On the Use of Radar and Optical Satellite Imagery for the Monitoring of Flood Hazards on Heritage Sites in Southern Sinai, Egypt

Abstract

This study focuses on the use of radar and optical satellite imagery for flood hazard mapping and monitoring around the archaeological sites of the Wadi Baba area, situated at Sinai (Egypt) and well known for its heritage treasures belonging to diverse historical periods and civilizations from the Pharaonic, Nabateans, Christian, and Islamic eras. Although this area is located in an arid to semi-arid climatic region, it is intermittently flooded due to torrential rainstorms. To assess the amount of rainfall expected and its impacts on heritage sites, satellite Sentinel-1 (C-Band) and Tropical Rainfall Monitoring Mission (TRMM) data were jointly used with measurements from meteorological stations and the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) from Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). Envi5.1, ArcGIS 10.4.1, Snap 6.0, and the GEE platform were used to process optical and radar data, which were further analysed using the ArcHydro model. In this study, the TRMM accumulated rainfall data acquired on 17 January 2010, Sentinel-1 radar images between 2017 and 2019, and Sentinel-1 data captured from 1 to 30 March 2020 processed by GEE platform were chosen to assess the effects of flood events on the archaeological sites in the study area. The results indicated that the study area is exposed to flood risk that significantly threatens these heritage sites. Based on that, mitigation strategies were devised and recommended to mitigate the flood hazard impact around the archaeological areas.

El-Gendi Fortress: a new military and religious geo-archaeological site, Sinai, Egypt: geomorphological and hydrogeological remarks

“…The presence of the three barrages (Figs. 2b-d, 14d) barring waters at the upstream watershed sub-basin" a" near the fortress, supports the presence of flash floods [75] while the fortress was in work (Fig. 14b, c) [26,66,67,70] supports the concept that El-Gendi Fortress is subjected to recent periods of heavy rains.…”

Multi-Sensor Satellite Images for Detecting the Effects of Land-Use Changes on the Archaeological Area of Giza Necropolis, Egypt

“…UNESCO defined cultural heritage sites as "the result of life and inspiration, which should be protected and preserved" [3]. Cultural heritage regions, encompassing the archaeological and historical built environment and movable heritage, are at risk and still suffer from a lack of specific and systematic risk [4][5][6][7][8][9]. In 2005, a study prepared by ICOMOS considered the threats to 641 cultural and mixed world heritage properties due to development projects in addition to the lack of quantitative data on trends between 1994 and 2004 [10].…”

Tracking the effects of the long‐term changes on the coastal archaeological sites of the Mediterranean using remote sensing data: The case study from the northern shoreline of Nile Delta of Egypt

“…Archaeological artefacts are unique and irreplaceable; therefore, their documentation, protection and sustainable management are important issues, especially for the fragile archaeological landscapes of the Mediterranean coastline region (Stek, 2016). In this context, the use of satellite time‐series data over a long period can help in detecting landscape changes that adversely affect heritage sites during the last few decades (Abate et al, 2020; Attia et al, 2022; Elfadaly et al, 2022; Lasaponara et al, 2016, 2017). Optical and Radar satellite data proved their efficiency in studying the landscape features including archaeological sites and analysing natural and anthropogenic hazards (Keay et al, 2014).…”