Environmental studies on coastal zone soils of the north Sinai peninsula (Egypt) using remote sensing techniques

The northern part of the Sinai peninsula is one of the most strategic projects for agriculture extension in Egypt. This project (the El-Salam Canal) supplies about 168.000 hectares soils with mixed water from the Nile and agricultural drainage water to reclaim and cultivate these soils. The principle goals of this study are the environmental study and soil survey of the coastal zone soils along the El-Salam Canal project to assess the development activities in this area and evaluate the soils of project. To achieve this aims, image data analysis of remote sensing data (Landsat TM) was performed. In addition to this, field soil survey were done through field work trips, meteorological, hydrological, physical and chemical soil analysis. This work of study reports on how remote sensing data together with a land evaluation system can be used to assess the quality of the soils in this area for agricultural use. The results show that remote sensing data is a very efficient way to evaluate large areas quickly and with sufficient accuracy. In addition to fieldwork, using of satellite images is necessary to construct a soil map for the north Sinai. The results of such as evaluation process will help developing countries like Egypt, specially in the northern part of the Sinai peninsula area, to put their scarce resources on the most rewarding land in order to speed up the process of improving the welfare of the country and especially the rural population. The supervised classes by the maximum likelihood algorithm method in the studied areas were discriminated from the Landsat TM images about 19 classes in the north Sinai total area The correlation coefficient relationships among spectral properties bands and soil properties are as Band 4 more correlated with EC, CEC, CaCO3, Gypsum and soil texture.The contour line image maps were achieved from the Landsat TM image and the results of the soil properties, such as EC, CEC, OM, CaCO3, Gypsum and pH values in the studied area.