Desertification and land degradation using high resolution satellite data in the Nile Delta, Egypt

Recently, recognition of the severity of the desertification problems in Egypt began to grow. Remote sensing data of different spectral, spatial and temporal resolutions and other ancillary data were used, including LANDSAT and SPOT images, topographic maps, soil survey studies conducted in 1963. Cases of land degradation and desertification in Egypt, especially soil salinity and urban desertification, are increasingly visible. The current investigation aims at studying desertification and soil degradation of agricultural lands in the north eastern part of the Nile Delta, adjacent to lake Manzala, Egypt. Modern techniques and most-up to date of satellite data using Multitemporal image processing analysis and the data were combined in CARIS GIS software for land degradation processes and calculations. Pedological, physiographic features and soil profiles were carefully studied with guidance of SPOT image for 1992 and LANDSAT TM for 1995. Soil samples were analyzed, maps of salinity and urban areas were carried out. The obtained results was compared with data collected on the same area in 1963 by the soil survey research department of the Soil, Water and Environment Research Institute (SWERI). Salinity and sodicity of soil was increased during the 1963-1992 period. Most of substantial changes in land degradation phenomenon in both soil salinization and urbanization are expected in the north eastern part of the Nile Delta in Egypt. Multitemporal images were processed for 12 settlements (villages and towns) for the period of 1952, 1963 and 1992, there were considerable 1952 urban expansion of using 40 years. The magnitude of increase in 1992 compared with 1952 was 1.1 to as high as 46 folds. Soil degradation and urban encroachment onto cultivated land are loss of productive lands as well as low values of NDVI are expected.