8
A . M . N e g m e t a l .
are continually moving to the South, damaging streets, houses, agricultural areas,
irrigated canals, and artesian wells. Movements of the Dakhla dunes are largely
influenced by the spatial variation of the wind system, wind velocity and distance
from the northern plateau. The crescentic dune movement rate at Dakhla ranges from
0.5 to 14 m/yr with a mean of 5.8 m/yr. Southwest of Mut the southern severity of
linear dunes ranges from a few meters to 15 m/yr with a mean of 7.5 m/yr. The annual
growth rate of the dune is 25 cm/yr for width and 37 cm/yr for length. Monthly sand
roses reveal that the drift potential (DP) varies widely based on the effective wind
speed. The estimated yearly DP of Dakhla is 787 vector units (VU) while that of
Farafra is 1882 VU. The peak DP is shown in the spring season (African.cu.edu.eg).
Chapter 8 is devoted to discuss the “Soil conditions of Dakhla Oasis, Western
Desert, Egypt” to integrate the picture presented in Chap. 7.
The soil survey, land identification and land evaluation (soil conditions) data in
Dakhla Oasis is very useful in identifying land use opportunities and risks and can
help direct government policy towards efficient and productive use of soil and soil
resources.
Egypt now has the lowest fertile land per capita of any country in Africa. With a
steadily growing population and high food crop imports, Egypt will need to sustainably control its arable land and develop new desert land. Food shortages and ongoing
loss of agricultural land (e.g. urban encroachment on agricultural land in Nile valley
and Delta) are most important issues for Egyptian Government. The government of
Egypt implements policies loading to self-sufficiency in food production, such as
reclamation of 1.5 million feddans (1 feddan = 1.03784 acre, 1 feddan = 4200 sq.m
and 1 acre = 4046.86 sq.m) in the Egyptian desert and maximizing production of
the existing agricultural land. Such regular incremental growth requires considerable
attention to protect the limited land resources in order to increase Egypt’s agricultural productivity per unit area and maximize reclaimed agricultural land. Dakhla
Oasis represents one of the high priority regions for future agriculture development
in Egypt. It is one of the major depressions in the Western Desert of Egypt for
land reclamation based on availability of land and water resources. Chapter 8, therefore, aimed to evaluate land resources in Dakhla Oasis using remote sensing and GIS
for different crop requirements.
Following the above two chapters, Chapter 9 comes with the title “Remote sensing
and GIS for Land use/Land Cover change detection in Dakhla Oasis” to discuss the
matter of land use/land cover change in Dakhla Oasis from 1988 to 2018 in two
periods using remote sensing and GIS techniques.
Various kinds of multispectral satellite sensors were used for tracking and mapping
the land use land cover and its changes that occurred from 1988 to 2018. Three
satellite images were used in this chapter, including Landsat TM (1988), Landsat
TM (2003), and Sentinel 2 (2018). Land use/land cover map was produced based on
the supervised classification method (SVM) for multispectral satellite image. The
area of study was categorized into five main classes; land-built, agricultural land,
sand dunes, desert, and water bodies. Changes that occurred in the main classes of
land use land cover in the study area were detected over the last thirty years from
1988 to 2018. It was divided into two periods; each one is about fifteen years. The
A . M . N e g m e t a l .
are continually moving to the South, damaging streets, houses, agricultural areas,
irrigated canals, and artesian wells. Movements of the Dakhla dunes are largely
influenced by the spatial variation of the wind system, wind velocity and distance
from the northern plateau. The crescentic dune movement rate at Dakhla ranges from
0.5 to 14 m/yr with a mean of 5.8 m/yr. Southwest of Mut the southern severity of
linear dunes ranges from a few meters to 15 m/yr with a mean of 7.5 m/yr. The annual
growth rate of the dune is 25 cm/yr for width and 37 cm/yr for length. Monthly sand
roses reveal that the drift potential (DP) varies widely based on the effective wind
speed. The estimated yearly DP of Dakhla is 787 vector units (VU) while that of
Farafra is 1882 VU. The peak DP is shown in the spring season (African.cu.edu.eg).
Chapter 8 is devoted to discuss the “Soil conditions of Dakhla Oasis, Western
Desert, Egypt” to integrate the picture presented in Chap. 7.
The soil survey, land identification and land evaluation (soil conditions) data in
Dakhla Oasis is very useful in identifying land use opportunities and risks and can
help direct government policy towards efficient and productive use of soil and soil
resources.
Egypt now has the lowest fertile land per capita of any country in Africa. With a
steadily growing population and high food crop imports, Egypt will need to sustainably control its arable land and develop new desert land. Food shortages and ongoing
loss of agricultural land (e.g. urban encroachment on agricultural land in Nile valley
and Delta) are most important issues for Egyptian Government. The government of
Egypt implements policies loading to self-sufficiency in food production, such as
reclamation of 1.5 million feddans (1 feddan = 1.03784 acre, 1 feddan = 4200 sq.m
and 1 acre = 4046.86 sq.m) in the Egyptian desert and maximizing production of
the existing agricultural land. Such regular incremental growth requires considerable
attention to protect the limited land resources in order to increase Egypt’s agricultural productivity per unit area and maximize reclaimed agricultural land. Dakhla
Oasis represents one of the high priority regions for future agriculture development
in Egypt. It is one of the major depressions in the Western Desert of Egypt for
land reclamation based on availability of land and water resources. Chapter 8, therefore, aimed to evaluate land resources in Dakhla Oasis using remote sensing and GIS
for different crop requirements.
Following the above two chapters, Chapter 9 comes with the title “Remote sensing
and GIS for Land use/Land Cover change detection in Dakhla Oasis” to discuss the
matter of land use/land cover change in Dakhla Oasis from 1988 to 2018 in two
periods using remote sensing and GIS techniques.
Various kinds of multispectral satellite sensors were used for tracking and mapping
the land use land cover and its changes that occurred from 1988 to 2018. Three
satellite images were used in this chapter, including Landsat TM (1988), Landsat
TM (2003), and Sentinel 2 (2018). Land use/land cover map was produced based on
the supervised classification method (SVM) for multispectral satellite image. The
area of study was categorized into five main classes; land-built, agricultural land,
sand dunes, desert, and water bodies. Changes that occurred in the main classes of
land use land cover in the study area were detected over the last thirty years from
1988 to 2018. It was divided into two periods; each one is about fifteen years. The