Land Evaluation and Assessment of Land Cover Change Using Geospatial Techniques: A Case Study in West Samlout Area, Egypt.

The population surge in Egypt has led to the conversion of agricultural land into urban areas, necessitating urgent agricultural expansion into new areas, particularly in the interference zone between the Nile valley and desert regions. To address this issue, this research study aims at assess the temporal and spatial land cover changes in West Samlout area, El-Minia government, Egypt using remote sensing data and to evaluate land capability and suitability for some agricultural crops. The study area, located in the Western Desert of Egypt, was analyzed using multi-temporal Landsat imagery (2011, 2016 and 2021) and Digital Elevation Models. The Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI) was utilized to determine the spatial distribution and temporal changes of vegetation. Soil samples were collected and analyzed to determine soil attributes like depth, salinity, pH, calcium carbonate, and texture. Results showed that the vegetation areas were increased with 18.96 % during the period from 2011 to 2021. The annual rate of vegetation change was increased by 910.42 ha year-1 through the same period. Land capability evaluation results showed that the study area was grouped into three grades; Grade 3 (1105.96 ha), grade 4 (20682.83 ha) and grade 5 (967.38 ha) represented 4.61%, 86.14% and 4.03 % of the examined area, respectively. The results of land suitability analysis illustrated that mango, citrus, and olives were the most appropriate fruit crops for the investigated area, where 83.8 5 %, 74.7 %, and 71.8 % of the total area were moderately suitable (S2), respectively. Moreover, barley and wheat were found to be highly suitable field crops. The highly suitable (S1) for barley and wheat covered 77.6% and 55% of the total area were, respectively. While, onion was the most suitable vegetable crop in the study area occupied an area of 2768.4 ha (11.5 %) and 19987.7 ha (83.2 %) as highly suitable (S1) and moderately suitable (S2), respectively. With regarding to the oil crops, the finding conducted that sunflower was the highest suitable crop in investigated area occupied 1914.2 ha and 20842.0 ha as highly suitable (S1) and moderately suitable (S2), respectively. Finally, sorghum and millets, as feed crops, were the most suitable crops occupied 82.1 % and 9.2 % of the total area as high suitable (S1), respectively. Furthermore, results indicated that the soil salinity, slope, depth, and coarse texture were the most limiting criteria for suitability. Overall, this research study provides valuable information for land use planning, agricultural development, and sustainable resource management in the West Samlout area, Egypt. The results emphasize the importance of remote sensing and spatial analysis techniques in understanding land cover changes and making informed decisions for agricultural expansion and development projects.