Assessment of Drought Severity in the Rezi-Chai Watershed using VCI, TCI, and VHI Indices

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Professor, Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Social Science, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili,

2 PhD Student, Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Social Science, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran.

3 PhD Student, Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Social Science, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran

Abstract

 
Drought, as one of the most significant environmental challenges, poses a severe threat to food security and water resources. Identifying and monitoring drought-prone areas using modern methods, particularly in the Rezi-Chai watershed, is of great importance. This study aimed to investigate environmental indices, including Land Surface Temperature (LST), soil moisture, and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), from 2016 to 2022 using MODIS satellite data in Google Earth Engine. In this study, the drought indices TCI, VCI, and VHI were calculated and analyzed. The results indicated that the highest land surface temperature was recorded in the southwest of the watershed at 303 Kelvin, while the lowest temperature was in the northeast at 293 Kelvin. Additionally, soil moisture reached its minimum in the southwest (6.73 mm) and its maximum in the northeast (16 mm). The NDVI showed the highest vegetation cover density in the southwest and northeast of the watershed, with a value of 0.15. The analysis of drought indices revealed that in the central areas of the watershed, the TCI index increased thermal stress to a value of 0.42. Furthermore, the decrease in VCI and VHI indices, with values of 0.16 and -0.03 respectively, indicated a significant decline in vegetation health in these areas. Correlation analysis between drought indices and environmental factors showed that the VHI index had the highest significant correlation with NDVI at approximately 0.34. Ultimately, these results demonstrate that with increasing land surface temperature and decreasing soil moisture, drought is intensified, causing serious harm to vegetation health.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Abedini, M., Bahraminia, F., Mostafazadeh, R., Pasban, A. H (2023). Investigating the impact of land use changes in a period of twenty years on the rate of erosion and sedimentation in the Razi Chai Basin, Geography and Environmental Studies, Vol 12, N 45, 114-133.
20.1001.1.20087845.1402.12.45.7.9
Abedini, M.; Mohammadzadeh Shishagaran, M. Qala, E2 (2022). Monitoring and estimating the extent of fire-affected areas of Zagros mountains using Landsat satellite images. Journal of Geography and Environmental Planning. 33(4), 62-49.
10.22108/gep.2022.131560.1470.
Abedini, M.; Qala, A; Aghazadeh, N.; Mohammadzadeh Shihgaran, AD1 (2022). Monitoring the surface temperature of the earth and investigating the relationship between land use and surface temperature using OLI and TM sensor images. Journal of Applied Research in Geographical Sciences, 22(67), 393-375.
20.1001.1.22287736.1401.22.67.18.5.
Ahmadi, M., Nasrati, K., Selki, H (2013). Drought and its relationship with soil moisture, a case study: Kabutrabad, Isfahan, Geografia, Vol 11, N 38, 77-91.
Ahmadi, R., Ghasemieh, H., Ghazavi, R (2024). Assessment of Meteorological and Hydrological Drought Situation (Case Study: Sub-Basins in the Central Plateau Basin), Hydrogeomorphology,
 10.22034/hyd.2024.62269.1746
Arekhi, S., Barzegar Savasari, M., Emadaddian, S (2022). Investigating the Indicators Resulting from Remote Sensing Technology in Drought Assessment using MODIS Images (Case Study: Qom, Isfahan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, and Markazi Provinces), Journal of Geography and Environmental Hazards, Vol 11, N 43, 189-224.
10.22067/geoeh.2021.72253.1102
Balti, H., Ben Abbes, A., Mellouli, N., Farah, I.R., Sang, Y., Lamolle, M (2020). A review of drought monitoring with big data: Issues, methods, challenges and research directions, Ecological Informatics 60.
https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2020.101136 101136.
Bento, V.A., Gouveia, C.M., DaCamara, C.C., Trigo, I. F (2018). A climatological assessment of drought impact on vegetation health index, Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, vol 259, 286-295.
DOI:10.1016/j.agrformet.2018.05.014
Damavandi, A. A., Rahimi, M., Yazdani, M. R., Noroozi, A. A (2016). Spatial Monitoring of Agricultural Drought through Time Series of NDVI and LST indices of MODIS data (Case study: Markazi Province). Scientific- Research Quarterly of Geographical Data (SEPEHR), Vol 25, N 99, 115-126.
doi: 10.22131/sepehr.2016.23200
Das, P. K., Chandra, S., Das, D. K., Midya, S. K., Paul, A., Bandyopadhyay, S., Dadhwal, V. K (2020). Understanding the interactions between meteorological and soil moisture drought over Indian region, Journal of Earth System Science, Vol 129, N 1, 1-17.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-020-01460-7
DavoodAbadi Farahani M H, Sharifi A R, Arabi M (2022). Monitoring of Agricultural Drought in Markazi Province using VHI and PDSI Indices. JGST, Vol 11, N 3, 83-100.
 ‎20.1001.1.2322102.1400.11.3.7.9
Eskandari Damaneh H, Eskandari Damaneh H, Khosravi H, Gilevari A, Adeli Sardooei M.  (2021). A survey on the effect of drought on environmental indices derived from the MODIS data over the 2001-2019 period (Case study: Rangelands of Isfahan province), Journal of Rangeland, Vol 15, N 3, 460-47 6.
20.1001.1.20080891.1400.15.3.8.7
Faramarzi M, Nouri H (2015). Evaluation of vegetation and thermal indices efficiency and feasibility of Landsat images to agricultural drought analysis (case study: Malayer). GeoRes, Vol 30, N 3, 139-152.
URL: http://georesearch.ir/article-1-138-fa.html
Feyzolahpour, M (2024). Moisture stress and drought monitoring based on correlation analysis between spectral indices based on humidity, vegetation cover and temperature in Shadgan Wetland, Hydrogeomorphology.
 https://doi.org/10.22034/hyd.2024.60376.1727
Javed, T., Yao, N., Chen, X., Suon, S., Li, Y (2020). Drought evolution indicated by meteorological and remote-sensing drought indices under different land cover types in China, Environmental Science and Pollution Research, Vol 27, N 4, 4258-4274.
DOI: 10.1007/s11356-019-06629-2
Jehanzaib, M., Sattar, M.N., Lee, J.H., Kim, T. W (2020). Investigating effect of climate change on drought propagation from meteorological to hydrological drought using multi-model ensemble projections, Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment, Vol 34, N 1, 7-21. 
https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1633
Ji, T., Li, G., Yang, H., Liu, R., He, T (2018). Comprehensive drought index as an indicator for use in drought monitoring integrating multisource remote sensing data: a case study covering the Sichuan-Chongqing region, International Journal of Remote Sensing, Vol39, N 3, 786-809.
DOI:10.1080/01431161.2017.1392635
Jiao, W., Tian, C., Chang, Q., Novick, K.A., Wang, L (2019). A new multi-sensor integrated index for drought monitoring, Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Vol 268, 74-85.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2019.01.008
Konapala, G., Mishra, A.K., Wada, Y., Mann, M. E (2020). Climate change will affect global water availability through compounding changes in seasonal precipitation and evaporation, Nature Communications, Vol 11, N 1, 3044.
DOI:10.1038/s41467-020-16757-w
Li, X., Li, Y., Chen, A., Gao, M., Slette, I. J., Piao, S (2019). The impact of the 2009/2010 drought on vegetation growth and terrestrial carbon balance in Southwest China, Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Vol 269, 239-248.
DOI:10.1016/j.agrformet.2019.01.036
Masroor, M.D., Haroon, S., Sufia, R., Roshani, S., Hibjur Rahaman, M.D., Mehbub, S., Raihan, A., Ram, A (2022). Analysing the relationship between drought and soil erosion using vegetation health index and RUSLE models in Godavari middle sub-basin, India, Geoscience Frontiers, Vol 13, V 2, 1-13.
DOI:10.1016/j.gsf.2021.101312
Mbatha, N., Xulu, S (2018). Time series analysis of MODIS-Derived NDVI for the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, South Africa: Impact of recent intense drought. Climate, Vol 6, N 4, 95.
https://doi.org/10.3390/cli6040095
Mckee, T.B., Doesken, N.J., Kleist, J (2018). The Relationship of Drought Frequency and Duration to Time Scales. In Proceedings of the AMS 8th Conference on Applied Climatology, Anaheim, CA, USA, 17-22 January, 179-184.
DOI: 10.4236/jwarp.2016.87058
Nouro Pourdargazi, M., Bazrafshan, O., & Esmaelpour, Y (2022). Agricultural Drought Monitoring Using Climatic, Vegetation and Soil Moisture Data in Hormozgan Province. Nivar, Vol 46, N 116, 163-178.
doi: 10.30467/nivar.2022.352541.1224
Rahi, G. R., Bahraini, F., KhosroShahi, M., Biabani, L (2022). The Effect of Drought on Dust Storm Frequency (Case study: Bushehr Province). Journal of Water and Soil Conservation, Vol 29, N 1, 31-51.
 doi: 10.22069/jwsc.2022.19677.3511
Safdari Molan, A., & Mardaneh, A (2023). Investigating the Trend of Drought Changes with Temperature-Vegetation Dryness Index (TVDI) and Its Relationship with Atmospheric Factors (Case Study: Siah Kooh Watershed). Journal of Water and Sustainable Development, Vol 10, N 3, 99-108.
doi: 10.22067/jwsd.V10I3.2305-1243
Santos, C., Augusto, G., Brasil, N., Reginaldo, M., Nascimento, Thiago V., Silva, R., Mishra, M., Frade, T. G (2021). Geospatial drought severity analysis based on Persiann-CDR-estimated rainfall data for Odisha state in India (1983-2018), Science of The Total Environment, Vol 750, 141-258.  
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141258
Serrano, S.M., Beguerıa, S., Lopez-Moreno, J. I (2010). A Multiscalar Drought Index Sensitive to Global Warming: The Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index, Journal of Climate, Vol 23, N 7, 1696-1718.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1175/2009JCLI2909.1
Shao, W., Kam, J (2020). Retrospective and prospective evaluations of drought and flood, Science of The Total Environment, 748.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141155
Siasar, H., Mohammadrezapour, O., & Khodamorad Pour, M (2024). Drought Monitoring using MODIS Sensor Data and Comparison with SPI Meteorological Index in Short-term Periods (Case study: Golestan province). Geography and Development, Vol 22, N 74,166-186.
doi: 10.22111/gdij.2024.8175
Singh, S., Bhardwaj, A., Verma, V (2020). Remote sensing and GIS based analysis of temporal land use/land cover and water quality changes in Harike wetland ecosystem, Punjab, India, Journal of Environmental Management, Vol 262, 11035.
DOI:10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110355
Walker, J. P. Houser, P. R (2004). Requirements of a global near-surface soil moisture mission: accuracy, repeat time, and spatial resolution, Advances in Water Resources, Vol 27, 785-801.
DOI:10.1016/j.advwatres.2004.05.006
Yao, J., Zhao, Y., Chen, Y., Yu, X., Zhang, R (2018). Multi-scale assessments of droughts: A case study in Xinjiang China, Science of the Total Environment, Vol 630, 444-452.
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.02.200
Yu, Y., Wang, J., Cheng, F., Deng, H., Chen, S (2020). Drought monitoring in Yunnan Province based on a TRMM precipitation product, Natural Hazards, Vol 104, N 3, 2369-2387.
DOI:10.1007/s11069-020-04276-2
Geography and Development
Volume 23, Issue 80 - Serial Number 80
September 2025
Pages 75-98

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 09 June 2024
  • Revise Date: 05 October 2024
  • Accept Date: 30 December 2024

Share

How to cite

Statistics