T19 Satellite Remote Sensing Applications in Hydrology and Geology

Sunday, 19 October 2014
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
110

INTEGRATED APPROACHES FOR SUSTAINABLE UTILIZATION OF WATER RESOURCES IN ARID LANDS: CASE STUDIES FROM EGYPT

Paper number: T19-3
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 8:30 AM – 8:45 AM

Authors

Abstract

We integrated (in a Geographic Information System [GIS] environment) observations from remote sensing data (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment [GRACE], Environmental Satellite [Envisat], Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission [TRMM], Landsat Thematic Mapper [TM], Google Earth images) with geophysical (Very Low Frequency [VLF], Vertical Electrical Sounding [VES]), geochemical (O, H stable isotopes), geochronological (Cl-36 and Kr-81 dating methods) data, and hydrologic modeling (groundwater flow and continuous rainfall-runoff models) to accomplish the following: (1) map the distribution of aquifers in the fractured basement complex of the Eastern Desert and the Sinai Peninsula; (2) identify areas of natural discharge of the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS) along deep-seated sub-vertical faults in the overlying aquifers, (3) identify aquifers in subsided blocks of (a) Jurassic to Cretaceous sandstone (Taref Formation) and Oligocene to Miocene sandstone (Nakheil Formation), now occurring beneath the Red Sea coastal plain, (b) the Eocene to Cambrian (Nubian Sandstone) and the Lower Miocene sandstone (Gharandal Group) occurring beneath the Gulf of Suez coastal plain, and (c) within the proximal basement complex, (4) assess the groundwater depletion (natural and anthropogenic) rates, (5) estimate the partitioning of precipitation into runoff, evapotranspiration, infiltration over the Eastern Desert and the Sinai Peninsula watersheds, (6) estimate the current and projected impact of climate change on Egypt’s water resources, and (7) develop sustainable utilization scenarios for Egypt’s hydrologic systems.