Drought is a natural hazard that annually causes significant economic, social, environmental, and life-threatening damage in vast areas of the Earth. The damages caused by this phenomenon are intangible but very extensive and costly.  In many circomstancs, modern remote sensing techniques can be a useful tool in monitoring drought due to high temporal accuracy, wide spectral coverage, ease of access, no need for atmospheric correction and ground referencing. In recent years, the province of Hamedan has faced many problems due to frequent droughts. Therefore, the present study focused on investigating and monitoring drought in Hamedan province using the Temperature Condition index and its impact on the vegetation cover of the province using Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) remote sensing data. First, the relevant data was extracted from the Nova star database, and finally, the spatiotemporal behavior of the vegetation cover drought index was examined on 1528 pixels in Hamedan province. The spatial resolution of the data used in this study is 4 kilometers. First, the relevant data were extracted from the Navstar database and ultimately, the spatiotemporal behavior of the drought index and vegetation cover was examined. The results indicate that drought has significantly increased the vegetation cover of Hamedan province based on remote sensing data. Kendall's coefficients indicate the presence of decreasing trends in vegetation cover at a 95 Percent confidence level. Only in May, June, and December has there been a slight decrease in vegetation cover within the extent of drought in the province. The spatial behavior analysis of the drought index on vegetation cover showed that February, March, as well as April have experienced more severe droughts within Hamedan province.

Today, due to the conditions of globalization, city branding has become increasingly important due to its tourism potentials. Most regions with strategic planning in this area aim to achieve economic development and reduce deprivation through tourism. In this study, the research strategy is deductive, and its purpose is practical. The required data and information were collected from library resources and surveys (questionnaires and interviews) with experts. The meta-SWOT technique, based on an inside-out approach and a resource-based perspective, provides a framework for enhancing the competitiveness of cities and regions. The city of Kermanshah possesses significant capabilities to attract tourism, enabling it to achieve urban, regional, and global competitiveness. The findings of this study show that among the capabilities and potentials of Kermanshah, the existence of historical and cultural monuments—such as Taq-e Bostan, pillars, historic houses, museums, and its role as a center for handicrafts—as well as cultural similarities with people living in Iraq and Turkey, along with its unique culture, beliefs, and customs, serve as key tourism potentials. These attributes align with the four characteristics of the VIRO framework (Value, Rarity, Imitability, and Organization), making them the most strategic fit with macro variables affecting tourist attraction and urban competitiveness through tourism in Kermanshah. Among the major influential variables, the COVID-19 pandemic, international sanctions against Iran, climate change, natural disasters, and lack of funding have the greatest impact on the urban competitiveness of Kermanshah. Based on the analysis of resources and macro variables, a strategic fit map was developed, and appropriate solutions were proposed.

Extratropical cyclones, characterized by their frequency, duration, and intensity, serve as the primary drivers of mid- and high-latitude precipitation across the Mediterranean during the winter and autumn months. For this research, climatic variables obtained from the ECMWF network, featuring a temporal resolution of 6 hours and a spatial resolution of 0.25° × 0.25°, spanning from 1979 to 2016, were utilized. Additionally, precipitation data from four basin stations sourced from the Asfezari database for the same period were analyzed. Initially, geopotential height, temperature, humidity, and jet stream data for rainy days were extracted using MATLAB. Subsequently, a cyclonic center extraction algorithm was applied to identify cyclonic centers from the geopotential height data, based on the conditions that the geopotential height is at a minimum and the geopotential gradient is at a maximum. From the geopotential height matrix of rainy days (361×441×498), four distinct atmospheric patterns were identified through cluster analysis. The temporal and spatial frequency of these patterns, as well as the average temperature of cyclonic centers, were analyzed for the cold season months. The results indicated that the first pattern, identified as the Mediterranean trough pattern, is the most frequent, occurring 42% of the time. This pattern is characterized by the presence of a high-level system acting as a barrier, which deepens the low-level Mediterranean system and extends its axis toward the Red Sea. The interaction between low-level and high-level systems enhances instability, resulting in the highest precipitation levels among the identified patterns. Conversely, the fourth pattern, termed the western wind trough pattern, exhibits the lowest frequency at 10%. This pattern is characterized by a trough over the Caspian Sea; however, a high-level system in the southern region inhibits the entry of low-level systems, thereby confining cyclonic activity to the northern portion of the study area. Consequently, the isobars in the northern region assume a more orbital configuration, leading to a decreased influx of cyclones and, as a result, lower precipitation amounts compared to the other patterns. The analysis further revealed that cold-core cyclones accounted for 60% of occurrences in winter and 40% in autumn, while hot-core cyclones constituted 62% in winter and 38% in autumn. Notably, the frequency of hot-core cyclones increased relative to cold-core cyclones in winter, whereas an inverse trend was observed in autumn. Over the past decade, both the frequency and intensity of cyclones have diminished compared to the preceding two decades. In terms of cyclogenesis locations, the western part of the study area has consistently emerged as the most active region. Moreover, cyclogenesis activity exhibits a gradual increase from autumn to winter as the cold season progresses. These findings underscore the dynamic nature of extratropical cyclones and their significant role in shaping precipitation patterns across the Mediterranean region.
 

for the spatial analysis of precipitation in the Middle East, have been used gridded precipitation data from the World Precipitation Climatology Center (GPCC) with a monthly temporal resolution and a spatial resolution of 0.5×0.5 arc degrees. Therefore, a matrix of 80 x 160 dimensions was obtained for the Middle East region (160 longitudinal cells and 80 transverse cells). The reason for choosing network data is their proper spatial and temporal separation and their up-to-date compared to station data. The period under investigation is from 1970 to 2020 AD. Finally, the long-term maps of the Middle East precipitation were drawn on an annual and monthly basis. The results indicate that precipitation in the Middle East tends to concentrate and cluster in the spatial and temporal dimension. In other words, due to the special geographical location of the Middle East region, such as uneven topography, distance and proximity to moisture-feeding sources (Caspian Sea, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean) and the direction of unevenness, Precipitation in high altitude areas, It is concentrated in the neighborhood of seas and oceans and also in the windy slopes of the mountain range of the region. The uneven distribution of geographical conditions has caused uneven distribution of Precipitation in the Middle East. So that; The center and gravity of the Middle Eastern Precipitation is concentrated in the eastern end of the Black Sea, southern Turkey in the neighborhood of Syria and Iraq, the Ararat-Zagors belt in the west of Iran, the southern shore of the Caspian Sea, the Pamir highlands and the Bay of Bengal in India, and the Hindu Kush highlands in Pakistan. Is. However, the many parts of the Middle East, due to their proximity to large deserts (African Sahara, Lut Desert, Dasht-Kavir, Arabia's Rab-al-Khali and Afghan deserts), have less than 100 mm of Precipitation. The results showed that the maximum Precipitation of this region has been transferred to the winter season, and the summer season is still the driest period in the Middle East, and only the coasts of the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal have monsoon rains