Author(s)

Meryem El Amraoui^1*, Lahcen Kabiri¹, Amina Kassou¹, Lamya Ouali¹, Alexis Nutz²

¹Department of Geosciences, Geo-Resource-Geo-Environment-Geological patrimony and Oasis Heritage Research Team, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques of Errachidia, Moulay Ismail University, Boutalamine-Errachidia, Morocco.
²European Center for Research and Education in Environmental Geosciences, Aix Marseille University, Marseille, France.

The Oasis of Ferkla is part of the Oases of Tafilalt in southern Morocco. These are classified by UNESCO as the Oases of Southern Morocco Biosphere Reserve. The Ferkla Oasis is increasingly experiencing a situation of increased regression and degradation, aggravated by the effects of climate change. These foreshadow a considerable acceleration of desertification and drought with the effect of the loss of production systems whose social, ecological and economic role remains major for the whole country. In order to contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of the vegetation in this territory and the impact of climate change in the Oasis of Ferkla, we used spatial remote sensing to trace the evolution of changes in the vegetation cover in an agricultural extension called Bour El Khourbat. Calculation of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index for seven multidate satellite images allowed us to follow the vegetation in this oasis zone from the year 1984 to 2019. Indeed, from these multi-temporal images, this study clearly shows the evolution of the vegetation with a remarkable agricultural extension towards the South-East of the zone. This extension is due not only to the installation of a diversion dam upstream but also to the development of the localized irrigation system “Drop by Drop” which is a technique that saves water resources in addition to the presence in the area. Bour El Khourbat specifies a geological structure, in the primary, relatively favorable to having water linked to cracks.

Climate Change, Remote Sensing, GIS, Vegetation Change Detection, Ferkla Oasis

Amraoui, M. , Kabiri, L. , Kassou, A. , Ouali, L. and Nutz, A. (2022) Diachronic Study of the Vegetation Covers Spatiotemporal Change Using GIS and Remote Sensing in the Ferkla Oasis: Case Study, Bour El Khourbat, Tinjdad, Morocco. Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection, 10, 173-188. doi: 10.4236/gep.2022.101012.