Abstract:
The area under irrigation in Ukraine as of 2020 amounted to 551.4 thousand hectares.
After the full-scale russian military invasion, 18% of the irrigated area remained
under the control of Ukraine. Using remote sensing methods to analyze data from
Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-3 satellites allowed us to identify the consequences of the
cessation of farming practices and the Kakhovka reservoir’s drainage. It was found
that the lack of irrigation caused the impairment of hydrological conditions on the
left bank of Kherson region, which resulted in water scarcity and drainage of water
bodies in these territories. The destruction of crop production and soil exposure led
to an increase in soil surface heating by 1.45–1.72 times and accelerated evaporation
of soil moisture in 80% of the territory. Droughts and active hostilities caused fires in
the summer and autumn of 2024 on an area of more than 200 thousand hectares.
Droughts and strong winds of 20–30 m/s led to the loss of topsoil (more than 600 t/
ha), with storm epicenters covering 100–3000 hectares. It was proved that military
operations, the cessation of farming practices, the Kakhovka reservoir’s drainage, and
the destruction of irrigation caused water stress, negative consequences of natural
and climatic transformation, and desertification in the irrigation zone of Ukraine.
