SPATIAL ASSESSMENT OF VEGETATION AND MOISTURE CONDITIONS OF DEHKAN FARM LANDS USING REMOTE SENSING (THE CASE OF BESHARIQ DISTRICT)

Abstract

This paper presents an approach for the spatial assessment of vegetation and moisture conditions of dehkan farm lands in Beshariq district on the basis of remote sensing data and parcel-level cadastral boundaries. The study is motivated by the dominant role of dehkan and household farms in the district’s agricultural production and by the need for a fast, repeatable and spatially explicit monitoring system. NDVI and NDMI are used as the core indicators of vegetation activity and moisture regime, while SAVI, BSI and land-surface temperature are considered as complementary metrics where needed. Parcel-based zonal statistics, including median, percentiles and valid-pixel share, are proposed as the main analytical mechanism for translating pixel observations into parcel-level evidence. The study argues that the combined use of NDVI and NDMI allows the identification of productive, moisture-stressed and potentially degraded parcels more reliably than the use of a greenness indicator alone. The methodological outputs are suitable for contour passports, thematic maps and prioritization of field inspection.