Investigation of Drought Trend Using Satellite Imagery ( Case study: West Azerbaijan Province )

Drought is a complex meteorological phenomenon that depends on several environmental factors. This phenomenon is a common natural disaster that is recognized as one of the ydrological, agricultural, and economic concerns of humanity. In this study, ecological, hsatellite data and Google Earth Engine were used to investigate the drought phenomenon in I, West Azerbaijan province. In order to achieve this research goal, four indices, namely SPyear period from satellite images -23NDVI, VCI, and TCI, were selected and utilized for a images were used for the NDVI, VCI, and TCI 526In this study, . 2022 to 2000of the years ch results showed images were used to calculate the SPI index. The resear 8081indices, and that severe and moderate droughts were experienced in most parts of the province in the Additionally, various levels of drought . 2022and , 2021, 2017, 2015, 2008, 2000 years , 2006, 2002ince in the years existed in the central, northern, and southern parts of the prov 2009 , 2010 , 2011 , Moreover, normal conditions were observed in all areas of . 2019and and 2014to 2012and from , 2007, 2005, 2004, 2001the province in the years 2016. t the VCI and SPI indices were the Comparing the results of the indices, it can be stated thamost sensitive indices for drought identification in the West Azerbaijan province, as they were able to effectively identify different types of droughts. Furthermore, the NDVI index, for drought identification, can indicate a decrease in due to its relatively good sensitivityvegetation cover during drought years. Overall, the results of this study demonstrated that West Azerbaijan province is at risk of drought.