Hamon Lake, located on the border of Iran and Afghanistan, is a key and fragile ecosystem in the arid regions of eastern Iran. In recent years, it has faced serious environmental crises due to persistent droughts, climate change, and human activities—especially after the construction of the Kamal Khan Dam. This research aims to investigate and analyze the impact of drought and changes in the surface cover of Hamon Lake using remote sensing data and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery. In this study, Sentinel-2 satellite images were collected over the period 2017 to 2024, and after performing necessary corrections, supervised classification methods, including Support Vector Machine and Thematic Change Workflow algorithm, were used to detect changes. The results show that, within the Kamal Khan Dam area, the most significant changes relate to the conversion of soil cover to vegetation cover (166,710,500 square meters) and soil cover to water cover (55,664,200 square meters). In contrast, in the Hamon Lake area, vegetation cover decreased by 230,443,200 square meters and water cover decreased by 71,227,100 square meters, both converting to soil cover, indicating the severity of the drought and the decline in water resources in the region. The results of this research can help environmental managers and planners in identifying the effects of drought, managing environmental crises, and developing strategies for the restoration of Hamon Lake.
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