Land Cover Mapping Using GIS and Remote Sensing Databases for Al Baha Region Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Land cover assessment plays a vital role in both current and future planning and use of natural resources for sustainable development for any country. For the good practice of the vision 2030 in Al Baha region (south-western Saudi Arabia), land cover was assessed, classified, and analyzed using remote sensing databases and time series analysis combined with spatial analysis in geographic information system (GIS) based on high-resolution Landsat 8 OLI, Sentinel-2 satellite imagery between the period of study 2017/2018 and 2021/2022. Based on both an accuracy assessment and kappa test, the results indicate that Esri Sentinel-2 imagery gives the highest performance compared to Landsat 8 OLI with accuracy and kappa test equal to 87% and 84%, respectively. On the other hand, the land cover classification revealed that the large area of water bodies is localized on Alaqiq (1.45 km2), Baljurish (0.94 km2), and Elmelkhwah (1.57 km2). Furthermore, the built area of the Al Baha region between 2017 and 2021 was estimated to increase by 144 km2 (from 516.5 to 661.07 km2), which is especially significant for the Qelwah district (from 16.97 to 44.16 km2) which demonstrated a decrease in bare ground area of approximately 320 km2. The crop lands have been increased by 162.74% in the 2017–2021 period from 10.39 km2 to 16.90 km2, particularly at Qelwah and Elmelkhwah. Finally, the results obtained by this research can help decision-makers and managers for better natural resources management in the Al Baha region.