U.S.-Egypt Cooperative Research: Near-Surface Drainage Within a Groundwater Basin in Southwest Egypt Using Radar Images

Trustees Of Boston University, Boston

Investigators

Abstract

0417704 El-Baz Description: This award is to support a cooperative research between Dr. Farouk El-Baz, Director, Center for Remote Sensing, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts and Mr. Ali Werwer, Chairman and Managing Director, the General Company for Research and Ground Water, Cairo, Egypt. The PIs will use a new approach by utilizing space-borne radar imagery and groundwater data to characterize the Nubia aquifer in the Sharq Oweinat area of the Misaha graben in southwest Egypt. Satellite image enhancement and interpretation will be conducted by the BU team, applicable groundwater data will be supplied by the REGWA team and field investigations will involve both teams. The Nubia aquifer system is considered to be unconfined whereby groundwater resides in sandstone rocks that unconformably overlie basement rocks and are covered by Quaternary deposits. The aquifer, however, is not homogeneous as evidenced by the variation of drainage styles and densities, and the degree of fracturing observed in satellite images, as well as data obtained from 383 productive wells that have been drilled there and that range from 300 to700 meters in depth. The goal of the proposed research is to understand the fluvial and structural feature distributions in the Misaha graben area and establish if anomalies in groundwater data can be explained in the context of fluvial and structural controls. The implication is that the unconfined Nubia aquifer has a variable nature in that the groundwater present depends on: recharge in the geologic past; and fracturing, which introduced secondary porosity into the rocks and increased their storage capacity. Fluctuations observed in groundwater data (e.g., salinity, transmissivity, piezometry, etc.) are so far unaccounted for. The spatial organization of near-surface fluvial features and associated structural features will be derived from space-borne radar images and Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) in a Geographical Information System (GIS) database to identify areas that received recharge in the past. These vector layers will be correlated with REGWA groundwater data in the same database. The accessibility of new data, the process-flow routine established for analyzing radar data (which so far has been an underutilized tool for understanding the nature of the Nubia aquifer), and the correlation of these datasets, ensures improved understanding of the Nubia aquifer system in the Misaha graben area of southwest Egypt. Scope and broader impacts: Results from this research will establish whether variable characteristics of the Nubia aquifer system can be explained in the context of fluvial and structural recharge; thus, it can be determined if the methodology devised in this pilot study to characterize the Nubia aquifer can be applied to other areas in the Great Sahara. Research findings will be published in international peer-reviewed scientific journals. The project will develop a new infrastructure that can enhance current understandings of the nature of the Nubia aquifer by the creation of the proposed database and the formation of the research partnership. This project is being supported under the US-Egypt Joint Fund Program, which provides grants to scientists and engineers in both countries to carry out these cooperative activities.