Automatic detection of near surface geological and hydrological features and investigating their influence on groundwater accumulation and salinity in southwest Egypt using remote sensing and GIS

This study employs two automated algorithms, the topographic fabric and the deterministic eight-node (D8), to reveal near surface geological fractures and their associated paleodrainages network from a 90?m DEM of the Shuttle Topographic Radar Mission sensor. The topographic fabric algorithm, which calculates the slope and aspect which define a vector normal to the earth’s surface and then compute direction cosines of normal vector at each point, was used to auto-detect fault zones. The deterministic eight-node (D8) algorithm, which determines in which neighbouring pixel any water in a central pixel will flow naturally, was used to delineate paleodrainages concealed beneath sand sheets. Seven sets of geological structures were recognized. Their major trends were found to be in the S46°W, S58°W, S81°W, N107°W, N–S, E–W and N152°W and share similar trends of the revealed paleodrainages. The results suggest a strong spatial relationship between the features extracted from DEM and groundwater potential.     

Diurnal rainfall variability over the Upper Blue Nile Basin: A remote sensing based approach

In this study we aim to assess the diurnal cycle of rainfall across the Upper Blue Nile (UBN) basin using satellite observations from Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). Seven years (2002–2008) of Precipitation Radar (PR) and TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) data are used and analyses are based on GIS operations and simple statistical techniques. Observations from PR and TMI reveal that over most parts of the basin area, the rainfall occurrence and conditional mean rain rate are highest between mid- and late-afternoon (15:00–18:00 LST). Exceptions to this are the south-west and south-eastern parts of the basin area and the Lake Tana basin where midnight and early morning maxima are observed. Along the Blue Nile River gorge the rainfall occurrence and the conditional mean rain rate are highest during the night (20:00–23:00 LST). Orographic effects by large scale variation of topography, elevation and the presence of the UBN river gorge were assessed taking two transects across the basin. Along transects from north to south and from east to west results indicate increased rainfall with increase of elevation whereas areas on the windward side of the high mountain ranges receive higher amount of rainfall than areas on the leeward side. As such, mountain ranges and elevation affect the rainfall distribution resulting in rain shadow effect in the north-eastern parts of Choke-mountain and the ridges in the north-east of the basin. Moreover, a direct relation between rainfall occurrence and elevation is observed specifically for 17:00–18:00 LST. Further, results indicate that the rainfall distribution in the deeply incised and wide river gorge is affected with relatively low rainfall occurrence and low mean rainfall rates in the gorge areas. Seasonal mean rainfall depth is highest in the south-west area and central highlands of the basin while areas in the north, north-east and along the Blue Nile gorge receive the least amount of rainfall. Statistical results of this work show that the diurnal cycle of rainfall occurrence from TRMM estimates show significant correlation with the ground observations at 95% confidence level. In the UBN basin, the PR conditional mean rain rate estimates are closer to the ground observations than the TMI. Analysis on mean wet season rainfall amount indicates that PR generally underestimates and TMI overestimates the ground observed rainfall.     

Mapping the mega paleodrainage basin using shuttle radar topography mission in Eastern Sahara and its impact on the new development projects in Southern Egypt

In the current study, the shuttle radar topography mission (SRTM) data, with ～90 m horizontal resolution, were used to delineate the paleodrainage system and their mega basin extent in the East Sahara area. One mega-drainage basin has been detected, covering an area of 256 000 km2. It is classified into two sub mega basins. The Uweinate sub mega basin, which is composed of four main tributaries, collected water from a vast catchment region and drained eastward from the north, west, and southwest, starting at highland areas. The first subwatershed basin is in the northern plateau, south of the Abu-Balas area, with a total catchment area of 25 045 km2. The second subwatershed is in the Gilf Kebir plateau and has a total catchment area of 38 257 km2. The third subwatershed drains from the Uweinate highlands and has a catchment area of 46 154 km2. The fourth subwatershed, which is known in literature as Wadi Mokhtafi in its upper reach and Wadi Arid in its lower reach, drains the northwestern highlands of Sudan and has a total catchment area of 28 653 km2. The Tushka sub mega basin includes one watershed that drains from the northeast highlands of Sudan and has a total catchment area of 63 019 km2. The Uweinate and Tushka sub mega basins are joined together to the North of the Tushka depression, which drains northward toward the Kharga depression. This study indicates that the Eastern Sahara Mega Basin is a closed hydrological system independent of the other drainage systems, such as the Nile hydrosystem and the Qena Valley system. The present research illustrates the capability of the SRTM data in mapping the paleochannel networks, as well as estimate the catchment area and direction of the water flow. Finally, the study reveals that the four areas could be potentially used for different reclamation activities due to the ground water accumulations possibilities.     

利用SRTM绘制东Sahara大型古排水盆地及其对南埃及新发展计划的影响(英文)

In the current study, the shuttle radar topography mission (SRTM) data, with～90 m horizontal resolution, were used to delineate the paleodrainage system and their mega basin extent in the East Sahara area. One mega-drainage basin has been detected, covering an area of 256 000 km2. It is classified into two sub mega basins. The Uweinate sub mega basin, which is composed of four main tributaries, collected water from a vast catchment region and drained eastward from the north, west, and southwest, starting at...     

Remote sensing and GIS application in the detection of environmental degradation indicators

The main aim of this research is to highlight the environment change indicators during the last 20 years in a representa-tive area of the southern part of Iraq(Basrah Province was taken as a case) to understand the main causes which led to widespread environment degradation phenomena using a 1:250000 mapping scale.Remote sensing and GIS’s software were used to classify Landsat TM in 1990 and Landsat ETM+ in 2003 imagery into five land use and land cover(LULC) classes:vegetation land,sand land,urban area,unused land,and water bodies.Supervised classification and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI),Normalized Difference Build-up Index(NDBI),Normalized Difference Water Index(NDWI),Normalized Difference Salinity In-dex(NDSI),and Topsoil Grain Size Index(GSI) were adopted in this research and used respectively to retrieve its class boundary.The results showed a clear deterioration in vegetative cover(514.9 km2) and an increase of sand dune accumulations(438.6 km2),accounting for 10.1,and 10.6 percent,respectively,of the total study area.In addition,a decrease in the water bodies’ area was de-tected(228.9 km2).Sand area accumulations had increased in the total study area,with an annual increasing expansion rate of(33.7 km2·yr·1) during the thirteen years covered by the study.It is therefore imperative that Iraqi government undertake a series of pru-dent actions now that will enable to be in the best possible position when the current environmental crisis ultimately passes.     

无锡城市扩展的遥感监测及其模拟研究

我国已经进入快速城市化阶段,及时掌握城市空间动态扩展信息对于城市规划、城市建设、管理及决策具有重要的现实意义。本文以无锡市1991年和2001年Landsat TM遥感影像为数据源,提取建成区信息,并引入位序-规模分布理论进行城市扩展的模拟研究。结果表明无锡市东部、东南部和西部大幅度地向外扩展,建成区面积增加了52.4km2。位序规模分布模拟表明主城区城市用地斑块不断膨胀,平均斑块面积增大,大量碎小斑块被吸收和合并,模拟结果与建成区斑块的实际扩展变化比较吻合。     

基于遥感和GIS的洪水坝河流域冰川变化研究

以洪水坝河流域为例,利用1956年的地形图和2003年的ASTER遥感影像及数字高程模型,在GIS的支持下对两期数据进行统计分析,结果表明:近47年来,洪水坝河流域冰川面积减少了14.04%,长度退缩了17.28%,储量减少了2.26%。研究认为,气温显著升高是洪水坝河流域冰川快速萎缩的主要原因。在和祁连山地区、西藏以及天山地区的冰川进行对比后,发现研究区冰川消融的速率介于三地之间,初步推测是由研究区所在区域的气候和自身属性共同作用的结果。     

珠江三角洲海岸线遥感调查和近期演变分析

为了进一步调查和分析珠江三角洲海岸线近期演变情况,利用TM,ETM,ALOS等多源多时相遥感图像对珠江三角洲海岸线进行遥感调查和近期演变分析,通过几何纠正与图像配准,得到具有统一投影和坐标系统的基础图像;根据不同海岸类型特征和所建立的解译标志,采用人工目视解译和计算机自动提取相结合的方法,提取了珠江三角洲1998,2003和2008年3个时段的各类海岸线,提取精度优于80％;借助GIS的叠加和统计工具,分析了珠江三角洲海岸线近期演变特点、变化趋势和原因.结果表明:珠江三角洲海岸线长度在1998-2003年间几乎没有多大变化,而在2003-2008年增加较多,其中人工岸线的增加比例最高(达50％以上),其次是基岩岸、河口岸、沙砾质岸和淤泥质岸,而红树林岸的增加比例最低;珠江三角洲海岸线变迁趋势以向海延伸为主,主要是沿岸工程建设、滩涂围垦、围海造地和人工养殖等所致,而人为造地是海岸线变迁的主要驱动因素.     

GIS支持的长江安徽段干流河道演变的遥感分析

长江是我国的黄金水道,对长江安徽段河道演变的研究将有助于岸线资源的开发利用、河势变化分析及河道整治。本文运用RS与GIS方法对四期遥感TM影像图,采用目视解译和微机图像处理相结合的方法,分析研究了1980年以来长江干流安徽段河道的时空变化特征和规律。研究表明1980年以来长江干流安徽全河段总体河势保持相对稳定,未发生长河段的主流线大幅度摆动现象,但局部河段的河势仍不断调整,有的河段河势变化还相当剧烈。1980～2000年长江河道多处表现为泥沙的淤积作用,在分汊型河道边缘滩州和江心洲淤长作用明显,2000～2008年河道表现出明显的冲刷状态,主要原因在于上游来沙量的减少和下游的岸滩防护工作有效开展。2000～2008年,河流上段内滩洲冲刷速率大于下段。     

Remote sensing and GIS application in change detection of the Barak River channel,N.E. India

Rivers flowing through the alluvium invariably have very low gradient forcing the river to flow slowly in a meandering and zigzag path. Nature and intensity of meandering is governed by the geological and tectonic conditions of the river basin. Barak River in tectonically active south Assam (Northeast India) exhibits intense meandering and shifting of the river course. Topographic data of two different years and satellite images of 4 different years covering a section of the Barak River have been investigated to verify the nature of changes undergone by the river through times. This study reveals active northward shift of the river and a prominent neck-cut off in the initial part of the study area. Northward shift of the river also occurred in the area west of Silchar. But, in the western part the river has shifted both towards north and south. Oscillatory shifting in the river channel has also been noticed. The river has shown a overall northward shift which is probably due to uplift of the southern part of the Barak River valley.     

Estimating the rainfall erosivity for management planning in the Eastern Desert,Egypt

Soil erosion is one of the major causes of land degradation in arid areas. Soil erosion models, e.g. the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE), use arithmetical expressions to explore relationships among various processes occurring in the terrain. The established model includes soil parameters, slope, climate and human activities to estimate the water erosion rate and sediment yield. In this study, an approach was adopted to integrate RUSLE model and geographic information system to detect erosion vulnerability and determine the soil erosion risk in the study area. The study area is situated in the Eastern Desert, Egypt. Ground truth data were examined to represent two regions: Luxor-Suhag and Suhag–ElMinya. These regions are exampled by four dry valleys named Sannor, Tarfa, Asyut and Qena, which are planned for agricultural development. The results indicate high risk of water erosion and sediment load discharge into the cultivated land in Luxor–Suhag region. The other region of Suhag–ElMinya is moderately affected by water and sediment load discharge. A higher soil erosion rate was found in Qena wadi followed by Asyut, then Tarfa and Sannur, respectively.     

Use of multitemporal remote sensing data for mapping the Alfios River network changes from 1977 to 2000

Alfios is the biggest river of the Peloponnese and the ninth longest river in Greece. It drains an area of almost 2575 km² in Western Peloponnese and discharges at Kiparissiakos Gulf. Due to its extent, the Alfios basin presents complex physiography and geomorphology.

During the last 50 years, major direct human activities have had an important impact on the river network shape and on the valley floor morphology. The most important human activities were the channel straightening caused by meander cut-offs in 1950, the construction of two dams: the Ladonas dam in 1955 and the Flokas dam in 1968 and the illegal in-stream gravel extraction that started in the 1960s and continues until today. As a result, the Alfios riverbed has presented very rapid vertical and horizontal (lateral) erosion and significant changes to its network shape. The drainage network follows a straighter course, the number of meanders has been reduced and the seventh order branch is deeply incised. Besides the morphological impacts to the river network shape there are also serious economic damages caused by human activity. During the winter of 1999, the Flokas dam bridge was closed for a long period due to damages at its foundation caused by the heavy rain and illegal gravel extraction. Transportation between the villages in the area became extremely difficult and time consuming and the cost of the repairs was estimated at 500 000 euros. In this study, there is an effort to map the network shape transformation for the period 1977–2000 using multitemporal and multisensor satellite images. One Landsat MSS image, three Landsat TM images, two Landsat ETM images, and one Terra ASTER image have been orthorectified and processed in order to cover the specific period. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method and Geographical Information System (GIS) techniques have been applied to map the changes in the Alfios River channel. The drainage network straightening and the cut-off of five big meanders were detected and mapped. These changes occurred between 1986 and 2000.     

珊瑚礁遥感研究进展

珊瑚礁是生物多样性和初级生产力最高的海洋生态系统之一,对人类社会与海洋生态环境的健康和可持续发展有重要作用,而珊瑚礁又是中国南海主要的国土类型,国家因此越来越重视对南海珊瑚礁的规划、管理、建设与保护。珊瑚礁的调查与探测则是进行珊瑚礁活动的基础与依据,而遥感则在珊瑚礁的大范围探测方面具有很大的潜力,所以国内外已经存在很多利用遥感对珊瑚礁进行调查与探测的研究与应用。本文将按照被动遥感和主动遥感的顺序,客观地阐述国内外珊瑚礁遥感研究与应用的进展,探讨珊瑚礁遥感研究与应用的发展趋势,并尝试总结中国珊瑚礁遥感的机遇和挑战。其中被动遥感包括珊瑚礁地形与水深的遥感、珊瑚礁底质与地貌的遥感、珊瑚礁岸线变化与稳定性的遥感以及珊瑚礁环境的遥感等,而主动遥感则包括珊瑚礁水深的机载激光雷达遥感、珊瑚礁地貌的船载声学遥感和珊瑚礁地形的星载微波遥感等。结果发现,国内珊瑚礁遥感研究与应用的整体水平落后于国外:虽然在部分数据处理方面具有比国外更先进的技术,但相应的应用基础研究仍然达不到国外的广度与深度。因此,国内的珊瑚礁遥感研究仍需要鼓励珊瑚礁学者更多的参与与合作,以便在硬件设备和数据处理等方面加强针对珊瑚礁遥感的研究,进而融合多种手段而实现珊瑚礁遥感的工程化应用。     

东江源稀土矿区土地利用变化遥感监测研究

针对1991—2013年东江源稀土矿区土地利用变化状况问题,该文提出了一种人工目视判读和最大似然法监督分类法相结合的分类方法。采用Majority/Minority分析对分类结果进行处理,通过混淆矩阵对分类的结果进行精度评估的方式,解决研究区土地利用变化与驱动力分析的问题。实验表明,1991—2013年东江源稀土矿区土地利用有比较显著的变化,但总体的土地结构变化不大,复垦等方面的因素使矿区的面积在逐渐减小,自然因素和人文因素在土地利用变化中起到了非常重要的作用。     

Remote sensing and GIS analysis for mapping spatio-temporal changes of erosion and deposition of two Mediterranean river deltas: The case of the Axios and Aliakmonas rivers,Greece

Wetlands are among Earth's most dynamic, diverse and varied habitats as the balance between land and water surfaces provide shelter to a unique mixture of plant and animal species. This study explores the changes in two Mediterranean wetland delta environments formed by the Axios and Aliakmonas rivers located in Greece, over a 25-year period (1984–2009). Direct photo-interpretation of four Landsat TM images acquired during the study period was performed. Furthermore, a sophisticated, semi-automatic image classification method based on support vector machines (SVMs) was developed to streamline the mapping process. Deposition and erosion magnitudes at different temporal scales during the study period were quantified using both approaches based on coastline surface area changes. Analysis using both methods was conducted in a geographical information systems (GIS) environment.Direct photo-interpretation, which formed our reference dataset, showed noticeable changes in the coastline deltas of both study areas, with erosion occurring mostly in the earlier periods (1990–2003) in both river deltas followed by deposition in more recent years (2003–2009), but at different magnitudes. Spatial patterns of coastline changes predicted from the SVMs showed similar trends. In absolute terms SVMs predictions of sediment erosion and deposition in the studied area were different in the order of 5–20% in comparison to photo-interpretation, evidencing the potential capability of this method in coastline changes monitoring. One of the main contributions of our work lies to the use of the SVMs classifier in coastal mapping of changes, since to our knowledge use of this technique has been under-explored in this application domain. Furthermore, this study provides important contribution to the understanding of Mediterranean river delta dynamics and their behaviours, and corroborates the usefulness of EO technology and GIS as an effective tool in policy decision making and successful landscape management. The latter is of considerable scientific and practical value to the wider community of interested users, given the continued open access to observations from this satellite radiometer globally.     

Remote sensing and information value (IV) model for regional mapping of fluvial channels and topographic wetness in the Saudi Arabia

This study aims to map regions of near surface fluvial channels, mega-basins and topographic wetness in Saudi Arabia using remote sensing data and an information value (IV) model, which is a modified approach of weight of evidence. We used the new version of the Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) to delineate the fluvial channels, mega-basin, and slope. These hydrological parameters were used to index the topographic wetness of each mega-basin in the region based on IV in a Geographic Information System. We validated our method using the Space Imaging Radar-C and Landsat 8 images and compared the textural features (fluvial channels) evident from SRTM digital elevation model and to determine whether these patterns were different. Our results revealed that the region is drained by nine tributaries and that the Err Rub Al Khali and Sahba mega-basins have the highest value of the IV and topographic wetness values; the Arran and coastal mega-basins have the lowest value of the IV and topographic wetness values. An integrated approach is timely and economically effective and can be applied throughout the arid and semi-arid regions to help hydrologists and urban developers.     

Research on the influence of site factors on the expansion of construction land in the Pearl River Delta,China: By using GIS and remote sensing

Landsat TM images of the Pearl River Delta taken in 1988, 1998 and 2006 are used to explore the site factors that influence the construction land expansion in this study. Several site factors, including landscape types and the distances to roads, coastlines, or city centers, had significant impacts on the expansion of construction land, influencing the direction, scale and intensity of the expansion. The site factors serve as important natural and spatial indicators of the preferable locales for construction land expansion, describing tendencies to expand to locations in suburbs, plains and areas near roads or coastlines.     

Urban growth monitoring and projection using remote sensing and geographic information systems: a case study in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area,Minnesota

This study investigates urban growth dynamics from regional to local scales in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area and demonstrates how metropolitan growth can be driven by policies. Urban change from 1975 to 2006 was detected using Landsat imagery. Future growth in 2030 was modelled based on two scenarios with or without regional development policies incorporated. City- or township-level growth was examined by a zonal analysis. Results show urban grew 126,700 ha from 1975 to 2006. The Markov-Cellular Automata model projected at least another 67,000 ha of urban growth from 2006 to 2030. When regional development policies were incorporated, homogeneous and compact growth patterns were predicted along the urban periphery; however, actual land supplies within the cities along the urban edge are facing challenges to accommodate the projected growth as large portions of suitable lands are located outside of the 2030 Municipal Urban Service Area boundary.     

Effects of urbanization on river morphology of the Talar River,Mazandarn Province,Iran

In the present study, we investigate the effects of urbanization growth on river morphology in the downstream part of Talar River, east of Mazandaran Province, Iran. Morphological and morphometric parameters in 10 equal sub-reaches were defined along a 11.5 km reach of the Talar River after land cover maps were produced for 1955, 1968, 1994, 2005 and 2013. Land cover types changed extremely during the study period. Residential lands were found to have increased in area by about 1631%, while forest land and riparian vegetation decreased in by approximately 99.9 and 96.2%, respectively. The results of morphometric and morphological factors showed that average channel width (W) for all 11.5 km of the study river decreased by 84% during the study period, while the flow length increased by about 2.14%.