Soil Change Detection and Contamination Assessment of Some Heavy Metals in Agricultural Soils at Abu-Alkhasib, Basra Governorate, Iraq

Advanced remote sensing techniques are a powerful tool for monitoring changes that occur over specific periods and providing useful results in soil pollution issues, which are becoming an increasingly important problem worldwide. The study aims to detect changes in vegetation cover between 2014-2022 and assess heavy metal elements contamination in the soils at the center of the Abu-Alkhasib district. Normalized Differences Vegetation Index (NDVI) was applied to three images of Landsat8/Oli for 2014,2018, and Landsat 9/TIRS for 2022. Ten soil samples were collected from many locations (Tareeq Aljalabi, Kut-Alfadj, Alsankar, Nahr Khuz, Jecor, BabTawil, Abu Mughirah, Hay-Alaskary, Kut Al-Selhi, and Mhejiran) to analyze five heavy metals elements (Lead, Cadmium, Chromium, Iron, and Copper) in addition, two factors have been measured Enrichment Factor (EF) and Contamination Factor (CF) to assess the contamination by heavy metals elements. NDVI results showed evident changes in the vegetation cover area, classified as poor vegetation. The concentration of heavy elements is extremely low and below the global limits. The EF values revealed a significant amount of Chromium and Copper due to increased fuel and factory waste combustion. In contrast, CF values indicated that the soils are lightly contaminated with heavy elements.