Abstract
An exemplary approach using Landsat Thematic Mapper data is presented, which allows us to monitor vegetation changes under the aspects of urban planning in Saudi Arabia. As a test site, the city of Al Madinah was chosen. TM data of two different acquisition dates were merged via intensity/ hue/saturation (IHS) processing to present directly the bi-temporal variations within one image product. The image product is analysed in terms of geoscientific application and its significance is discussed. Finally, how the method presented could be integrated into a possible operational vegetation monitoring system of selected regions in Saudi Arabia, is outlined.