## 3 Materials and Methods
### Scripting in GRASS GIS
The use of GRASS GIS for satellite image processing showed high effectiveness. In future work, we will consider developing the GRASS GIS algorithms to seek specific applications in other regions of the Earth's deserts. We will also test other algorithms, such as the automatic detection of classes using supervised classification and segmentation. By comparing all of the land cover classes of satellite images obtained during a period of 10 years, it was possible to discriminate changes in salt lake levels that illustrated climate change, which affected land cover types in the northern part of the Sahara, in Algeria. The principles of using the GRASS GIS 'i.maxlik' and 'i.cluster' modules are explained in detail, in regard to creating clusters and image classification. The use of the 'i.composite' scripts for color composites from the Landsat bands, as well as the example cases of the used workflow, are presented in the provided scripts. The publication was funded by the Editorial Office of the Applied Systems Innovation, Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI). Not applicable. The author thanks the anonymous reviewers for their valuable feedback, suggestions, and comments, which improved an earlier version of this manuscript. The author declares no conflict of interest. The following abbreviations are used in this manuscript: \begin{tabular}{l l} DCW & Digital Chart of the World \\ EPSG & European Petroleum Survey Group \\ FAO & Food and Agriculture Organization \\ \end{tabular} 

## References

* (1) [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON] [PERSON]; [PERSON] Identifying saline wetlands in an arid desert climate using Landsat remote sensing imagery. Application on Ouargla Basin, southeastern Algeria. _Arab. J. Geosci._**2017**, _10_, 176. [CrossRef]
* (2) [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON] Determining the role of lineaments in underground hydrodynamics using Landsat 7 EMM+ data, case of the Chott El Gharbi Basin (western Algeria). _Arab. J. Geosci._**2018**, _11_, 76. [CrossRef]
* (3) [PERSON] Approt de la Telecdetection (Images Landsat 7 ETM+) pour la Cartographie Geologique de la Region d'Aflou (Atlas Saharien). Ph.D. Thesis, Universite de Setif, Setif, Algeria, 2011; 87p. * (4) [PERSON] Sentinel-2 for High Resolution Mapping of Slope-Based Vegetation Indices Using Machine Learning by SAGA GIS. _Transylv. Rev. Syst. Ecol. Res._**2020**, _22_, 17-34. [CrossRef]
* (5) [PERSON] Seismicity in the Afar Depression and Great Rift Valley, Ethiopia. _Environ. Res. Eng. Manag._**2022**, _78_, 83-96. [CrossRef]
* (6) [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON] Mapping geology in Djelfa District (Saharan Atlas, Algeria), using Landsat 7 ETM+ data: An alternative method to discern lithology and structural elements. _Arab. J. Geosci. Vol._**2017**, _10_, 87. [CrossRef]
* (7) [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON] Multitemporal Remote Sensing for Monitoring Highly Dynamic Phenomena: Case of the Ephemeral Lakes in the Chott El Jerid, Tunisia. In _Advances in Remote Sensing and Geo Informatics Applications_; [PERSON] [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], Eds. ; Springer International Publishing: Cham, Switzerland, 2019; pp. 101-103. * (8) [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON] Characterizing terranes and a Neoproterozoic suture zone in Central Hoggar (Tuareg Shield, Algeria) with airborne geophysics and Landsat 8 OLI data. _J. Afr. Earth Sci._**2022**, _187_, 104455. [CrossRef]
* (9) [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON] [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON] [PERSON]; [PERSON] [PERSON] Satellite imagery and airborne geophysics for geologic mapping of the Edembo area, Eastern Hoggar (Algerarian Sahara). _J. Afr. Earth Sci._**2016**, _115_, 143-158. [CrossRef]
* (10) [PERSON] An Overview on 40 Years of Remote Sensing Geology Based on Arab Examples. In _The Geology of the Arab World--An Overview_; Springer International Publishing: Cham, Switzerland, 2019; pp. 427-453. [CrossRef]
* (11) [PERSON] Handling Dataset with Geophysical and Geological Variables on the Bolivian Andes by the GMT Scripts.