Abstract
IMPACT OF THE KARKHEH RIVER DAM ON THE SURFACE TEMPERATURE OF THE HAWIZEH MARSH
Oday Jeewan and Professor Patricia Terry*
ABSTRACT
In 2003, Iran began construction of a dam along the shared border of the Hawizeh Marsh -a transboundary wetland between Iran-Iraq. The project was completed in late 2007. After damage already done to the marsh in the 1980s under previous leadership, Iraq had in 2003 begun efforts to restore the marsh ecosystem. The objective of this study is to determine if this dam has affected the Hawizeh ecosystem. Because of political instability and for security reasons, physical measurement of marsh characteristics has not been possible, so remotely measured data was needed to assess the impact. This study used nine years of Landsat 7 satellite images of thermal bands to determine the impact of the dam on land surface temperature, LST. LSTs were compared for both the areas above and below the dam before and after dam construction and filling. Results showed that LST increased by an average of 2.8oC below the dam, where water flow decreased, and decreased by the same amount above the dam, where a reservoir was formed. Given the temperature sensitivity of many living organisms, one can conclude that the dam impacted the marsh ecosystem.
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