The study consisted in the development and use of a practical method to detect and
monitor, analyze and produce maps of changes in land use and land cover in the district of
Mahmudiya in Baghdad during the period 1990-2007 using the applications of remote sensing
techniques and with the assisstant of geographic information systems (GIS),as a valuable
contribution to land degradation studies.
This study is based maiuly on the processing on two subsets of landsat5 TM images picked up
in August 1990 and 2007 respectively in order to facilitate comparision and were thengeometrically and radiometrcally calibrated ,to used for digital classification purposes using
maximum liklihoods classification or six spectral bands of both images as input (with the
thermal bands being excluded)for procedures of change detection proposed, as well as the use
of installation chromatograpiy analysis and visual interpretation using spectral bands (2,4,7)
and (2,3,4) respectively for the preparation of a maps foe the patterns of land cover and land
uses in the study area.
Change detection results showed an increase in the area of class urban areas, in the year
1990, the area of this product 9.8 km 2, and in the year 2007 has become a 60.9 km 2 area of
the image, and an increase in the area of class agricultural land unexploited In 1990, the area
of this product 1290.50 km 2, and the year 2007 has become a 1610.33 km2 of the image, and
increase the area of classified land saline, in the year 1990, the area of this product 183.27 km
2, and in the year 2007 has become a 328.31 km2 of the image as well as an increase in the
area of class cover the water, in the year 1990 was space This product was 46.2 km 2, and in
the year 2007 has become a 62.5 km 2 of the area of the image, on the other hand decreased
space class vegetation In 1990, the area of this product 1140 km 2, and in the year 2007 has
become a 575.31 km 2, and also a decrease in class of arid lands In the year 1990, the area of
this product 407.12 km 2, and in the year 2007 has become a 261.95 km 2 area of the image.
The results revealed the reasous of land degradation in the district of Mahmudiya It
showed that the reason for an increase in the cover of water is an increase in human
activities,including the increase in artificial lakes, fish, this is important reason of land
degradation to decrease in a agriculture area, and this led decline to increased salinization of
the soil, either decrease in the arid land was due to the increase of urban land at the expense of
the land reclamation has happened in these arid lands
Keywords : land degradation , Remote Sensing , land covor , land use.