The use of remote sensing indices for detecting environmental changes: a case study of North Sinai, Egypt

This study aims to identify environmental changes during the last 25 years in northern Sinai, Egypt. In the present research, various remote sensing indices were applied to detect environmental changes. To achieve this purpose, two Landsat TM (dated August 1990) and Landsat 8 (dated August 2015) images were used. Using remote sensing and GIS software, the two images were classified into six land use/land cover classes. The results revealed that, for the study duration from 1990 to 2015, the study area underwent an increase in vegetation cover and urban areas of approximately 4.11% and 1.21%, respectively. In addition, the land cover class with the highest salinity and the area enveloped by water bodies decreased by approximately 1.35% and 6.33%, respectively. Furthermore, sand aggregations increased in the eastern region of the entire study area but decreased in the western region. Within the study period, a serious land cover changes has happened due to reclamation and development projects. © 2018, Korean Spatial Information Society.