Development of a Spatial Model for Soil Quality Assessment under Arid and Semi-Arid Conditions

Abstract

Food security has become a global concern for humanity with rapid population growth, requiring a sustainable assessment of natural resources. Soil is one of the most important sources that can help to bridge the food demand gap to achieve food security if well assessed and managed. The aim of this study was to determine the soil quality index (SQI) for El Fayoum depression in the Western Egyptian Desert using spatial modeling for soil physical, chemical, and biological properties based on the MEDALUS methodology. For this purpose, a spatial model was developed to evaluate the soil quality of the El Fayoum depression in the Western Egyptian Desert. The integration between Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and Sentinel-2 satellite image was used to produce landforms and digital soil mapping for the study area. Results showed that the study area located under six classes of soil quality, e.g., very high-quality class represents an area of 387.12 km2 (22.7%), high-quality class occupies 441.72 km2 (25.87%), the moderate-quality class represents 208.57 km2 (12.21%), slightly moderate-quality class represents 231.10 km2 (13.5%), as well as, a low-quality class covering an area of 233 km2 (13.60%), and very low-quality class occupies about 206 km2 (12%). The Agricultural Land Evaluation System for arid and semi-arid regions (ALESarid) was used to estimate land capability. Land capability classes were non-agriculture class (C6), poor (C4), fair (C3), and good (C2) with an area 231.87 km2 (13.50%), 291.94 km2 (17%), 767.39 km2 (44.94%), and 416.07 km2 (24.4%), respectively. Land capability along with the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) used for validation of the proposed model of soil quality. The spatially-explicit soil quality index (SQI) shows a strong significant positive correlation with the land capability and a positive correlation with NDVI at R2 0.86 (p < 0.001) and 0.18 (p < 0.05), respectively. In arid regions, the strategy outlined here can easily be re-applied in similar environments, allowing decision-makers and regional governments to use the quantitative results achieved to ensure sustainable development.

Evaluation of Land Resources in Some Area of Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate, Using Remote Sensing (Rs) and Gis Techniques

“…For image processing, SNAP and ENVI 5.4 were used, as well as spectral subset, radiometric calibration, atmospheric, and geometric adjustments. A projection system was assigned using the UTM Zone 36 N coordinate system and the WGS 84 datum (Shokr et al, 2021)…”

“…Only the related soil qualities and their particular diagnostic factors are considered (Samuel et al, 2019). A sustainable assessment of natural resources is required to achieve food security (Shokr et al, 2021). Currently, Egypt's agricultural sector represents 38.2% of the man power and has ability to account for an even higher ratio (El Baroudy et al, 2020).…”

Modeling crop suitability under micro irrigation using a hybrid AHP-GIS approach

“…Abd El-Kawy et al (2010) used GIS-MCDA to develop the Agricultural Land Evaluation System for arid and semi-arid regions (ALESarid-GIS) considering climate, soil, and irrigation water data. The ALESarid-GIS software can provide a reasonable accuracy, ease of application, and moderate data demand (Elnashar et al 2021). Therefore, this system has been used as a decision support system for land-use planning in many areas in Egypt such as west Nile Delta, (Elsemary et al 2013;Abd El-Kawy et al 2019), El-Omayed area in the north-coastal of Egypt (Darwish et al 2015), El-Fayoum depression (Shokr et al 2021), and areas adjacent to Lake Nasser in Aswan Governorate (Elnashar et al 2021).…”

“…The ALESarid-GIS software can provide a reasonable accuracy, ease of application, and moderate data demand (Elnashar et al 2021). Therefore, this system has been used as a decision support system for land-use planning in many areas in Egypt such as west Nile Delta, (Elsemary et al 2013;Abd El-Kawy et al 2019), El-Omayed area in the north-coastal of Egypt (Darwish et al 2015), El-Fayoum depression (Shokr et al 2021), and areas adjacent to Lake Nasser in Aswan Governorate (Elnashar et al 2021). However, one of the main disadvantages of the ALESarid-GIS is the equal significance for all criteria used for land evaluation.…”

Mapping Spatial Management Zones of Salt-Affected Soils in Arid Region: A Case Study in the East of the Nile Delta, Egypt

“…Increasing of food demand represents a great pressure on governments, especially in third world countries, as a result of the high population increase, which has led to increased competition over natural resources use [1][2][3][4]. There are many factors that cause land degradation, such as urban sprawl, soil salinization, soil waterlogging and soil compaction, as well as mismanagement of land use [5][6][7][8].…”