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The linear desert sand dunes stretching across the Israel-Egypt political border not only divides the region into two political regimes but also impacts on the evolution of vulnerable and ecosystem along two opposite directions: sustainable development vs. increasing desertification. As a result, land cover structure of the region shows a great difference on both sides. Biogenic crust, bare sand, vegetation and playa have been commonly recognized as the main land cover patterns of the region. Three methods including field observation, measurement on aerial image and validation of vegetation cover on Landsat TM image have been employed to quantitatively estimate these land cover patterns. Accordingly, we estimate that, on average, desert vegetation covers similar to18% on the Israeli side and 4.5% on the Egyptian side, biogenic crust occupies similar to71% on the Israeli side and 12% on the Egyptian side, bare sand covers similar to7.5% on the Israeli side and 80% on the Egyptian side, and playa accounts for 3.5% on both sides. This estimate provides a basis to understand the great difference of and ecosystem evolution on both sides of the border.