Monitoring vegetation changes in Al Madinah, Saudi Arabia, using Thematic Mapper data

Abstract

An exemplary approach using Landsat Thematic Mapper data is presented, which allows us to monitor vegetation changes under the aspects of urban planning in Saudi Arabia. As a test site, the city of Al Madinah was chosen. TM data of two different acquisition dates were merged via intensity/ hue/saturation (IHS) processing to present directly the bi-temporal variations within one image product. The image product is analysed in terms of geoscientific application and its significance is discussed. Finally, how the method presented could be integrated into a possible operational vegetation monitoring system of selected regions in Saudi Arabia, is outlined.