Agriculture Sprawl Assessment Using Multi-Temporal Remote Sensing Images and Its Environmental Impact; Al-Jouf, KSA

Ahmed M. Youssef, Mazen M. Abu Abdullah, Biswajeet Pradhan and Ahmed F. D. Gaber
Additional contact information
Ahmed M. Youssef: Geological Hazards Department, Applied Geology Sector, Saudi Geological Survey, P.O. Box 54141, Jeddah 21514, Saudi Arabia
Mazen M. Abu Abdullah: Geological Hazards Department, Applied Geology Sector, Saudi Geological Survey, P.O. Box 54141, Jeddah 21514, Saudi Arabia
Biswajeet Pradhan: Centre for Advanced Modelling and Geospatial Information Systems (CAMGIS), School of Information, Systems and Modelling, Faculty of Engineering and IT, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
Ahmed F. D. Gaber: Department of Geography, Faculty of Art, Sohag University, Sohag 82524, Egypt

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 15, 1-16

Abstract: In this paper, multispectral and multi-temporal satellite data were used to assess the spatial and temporal evolution of the agriculture activities in the Al-Jouf region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). In the current study, an attempt was made to map the agriculture sprawl from 1987 to 2017 using temporal Landsat images in a geographic information system (GIS) environment for better decision-making and sustainable agriculture expansion. Our findings indicated that the agriculture activities developed through two crucial stages: high and low rise stages. Low rise stages occurred during three sub-stages from April 1987 to April 1988, from September 1993 to August 1998, and from April 2008 to May 2015, with overall change rates of 37.9, 44.4, and 30.5 km 2 /year, respectively. High rise stages occurred during three sub-stages from April 1988 to February 1993, from September 2000 to March 2006, and from April 2016 to August 2017, with overall change rates of 132.4, 159.1, and 119.5 km 2 /year, respectively. Different environmental problems due to uncontrolled agriculture activities were observed in the area, including substantial depletion of the groundwater table. Another environmental impact observed was the appearance of sinkholes that occurred suddenly with no warning signs. These environmental impacts will increase in the future if no regulated restrictions are implemented by decision-makers.

Keywords: agriculture mapping; Landsat images; GIS; aquifer; sinkholes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/15/4177/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/15/4177/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:15:p:4177-:d:254197

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().