Assessment of land use/land cover changes for Kafr El-Sheikh governorate, Egypt, utilizing remote sensing

Abstract Egypt is experiencing considerable changes in its agricultural areas primarily due to unorganized urban sprawl. These changes can lead to reducing area of the highly productive fertile lands, posing major threats to food security and impacting the regional environment and society. This stud...

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Main Authors: Abdalmonem Alkhawaga, Mohamed Mohamed, Bakenaz Zeidan, Mohamed Elshemy, Ahmed Elshinnawy
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-04-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-96601-7
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author Abdalmonem Alkhawaga
Mohamed Mohamed
Bakenaz Zeidan
Mohamed Elshemy
Ahmed Elshinnawy
author_facet Abdalmonem Alkhawaga
Mohamed Mohamed
Bakenaz Zeidan
Mohamed Elshemy
Ahmed Elshinnawy
author_sort Abdalmonem Alkhawaga
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Egypt is experiencing considerable changes in its agricultural areas primarily due to unorganized urban sprawl. These changes can lead to reducing area of the highly productive fertile lands, posing major threats to food security and impacting the regional environment and society. This study assesses land use and land cover (LULC) changes in Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate, Nile Delta, Egypt, from 1990 to 2018, proposing a technique that considers cropping seasons using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) for classification enhancement. Supervised classification using the maximum likelihood algorithm was applied to spectral bands for Landsat satellite images covering the study period. Results revealed that the area of the natural reserve of Lake Burullus decreased by approximately 6.3% and that Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate lost approximately 91.5 km2 of agricultural land between 2010 and 2018. This indicates that Kafr El-Sheikh currently suffers from rapid unorganized urban sprawl, leading to a loss of agricultural area at an annual rate of approximately 0.4%. Using the NDVI enhanced the overall classification accuracy by 4.4%. Regular assessment of LULC incorporating higher-resolution data sources is essential in the future for planning, mitigation, and adaptation strategies.
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issn 2045-2322
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publishDate 2025-04-01
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spelling doaj-art-ce90ecc2ed33492e8e0e5ffd11b0b5d52025-08-20T02:11:41ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-04-0115111510.1038/s41598-025-96601-7Assessment of land use/land cover changes for Kafr El-Sheikh governorate, Egypt, utilizing remote sensingAbdalmonem Alkhawaga0Mohamed Mohamed1Bakenaz Zeidan2Mohamed Elshemy3Ahmed Elshinnawy4Department of Irrigation and Hydraulics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tanta UniversityCivil and Environmental Engineering Department, College of Engineering, UAEUDepartment of Irrigation and Hydraulics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tanta UniversityDepartment of Irrigation and Hydraulics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tanta UniversityDepartment of Irrigation and Hydraulics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tanta UniversityAbstract Egypt is experiencing considerable changes in its agricultural areas primarily due to unorganized urban sprawl. These changes can lead to reducing area of the highly productive fertile lands, posing major threats to food security and impacting the regional environment and society. This study assesses land use and land cover (LULC) changes in Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate, Nile Delta, Egypt, from 1990 to 2018, proposing a technique that considers cropping seasons using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) for classification enhancement. Supervised classification using the maximum likelihood algorithm was applied to spectral bands for Landsat satellite images covering the study period. Results revealed that the area of the natural reserve of Lake Burullus decreased by approximately 6.3% and that Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate lost approximately 91.5 km2 of agricultural land between 2010 and 2018. This indicates that Kafr El-Sheikh currently suffers from rapid unorganized urban sprawl, leading to a loss of agricultural area at an annual rate of approximately 0.4%. Using the NDVI enhanced the overall classification accuracy by 4.4%. Regular assessment of LULC incorporating higher-resolution data sources is essential in the future for planning, mitigation, and adaptation strategies.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-96601-7Food securityLand use changesLandsat, Maximum likelihood algorithmNormalized difference vegetation indexNile Delta
spellingShingle Abdalmonem Alkhawaga
Mohamed Mohamed
Bakenaz Zeidan
Mohamed Elshemy
Ahmed Elshinnawy
Assessment of land use/land cover changes for Kafr El-Sheikh governorate, Egypt, utilizing remote sensing
Scientific Reports
Food security
Land use changes
Landsat, Maximum likelihood algorithm
Normalized difference vegetation index
Nile Delta
title Assessment of land use/land cover changes for Kafr El-Sheikh governorate, Egypt, utilizing remote sensing
title_full Assessment of land use/land cover changes for Kafr El-Sheikh governorate, Egypt, utilizing remote sensing
title_fullStr Assessment of land use/land cover changes for Kafr El-Sheikh governorate, Egypt, utilizing remote sensing
title_full_unstemmed Assessment of land use/land cover changes for Kafr El-Sheikh governorate, Egypt, utilizing remote sensing
title_short Assessment of land use/land cover changes for Kafr El-Sheikh governorate, Egypt, utilizing remote sensing
title_sort assessment of land use land cover changes for kafr el sheikh governorate egypt utilizing remote sensing
topic Food security
Land use changes
Landsat, Maximum likelihood algorithm
Normalized difference vegetation index
Nile Delta
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-96601-7
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AT bakenazzeidan assessmentoflanduselandcoverchangesforkafrelsheikhgovernorateegyptutilizingremotesensing
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