2) Mr. Neil Manspeizer

Forty meteorological seasons between 2014 and 2024 were examined in the eastern Mediterranean (Israel) for semi-arid climate-zone changes using Landsat 8/9 and MODIS Terra atmospheric water vapor reserve (AWVR) data. Brightness (BI), greenness (GI), and wetness (WI) indices were derived using Tasseled-Cap Transformation of the Landsat data. The objective of the study was to juxtapose between the baseline ground aridity in anthropogenically disturbed soil (BI/WI), considered a thermodynamic dead state (TDS), and the greening of undisturbed vegetated shrub mosaic (GI/WI), considered a thermodynamic live state (TLS). A time-series Normalized Difference Climate Line Index (NDCLI) was constructed to demonstrate the inverse relationship between the TDS/TLS. The results of the NDCLI were represented as TDS/TLS clusters in a pyramidal space of planes showing the phenological relationship between vegetation cover, soil moisture, and albedo in the semi-arid zone. Afterwards, the ten-year NDCLI and MODIS AWVR data were both aggregated monthly and compared through regression. The regression results were described relative to the hydrological cycle, compared with spatially interpolated aridity index values, and discussed regarding the changing climate-zone. Based on the results, the semi-arid zone of Israel demonstrated a slight trend toward less aridity due to Mediterranean Sea evaporation.