PEDOLOGICAL STUDIES ON WADI WATIR AREA USING REMOTE SENSING TECHNIQUE

Abstract

The current investigation was achieved to provide information about the dominant

soils in wadi watir, by the aid of the spatial data integration and interpretation. The facilities introduced by Image data processing and data capture and the manipulation in GIS are of hight values towards the main terrain mapping units delineation m particular. The supervised and unsupervised classification of sattallite data, triangulated irregular network (TIN) map, slope map in addition to the field truth, assisted in the verification of the terrain mapping units delineation five soil subgroubs, (Typic Torriorthents, Lithic Torriorthents, Typic Calcigypsids, Typic Haplocalcids, Typic torripsammments) were distinguished in the study area. Furthermore the classification was performed down to the family levels. According to the relative proportions of the identified clay minerals, nine assemblages are recognized namely, smectite, kaolinite, chlorite,illite, palygorskite, sepiolite, smectite- chlorite, illite- smectite and vermiculite, which means that the sediments are mostley originated from multi sources under different depositional environments.the ferquencey distribution of the heavy minerals (0.064-

0.125mm)indicate that the soil under study are immature from pedological point of view . The land capability classification of the terrain mapping units for irrigated agriculture demonstrates marginally suitable (8,1) (wadi bottom and delta) and not suitable (Nl) land existence. Key words: Satellite data, tiN map, slope map, GIS, Torrifluvents, Haplocalcis,

Haplogypsids, land capability classification.

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