Spatio-temporal Assessment of Vegetation, Water, Land Surface Temperature, and Changes in Land Use and Land Cover in Mosul City (2004–2024) Using Remote Sensing and GIS

The objective of this study is to investigate and evaluate the temporal and spatial fluctuations in land cover indices (LULC), the NDVI (normalized vegetation index), Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), and the temperature of the land surface (LST). Using satellite imagery(Landsat 5 TM and Landsat 8 OLI) along with Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques, in Mosul city for the period from 2004 to 2024.For the study, four significant years were chosen: 2004, 2010, 2020, and 2024.Due to conflicts and drought, the NDVI decreased precipitously from 0.72 in 2004 to 0.26 in 2010, before improving to 0.63 in 2024. The NDWI saw a sharp drop from 0.77 in 2004 to 0.037 in 2010, before marginally improving to 0.32 in 2024. An important sign of desertification and vegetation loss, LST increased from 39.2°C in 2004 to 61.35°C in 2024. In the LULC, water bodies dropped from 104 km² in 2004 to 40.2 km² in 2024, a 61% decline. Green areas shrank from 1,379 km² to 989 km². From 361.5 km² to 770 km², urban areas doubled. There was an increase in barren lands from 2,671 km² to 3,422 km². Moreover, the study demonstrated a definite inverse link between surface temperature and vegetation cover.