Monitoring Spatiotemporal Change in Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah City, Western Saudi Arabia, and Its Potential Implications on Surface and Groundwater Resources: An Approach Using Geospatial Techniques (1965–2025)

This study explores the potential implications of rapid urban growth and land use/land cover (LULC) changes in Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah city on water resources. The methodology highlights the efficiency of geospatial techniques (remote sensing and geographic information systems) for mapping, identifying, understanding, and measuring the spatiotemporal dynamics and change rates of different LULC categories over 60 years (1965–2025). The change detection analysis of multisource and multitemporal data reveals substantial modifications in the initial landscape configuration, in which the human footprint was insignificant. The primary dominant driver of change is human activity (an exponential urban extension whose area increased from 15.2 km2 to 472 km2, or more than 3000%, and agricultural area for more than 190%) at the expense of natural landform features. The greatest urban growth was registered during 1986–2009. The alluvial fan and alluvial plain lost more area than all other LULC classes (more than 57%). The lava sheet also recorded a very sharp decline—the second largest in terms of area after the alluvial plain, with a loss of surface area of around 12%. The mountains and hills experienced a very limited loss of surface area (less than 2%). These changes linked to human pressures, combined with climate change, involved modifications to natural hydrological processes, disturbance of natural drainage pathways in different parts of the city, destruction of small streams, intensification of drainage density, and risk of flash flooding. The urban extension also led to the modification of groundwater level dynamics. These effects will increase environmental challenges for the city’s development plan.