Derivation of seasonal variation maps of the average precipitation in Iraq by using remote sensing data and Geographical Information System

Abstract

One of the important climatic features is the precipitation that is defined as water in liquid or solid forms falling to the earth's surface. It is always preceded by condensation, sublimation or combination of the two, and is primarily associated with rising air. Iraq relies on precipitation falling outside its borders for more than half of its water. This high dependency rate makes it vulnerable to climate change and storage projects in Turkey, Syria and Iran. The present study aims to employ remote sensing data and the GIS (Geographical Information System) application to extract the monthly and seasonal variations of the precipitation feature, which affects the area of Iraq. The study depends on precipitation dataset (1970–2008) collected from 36 meteorological stations distributed in the north, middle and south of Iraq. Digital Elevation Model (DEM) with spatial resolution of (1 km) used to be important parameters to show the effect of the surface terrain on the distribution of the precipitation in Iraq. ArcGIS9.3.1 and CLIMAP software have been used to analysis and produce the final climatic maps.