Earth Sciences Remote Sensing Lab
Earth Sciences Remote Sensing Lab |
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We developed and applied an integrated systems approach (involving remote sensing, geochemical and ecological analyses, and hydrologic modeling) to assess, monitor, and model recent and future impacts of changes in the landscape and land cover associated with major agricultural development projects in Saharan Africa. We also examined the millennial scale land cover changes (climate change-related), and their impacts on the regional groundwater system. Agricultural development projects are affecting the water resources of the underlying groundwater aquifers and the existing fresh water ecosystems, as well as producing new carbon sinks. For the decadal land cover, Southwest Egypt was chosen as a test site, because Egypt’s landscape and its climatic and hydrologic settings resemble those in neighboring Saharan countries, where aggressive land use development projects are also under way. These projects include the construction of the Aswan High Dam and the Tushka Canal. Results obtained from this research in Egypt are applicable throughout the arid regions of North Africa and the Middle East. This work was conducted jointly with scientists from Western Michigan University, Argonne National Lab, University of Illinois, Chicago, Ain Shams University, and the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority (formerly the Egyptian Geological Survey).
Tushka Canal (August, 2001)
Poster Presentations: GSA Annual Meeting 2003 AGU Fall Meeting 2002
References: Sultan, M., Becker, R., Jastrow, J.D., Miller, R.M., Kim, J., and El Alfy, Z., 2002, Land cover and land use changes and their impacts on groundwater resources and carbon cycling in SW Egypt, EOS Transactions, American Geophysical Union, vol. 83, p. 47. |
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