Assessment of the quality of the ecological environment of an area with tourist potential using the remote sensing ecological index: Case of El Kala National Park (Algeria)

The assessment of the ecological quality of the environment in El Kala National Park plays an important role in the protection and management of its tourist potential in the face of ecological constraints that have arisen. The present study is based on the use of remote sensing data; its main objective is to analyze the ecological quality in a protected area using the remote sensing ecological index which is based on the calculation of vegetation indices based on Landsat images taken in 2013 and 2023. This observation period shows that the values of drought, temperature, and humidity in the study area increased while the greenness values decreased. The RSEI index was calculated using principal component analysis of the fourth indicators (NDVI, WET, NDBSI, and LST) which made it possible to quantitatively analyze, monitor, and dynamically evaluate changes in the ecological quality of the environment in this park over the past 10 years. The results obtained show that the spatio-temporal distribution of the ecological quality of the environment of the park experienced a downward trend from 2013 to 2023 with a regression rate of -10.16% for the classes of good and excellent quality ecological. This study is considered a reference for the formulation of measures aimed at protecting the quality of the environment in El Kala National Park, and also a database to determine monitoring indicators for sites characterized by significant tourism potential.

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Opracowanie rekordu ze środków MNiSW, umowa nr POPUL/SP/0154/2024/02 w ramach programu "Społeczna odpowiedzialność nauki II" - moduł: Popularyzacja nauki (2025).