USING REMOTELY SENSED DATA, GIS, AND FIELD INVESTIGATION FOR PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: WEST QENA AREA, EGYPT
Ahmed M. Youssef* and Ahmed Ghallab **
*Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Sohag University
**Soil & Water Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Assiut University
Ass. Univ. Bull. Environ. Res. Vol. 10 No. 2, October 2007 , P P 31 - 46:
ABSTRACT :
The Egyptian Government and the private sector are interested in developing the low desert zone outside the flood plain of the River Nile. The low desert zone, west Qena Governorate, represents large future sustainable zone for different types of activities including agricultural, urbanization, wastewater disposal and landfill sites, and industrial zones. This zone covers ~1432 km2 and will be considered as a development corridor for Qena Governorate. The current study focuses on the analysis of the landuse changes in the area since 1972 as well as the evaluation of the groundwater resources for different purposes using the remote sensing and GIS techniques.
The results show that the landuse has been dramatically changed since 1972 till present by ~153.4 km2 including ~134.4 km2 of agricultural activities, which consider 9.4% of the total area of the low desert zone and other activities cover ~19 km2 . Most of these changes that have been detected in the area range from 64 to 150 m (above sea level). In addition, the evaluation of groundwater for different uses in the study area using water quality index shows that some of the groundwater wells are not suitable for domestic, agricultural, and other activities.
