Authors:
Nawras Shatnawi; Mohammed Taleb Obaidat;
Abstract:
The Wadi Rum Protected Area (WRPA) was formed to protect and conserve a typical area of the Eastern Desert land type. It is one of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization's UNESCO world heritage sites. Erosion and tourism have had a negative impact on this region's natural and environmental life. Using satellite images acquired in 1987 to 2018, this research intended to discover any influence of erosion on the Geological Structure for (WRPA) and any potential of floods using the topographic wetland index analysis. Supervised classification was used to construct land-cover/land-use maps of WRPA. In addition to that, the findings revealed a shift in Wadi deposits but no change in mountain ranges, indicating that satellite photos might anticipate soil erosion. The topographic wetland index analysis showed that the area could be classified as medium to high potential flooding with value of more than 14.3 to 29. Furthermore, it is suggested that high-resolution satellite images be used to investigate the impact of human activities in the region on the ecosystem and vegetation. Because the utilized satellite images did not reflect the height of the mountains, further research using various remote sensing methods should be conducted for such monitoring.
Keywords:
Heritage conservation; protected area; remote sensing; erosion impact, topographic wetness index.