Analysis: Calibration -- 6.3.4 Evaluation of the Prediction Power -- 6.4 Results and Discussion -- 6.4.1 Vis-NIR Spectra of Soils -- 6.4.2 Nutrients Prediction by PLS Analysis -- 6.4.3 Nutrients Prediction by GIS-Kriging -- 6.5 Conclusions -- 6.6 Recommendations -- References -- RS and GIS for Land Cover/Land Use Change Monitoring -- 7 Multi-temporal Satellite Data for Land Use/Cover (LULC) Change Detection in Zakho, Kurdistan Region-Iraq -- 7.1 Introduction. , 7.2 Materials and Methods -- 7.2.1 Study Area -- 7.2.2 Data and Pre-processing -- 7.2.3 LULC Classification -- 7.2.4 LULC Mapping: Post Classification Change Detection -- 7.2.5 Accuracy and Area Assessment -- 7.3 Results and Discussion -- 7.3.1 LULC Analysis -- 7.3.2 LULC Patterns Change in the Study Area Between 1989 and 2017 -- 7.3.3 LULC Conversions for the Last 28 Years (1989-2017) -- 7.4 Conclusion -- 7.5 Recommendations -- References -- 8 Monitoring of the Land Cover Changes in Iraq -- 8.1 Introduction -- 8.2 Climate Changes in the World -- 8.3 Rainfall and Temperature -- 8.4 eMODIS NDVI V6 -- 8.5 Land Cover -- 8.6 Vegetation Distribution in Iraq -- 8.7 Vegetation Change Detection in Iraq -- 8.8 Relationship Between Vegetation Distribution, Precipitation and Elevation -- 8.9 Conclusion -- 8.10 Recommendation -- References -- 9 Effects of Land Cover Change on Surface Runoff Using GIS and Remote Sensing: A Case Study Duhok Sub-basin -- 9.1 Introduction -- 9.1.1 Land Cover and Land Use -- 9.1.2 Soil Conservation Service Curve Number (SCS-CN) Method -- 9.2 Methodology and Data -- 9.2.1 Study Area -- 9.2.2 Climate Conditions -- 9.2.3 Satellite and Rainfall Data -- 9.2.4 Images Classification -- 9.2.5 SCS-CN Model and the Proposed Method -- 9.2.6 Estimate Runoff Depth -- 9.3 Results and Discussion -- 9.3.1 Changes in Land Cover -- 9.3.2 Rainfall Variable in Time -- 9.3.3 Changes in Potential Runoff -- 9.4 Conclusions -- 9.5 Recommendations -- References -- Land Degradation, Drought, and Dust Storms -- 10 Monitoring and Mapping of Land Threats in Iraq Using Remote Sensing -- 10.1 Introduction -- 10.2 Soil Salinity -- 10.2.1 Monitoring and Mapping Soil Salinity -- 10.2.2 Dynamic Salinity Changes -- 10.2.3 Methodology for Monitoring and Mapping Soil Salinity -- 10.2.4 Salinity Changes in Mesopotamia. , 10.2.5 Effect of Soil Salinity on Vegetation Changes in Mesopotamia Plain -- 10.3 Land Cover/Land Use -- 10.3.1 Land Cover/Land Use Dynamic Changes -- 10.3.2 Methodology for Monitoring and Mapping LULC Changes in Iraq -- 10.4 Sand Dunes -- 10.4.1 Dynamic Changes for Sand Dunes Areas During 2006-2016 -- 10.5 Monitoring the Expansion of Urban Land -- 10.5.1 Impacts of Urbanization -- 10.5.2 Causes of Urbanization -- 10.6 Conclusions -- 10.7 Recommendations -- References -- 11 Agricultural Drought Monitoring Over Iraq Utilizing MODIS Products -- 11.1 Introduction -- 11.2 Materials and Methods -- 11.2.1 Selection of the Study Area -- 11.2.2 Data Collection and Processing -- 11.3 Results and Discussion -- 11.4 Conclusions -- References -- 12 The Aeolian Sand Dunes in Iraq: A New Insight -- 12.1 Introduction -- 12.2 Type of Aeolian Sand Dunes and Their Distribution in the World -- 12.3 Climate and Aeolian Sand Dunes in Iraq -- 12.4 Landsat, Sentinel-SAR Data -- 12.5 Aeolian Sand Dunes Distribution in Iraq -- 12.6 Aeolian Sand Dunes Monitoring in Iraq -- 12.7 Sand Dunes Movement in the Center of Mesopotamia -- 12.7.1 Preparing SAR Data for DInSAR -- 12.7.2 Results and Discussion of DInSAR -- 12.8 Conclusion -- 12.9 Recommendations -- References -- 13 Drought Monitoring for Northern Part of Iraq Using Temporal NDVI and Rainfall Indices -- 13.1 Introduction -- 13.2 Background -- 13.2.1 Drought as a Concept and Definition -- 13.2.2 Impact of Drought on Soil Properties -- 13.2.3 Drought Monitoring -- 13.2.4 Remote Sensing and GIS: Their Relation to Drought Issues -- 13.2.5 Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) -- 13.2.6 Drought Mitigation: Options and Implementation -- 13.3 Materials and Methods -- 13.3.1 Study Area -- 13.3.2 Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) -- 13.3.3 Pre-processing of Satellite Images -- 13.3.4 NDVI Calculations. , 13.3.5 Software Used -- 13.4 Result and Discussion -- 13.4.1 Drought Classification Based on Meteorological Data -- 13.4.2 Drought Classification Based on Remote Sensing Data -- 13.4.3 NDVI-Rainfall Relationship -- 13.4.4 Agricultural Drought Risk Based on NDVI Anomaly -- 13.5 Conclusions -- 13.6 Recommendations -- References -- 14 Remote Sensing and GIS for Dust Storm Studies in Iraq -- 14.1 Introduction -- 14.2 Remote Sensing for Dust Storm Studies -- 14.2.1 Dust Sources Identification -- 14.2.2 Dust Detection Using Satellite Imagery -- 14.2.3 Atmospheric Patterns of Dust Storms -- 14.2.4 Climate Regimes of Dust Storms -- 14.2.5 Dust Storm Tracking Model -- 14.2.6 Dust Emission (Soil Erosion) Assessment using Remote Sensing -- 14.2.7 Land Use/Land Cover Mapping Using Remote Sensing -- 14.2.8 Morphological Unite Maps -- 14.2.9 Drought and Dust Storms Studies using Remote Sensing -- 14.2.10 Remote Sensing Change Detection -- 14.3 GIS for Dust Storm Studies -- 14.3.1 Dust Sources Modeling with GIS -- 14.3.2 Knowledge-Based Approaches -- 14.3.3 GIS for Modeling the Effect of Dust Storms on Health -- 14.4 Summary -- References -- 15 Drought Monitoring Using Spectral and Meteorological Based Indices Combination: A Case Study in Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan Region of Iraq -- 15.1 Introduction -- 15.2 The Study Area -- 15.3 Materials and Methods -- 15.3.1 Soil Samples Preparations -- 15.3.2 Remotely Sensed Datasets -- 15.3.3 Preprocessing of the Landsat Images -- 15.3.4 Drought Indices -- 15.3.5 SPI -- 15.3.6 Remote Sensing Based Drought Indices -- 15.3.7 NDVI -- 15.3.8 LST -- 15.3.9 NDWI -- 15.4 Results and Discussions -- 15.4.1 NDVI -- 15.4.2 NDWI -- 15.4.3 LST -- 15.4.4 SPI -- 15.4.5 The Combined NDVI-SPI Drought Maps -- 15.4.6 The Statistical Analysis -- 15.5 Conclusions -- References -- RS and GIS for Natural Resources. , 16 Geo-Morphometric Analysis and Flood Simulation of the Tigris River Due to a Predicted Failure of the Mosul Dam, Mosul, Iraq.