The Effect of Climate on The Variation of Water Cover Area in Lake Sawa

Abstract

The study used Landsat (8) satellite images with a resolution of (30) meters to determine how climate affected Lake Sawa water cover. Twelve images per month of 2024 were obtained using Bands 3 and 5 to extract the water cover index (NDWI), which was then analyzed using the Arc GIS 10.5 program. The study found that the overall area of Lake Sawa depression reached (4.52) km2, and the area of the water cover varied to reach its maximum area of (3.43 km2) and a percentage of (76.01%) in the month of March, the largest area Lake Sawa saw all year , March marked the lowest area of lands without water cover during the research period, measuring 1.08 km² with a percentage of 23.91%, while July marked the lowest area of water cover during 2024, measuring almost 1.8 km² with a percentage of 30.94%. The area of areas devoid of water cover reached its maximum in July 2024, measuring 2.71 km², with a percentage of 60.06 percent. There are direct and inverse links between the water cover index and the meteorological factors, according to the statistical study of the Pearson correlation coefficient.