Egypt has sought to protect its natural resources and marine biodiversity that are
located in the Gulf of Aqaba by establishing a network of Marine Protected Areas.
Nabq Managed Resources Protected Area (NMRPA) is the biggest marine
protectorate exists in the region and characterized by the great diversity of habitats
and ecosystems in a uniquely compact setting, representing a complete terrestrial/
marine ecosystem characteristic of the Gulf of Aqaba coast. The applying of advanced
technologies such as Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS)
in recognizing the changes in the coastal zone habitats in the area; gave us the ability
to map and monitor the amount and the causes of changes in the habitats in a specific,
fast, accurate and a relatively low-cost alternative to traditional field studies. Using a
time series of four imageries; three (SPOT-4) imageries dated 2006, 2009 and 2010
beside one (Quick-Bird) imagery dated 2010; we explored the utility of temporal
texture as a diagnostic tool to detect ecological changes in coastal zone habitats. We
used a time series of imageries to calculate the temporal variation in the brightness of
each pixel, rather than statistically placing each pixel into a specific habitat class. Insitu
fieldwork on Nabq (MRPA) coastal zone confirmed that, the mangrove stock has
developed, sea-grass habitat has developed from year to year too and the coral reef
habitat has been degraded. We propose that the further development of such remote
sensing techniques will lead to the establishment of an index of habitat variability.
Such an index could alert resource managers to potential problems on coastal zone
habitat otherwise would go undetected.