Analysis of NDWI dynamics of agrilandscapes affected by Kakhovka dam ruination

The purpose of the study is to perform the analysis of Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) for a typical region with most of area covered by agricultural land use under irrigation to show the impact of interruption of water supply due to Kakhovka dam ruination. Using Sentinel-2 imagery and QGIS software, we determined that according to NDWI values dynamics Kakhovka dam ruination led to decreasing of land plots humidity from 2021 to 2024 yearly and caused decline of agricultural land suitability in the region. Histograms taken by raster tools in QGIS show disappear  of the second peak value for irrigated lands after military actions damaged the irrigation systems and agricultural activities, and further decline of the index values in 2024 due to warfare. According to our analysis, NDWI dynamics shows decline of soil moisture in general, comparing to the pre-war year, 2021, and following dramatic decline of the index value in 2024 as irrigation stopped. For the research plot, mean NDWI value in 2022 is less than 47% of the 2021 value, while the 2024 mean negative value demonstrates shift from humid to even moderate drought conditions. The use of NDWI to assess the condition of agricultural enterprises’ lands, as well as for operational monitoring, enables evaluation of moisture regime changes.