Assessment and mapping of environmentally sensitive areas to desertification using new techniques in the North Delta region of Egypt

This study aims to delineate areas in the northern Nile Delta of Egypt that are sensitive to desertification using integrated remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS).
Desertification is one of the fundamental problems associated with land degradation in arid and semi-arid regions. Desertification results from several factors, including climate change, chemical and physical degradation and human activities.
Thematic indicators of soil, climate, vegetation, and management practices represent essential data and are required to approximately define the environmentally sensitive areas (ESAs). These layers are extracted and manipulated from topographic maps, geologic maps, land use intensity data, policy enforcement data, satellite images collected by the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) sensor in 2015, and data obtained during field surveys. The functions of the Spatial Analyst Toolbox in the ArcGIS 10.1 software package are used to collect the thematic layers and identify the ESAs.
The data obtained in this study reveal that the areas that may be sensitive to desertification are located in the northern parts of the study area. These vulnerable areas are located around Lake Borollos and represent 19% of the study area. The results indicate that the central part of the study area exhibits fragile areas that are sensitive to desertification and represent 24% of the total area. The southern parts of the study area are characterized by critical sensitivity and represent 57% of the total area. The key factors that affect the sensitivity to desertification are soil salinity, waterlogging and management indicators in the study area.