Comparative Evaluation of Change Detection Techniques in New Alamein City Using Sentinel-2 Satellite Imagery

The rapid growth and development of newly established cities has created a pressing need for effective tools to monitor and manage land use and land cover changes in these emerging urban centers. Remote sensing and change detection techniques offer valuable capabilities for assessing urban development, making them essential for providing insights into the spatial and temporal dynamics of modern cities, such as New Alamein City. New Alamein city is a newly integrated city located in the heart of the northwestern coast of Egypt, along the international road (Alexandria–Matruh), within the administrative boundaries of Marsa Matruh Governorate. New Alamein city is a prominent example of urban development and planning in Egypt, representing a strategic vision for the future, which provides a modern and sustainable living environment for its residents. Post-classification comparison, image differencing, and change vector analysis change detection techniques were applied to determine the most accurate one for identifying land cover changes in New Alamein city from 2016 to 2020 and from 2020 to 2023 using Sentinel-2 images. The results indicated that the post-classification change detection technique provided the highest accuracy while the change vector analysis yielded the least accuracy. Based on the ratio of area difference to the initial area of each land cover class, the change summary indicates that the total area of bare land decreased by about 57% while the urban areas exhibited a surge of approximately 330%, both vegetated areas and water bodies experienced increases by 50% and 7%, respectively during the seven-year time span.