Skip to main content

On the Drying Trends Over the MENA Countries Using Harmonic Analysis of the Enhanced Vegetation Index

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation ((ASTI))

Abstract

Arid and semi-arid environments characterize the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Climate change posed significant effects in these regions making them drier and suffer water scarcity especially in recent years. In this research, we used the enhanced vegetation index (EVI) as an indicator of this drying trend over the MENA region the past 20 years. We used harmonic analysis model for comparison with observation data to reveal trends in some capital cities within the MENA region, namely, Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Iran. The models performed well and different vegetation changes among these countries were observed. The results revealed a changing behavior over different areas among the MENA region. For instance regions such as Iraq and middle Saudi Arabia suffer drier climate, whereas parts of Iran is more humid.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Narisma, G.T., Foley, J.A., Licker, R., Ramankutty, N.: Abrupt changes in rainfall during the twentieth century. Geophys. Res. Lett. 34 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Nicholson, S.: Climatic and environmental change in Africa during the last two centuries. Clim. Res. 17, 123–144 (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Nicholson, S.E., Tucker, C.J., Ba, M.B.: Desertification, drought, and surface vegetation: an example from the west African Sahel. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 79, 815–829 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Hulme, M.: Recent climatic change in the world’s drylands. Geophys. Res. Lett. 23, 61–64 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Feng, S., Fu, Q.: Expansion of global drylands under a warming climate. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 13, 10081–10094 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Chou, C., Neelin, J.D., Chen, C.-A., Tu, J.-Y.: Evaluating the “Rich-Get-Richer” mechanism in tropical precipitation change under global warming. J. Clim. 22, 1982–2005 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Held, I.M., Soden, B.J.: Robust responses of the hydrological cycle to global warming. J. Clim. 19, 5686–5699 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Neelin, J.D., Chou, C., Su, H.: Tropical drought regions in global warming and El Niño teleconnections: tropical drought in global warming and ENSO. Geophys. Res. Lett. 30 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Seager, R., Naik, N.H., Vecchi, G.A.: Thermodynamic and dynamic mechanisms for large-scale changes in the hydrological cycle in response to global warming. J. Clim. 23(17), 4651–4668 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Trenberth, K.E., Dai, A., Rasmussen, R.M., Parsons, D.B.: The changing character of precipitation. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 84, 1205–1218 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-84-9-1205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Reed, S.C., Coe, K.K., Sparks, J.P., et al.: Changes to dryland rainfall result in rapid moss mortality and altered soil fertility. Nat. Clim. Change 2, 752–755 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Reynolds, J.F., Smith, D.M.S., Lambin, E.F., et al.: Global desertification: building a science for dryland development. Science 316, 847–851 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Rotenberg, E., Yakir, D.: Contribution of semi-arid forests to the climate system. Science 327, 451–454 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Liu, H.Q., Huete, A.: A feedback based modification of the NDVI to minimize canopy background and atmospheric noise. IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens. 33, 457–465 (1995)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hesham M. El-Askary .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Li, W., El-Askary, H.M., Qurban, M., Allali, M., Manikandan, K.P. (2019). On the Drying Trends Over the MENA Countries Using Harmonic Analysis of the Enhanced Vegetation Index. In: El-Askary, H., Lee, S., Heggy, E., Pradhan, B. (eds) Advances in Remote Sensing and Geo Informatics Applications. CAJG 2018. Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01440-7_57

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics