Application of Space Technology for Water Management in IRAQ

XVI UN/IAF Workshop on Use of Space Technology for Water Resources Management

29-30 Sep 2006, Valencia, Spain

Dr. Samir S. Raouf

Directorate of Aeronautics and Space Technology

Ministry of Science and Technology

Baghdad, IRAQ

Author’s Blog

Mesopotamia (E-T) Basin

• Euphrates Basin ~32 Bm3

95 % Turkey, 5% Syria.

• Tigris Basin ~ 50 Bm3

20 Bm3 Turkey, 30 Bm3Tributaries.

• System Storage, ~90 Bm3Turkey ,~14 Bm3 Syria,~ 110 Bm3 Iraq.

• Utilization ~ Iraq 90 % for Irrigation.

E-T Basin Area Distribution (UNEP 2001)

Country Euphrates Tigris

Km2 % Km2 %

Turkey 121787 21.1 53052 14.3

Syria 94405 16.5 948 0.2

Iran - - 175386 47.2

Iraq 282532 49 142175 38.3

Saudi Arabia

77090 13.4 - -

Total 576814 100 371561 100

Upper Basin

• Protect Inhabited Regions from Flooding

Lower Basin

MoST/DAST Activities

• Marshland Monitoring

• Flood Monitoring

• Monitoring of Reservoirs

• Monitoring of Snow Cover in Upstream Regions

• Monitoring of Change of River Path

Problems in the Marshlands

Marshland 1973 Marshland 2000

Only 14.5% of the original marshland area of ~9000 sq. KM remains

Marshland Rehabilitation Program

• Marshland Rehabilitation Program started immediately after the end of the war.

• The Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) in Iraq manages the project, with help from other countries, international organizations and NGOs.

• The project consisted mainly of directing more water into the marshland and field activities to recover the eco-system that suffered severely from the shrinking of the marshland.

• Remote Sensing contributed to the early discovery of the problem and it was used to monitor the Rehabilitation Program.

Marshland Monitoring in DAST

• MODIS satellite images are widely available and provide daily coverage.

• Classified regions are shown over RGB (1,4,3) true color image.

• Blue – Classified Water Surface.

• Red – Classified Hydrophytes.

• Date 23 sep. 2003.

Marshland Now

Image of the same view in sep, 23, 2006.

Progress in Marshland Recovery

Marshland in Flood Season

Same area in flood season May, 21, 2006

Classified Maps of Marshland

• Maps are produced for the marshland.

• Blue ~ Surface Water

• Green ~ Vegetation

• Yellow ~ Sand

• Light Red ~ Hydrophytes

• Red ~ Dense Hydrophytes

• Sep, 24, 2006

Images From Marshland

Flood Monitoring

Basra in April 21 2006 Basra in Sep 23 2006

MoWR Activities

http://www.iraqi-mwr.org/payv/

International Activities

• UNEPIraq Marshland Observation System

http://imos.grid.unep.ch/

• UNESCO

• USAID Iraqi Marsh Restorations Program http://www.iraqmarshes.org/

• Etc.,

IMOS Products

New Projects in MoST/DAST

Build a MODIS receiving ground station. The station is upgradeable to other Remote Sensing Satellites. Expected to be ready in nine months.

THANK YOU