SUSTAINABILITY OF OLD CULTIVATED SOILS IN EL-FAYOUM GOVERNORATE, EGYPT

Abstract

The study aims to use remote sensing and geographic information system to evaluate old cultivated soils in El-Fayoum governorate. The studied area locates in west of the Nile at 90 km southwest of Cairo between latitudes 28°56′ and 29°28′ N and longitudes 30°15′ and 31°05′ E, and covers an area of about 1783.38 km2(440691.03 fed.). The physiographic units of the study area were extracted using the ENVI software version 5.2 using Landsat 8 image captured in April 2018, the boundaries of the mapping units were improved by using satellite imagery data and the topographic map produced by the Egyptian Survey Authority produced in the year 2005 scale 1: 100000. The digital elevation model (DEM) used to find the general direction of the slope in the study area, which sloped from the southeast to the north. The highest elevation of the studied area is 26 meters above sea level at E1-Lahun hole and the lowest elevation is 45 meters below the sea level at the Beach of Qarun Lake. The GIS software used in the study area is ArcGIS version 10.5, which used to produce digital maps of soil characteristics including (texture, salinity, soil depth, exchangeable sodium percent, calcium carbonate, and gypsum), environmental hazards maps and mapping the variables of sustainability for the studied area. The studied area could be classified into three main physiographic units as follow: (1). Alluvial plain deposits: These deposits is cover an area of 853.73 Km2 (210876.26 fed.) and representing 47.87 % of the total area and divided into five sub-physiographic units and it is as follows: