Monitoring vegetation and surface water dynamics of Oued M’ya using Earth Observation data

Abstract

Oued M’ya is located on the northern part of the Algerian sahara, it represents the main artery of dry Ouedis. The superficial water table outcrops in depressions in form of salty wetlands. These wetlands are influenced by different factors that degrade its environment, leading to the fluctuation of the static level and the augmentation of water, and land salinity, which directly influences the oasis ecosystem. The objective of the present study is to follow the evolution of the vegetation cover and the humid surface state in order to map the changes and to identify the influencing factors. The study is based on the monitoring vegetation cover and water surface of Oued M’ya between the years 1989 and 2018, with the field surveys data and mapping changes obtained from remote sensing satellite images.