A Semi-Automated Approach for Mapping Geomorphology of El Bardawil Lake, Northern Sinai, Egypt, Using Integrated Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques
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ARTICLE IN PRESS The Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Sciences (2014) xxx, xxx–xxx National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences The Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Sciences www.elsevier.com/locate/ejrs www.sciencedirect.com RESEARCH PAPER A semi-automated approach for mapping geomorphology of El Bardawil Lake, Northern Sinai, Egypt, using integrated remote sensing and GIS techniques Nabil Sayed Embabi a,*, Moawad Badawy Moawad a,b a Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt b Department of Biogeochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany Received 19 November 2013; revised 20 February 2014; accepted 23 February 2014 KEYWORDS Abstract Among the other coastal lakes of the Mediterranean northern coast of Egypt, Bardawil Geomorphological mapping; Lake is a unique lagoon, as it is fed only by seawater. The lagoon is composed of two main basins, Semi-automated approach; and several other internal small basins interconnected to one another. Although the general geo- Bardawil Lake; morphologic characteristics are treated in some regional studies, we used a semi-automated Sinai approach based on a wide variety of digital image processing for mapping the major geomorpho- logical landforms of the lake on a medium scale of 1:250,000. The approach is based primarily on data fusion of Landsat ETM+ image, and validated by other ancillary spatial data (e.g. topo- graphic maps, Google images and GPS in situ data). Interpretations of high resolution space images by Google Earth and the large-scale topographic maps (1:25,000), in specific, revealed new micro- forms and some detailed geomorphologic aspects with the aid of GPS measurements. Small sand barriers, submerged sand dunes, tidal channels, fans and flats, and micro-lagoons are the recurrent forms in the lake. The approach used in this study could be widely applied to study the low-lying coastal lands along the Nile Delta. However, it is concluded from geological data and geomorpho- logic aspects that Bardawil Lake is of a tectonic origin; it was much deeper than it is currently, and has been filled with sediments mostly since the Flandrian transgression (8–6 ka bp). Ó 2014 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences. 1. Introduction * Corresponding author. Tel.: +20 2 22602497; fax: +20 2 26854079. E-mail address: [email protected] (N.S. Embabi). Geomorphological mapping is an important tool for studying Peer review under responsibility of National Authority for Remote land-surface processes (Vannametee et al., 2012), providing the Sensing and Space Sciences. ability to identify, impress, and analyse and to associate land- forms to the evolution processes (Pavlopoulos et al., 2009). It offers also a full objective description of landforms that are indispensable for a variety of practical purposes such as Production and hosting by Elsevier preservation of natural resources, environmental planning 1110-9823 Ó 2014 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrs.2014.02.002 Please cite this article in press as: Embabi, N.S., Moawad, M.B., , A semi-automated approach for mapping geomorphology of El Bardawil Lake, Northern Sinai, Egypt, using integrated remote sensing and GIS techniques, Egypt. J. Remote Sensing Space Sci. (2014), http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/j.ejrs.2014.02.002 ARTICLE IN PRESS 2 N.S. Embabi, M.B. Moawad and sustainable development (Dramisa et al., 2011). Pavlopo- utilizing the semi-automated methods can be summarized as ulos et al. (2009) summed up the analyses of geomorphic units follows: (i) to ensure a consistent mapping scheme with a re- into two major complementary approaches, namely the Land- duced field survey time (Vannametee et al., 2012), (ii) to quan- form Elements Model (LEM) and the Landform Patterns tify land-surface analysis (geomorphometry) (Pike et al., 2009), Model (LPM). LEM deals with units of landscape by compar- and (iii) to avoid bias arising from a digitizing process based ing them to a simply curved geometric surface without inflec- on visual image interpretation. tions and focuses on slope and slope measurements. In The major objective of this paper is to introduce a semi- LPM, the land surface is seen as a repetitive phenomenon in automated approach for mapping the dominant geomorpho- which simpler elements recur at quasi-regular intervals in a logical forms in Bardawil Lake, Northern Sinai, Egypt and definable pattern and the elements that form the patterns are iden- its surrounding low-lying coastal areas based on integrated re- tified as units. LPM is rather used inthisstudyasthestudyareais mote sensing and GIS techniques. The study area was selected considerably distinguished by low relief, and surface elements are as it is generally distinguished by a flat-terrain (micro-land- mostly regularly organized (e.g.sanddunes,inlandlagoons). forms) intervened by a water body (Bardawil Lake). In such ter- In fact, recent advances in remote sensing, geographic rains, methods of semi-automated mapping are still of a great information systems, geospatial technologies, as well as devel- challenge owing to lack of detailed topographic maps, DEM opments in numerical modelling of surface processes, have rev- and satellite images of high resolution. Therefore, we integrated olutionized the field of geomorphology (Bishop et al., 2012). different kinds of spatial data and field work with the aid of These new technologies have allowed new insights and the per- GPS instrument for mapping morphological landforms, esti- formance of rapid mapping, within the framework of the geo- mating bathymetry, and clarifying the major hydrodynamic graphic information sciences. The addition of new sources of and sediment movements in the Lake. The semi-automated ap- digital spatial data has opened up vast regions of the Earth’s proach used in this study depends on applying wide variety surface for study that would have otherwise been uneconomic methods of digital image processing to derive the main land- or impossible to achieve (Smith et al., 2011). The ability to use forms. The study would be helpful in regional planning and a layers paradigm to organize input data and produce layers of conservation of Bardawil Lake as a distinctive ecosystem for thematic mapped output is of great significance (Griffiths its flora and fauna. The approach presented in this study could et al., 2011). Furthermore, availability of spatio-temporal data, be also applied to study the low-lying coastal lands along the geocomputational algorithms and approaches now permit geo- Nile Delta and the north western coast of Egypt. scientists to go far beyond traditional mapping (Bishop et al., Bardawil Lake was also known as ‘‘Sabkhat El-Bardawil’’, 2012). The modern geomorphological maps, therefore, repre- due to the intermittent connection with the Mediterranean. sent digital collections of geomorphological information layers Previously, it was also known as ‘‘Lac Sirbonis’’ (Neev et al., consisting of georeferenced vector, raster and tabular data 1987) that seems to be an old Roman name (Hamdan, 1980). which are stored in a digital environment such as a GIS geo- In 1953, two artificial inlets (Boghaz I and Boghaz II) have database, and are easily visualized (Seijmonsbergen, 2012). been dug, connecting the Sabkha with the Mediterranean Numerous conceptual/theoretical and information technol- Sea in order to secure its permanent connection to the Mediter- ogy issues are at the heart of the digital geomorphological ranean, decrease the salinity of the lagoon and allow the natu- mapping (DGM) (Bishop et al., 2012). Most landforms are ral immigration of fish into it (Klein, 1986; Khalil and delimitation by on-screen digitizing of boundaries manually Shaltout, 2006). Bardawil Lake protrudes into the Mediterra- identified on maps; DEM/satellite images or rectified air pho- nean with a smooth convex coastal barrier that extends for tos and much can be done using Google Earth (Evans, 2012; 85 km from east to west. On the contrary, the southern Seijmonsbergen, 2012). However, different semi-automated shores are irregular due to the effect of pre-lake topography, methods and algorithms were widely applied to extract and of which sand dunes of North Sinai Sand Sea are the most delineate automatically the geomorphological features during effective (Fig. 1). Based on satellite image interpretations and the last few decades (e.g. Jenson and Domingue, 1988; Tarbo- GIS techniques, the lake has a maximum width of 20.5 km ton et al., 1991; Drury, 1993; Wood, 1996; Akhir and Abdul- from north to south along the longitude 33°100 E, covering lah, 1997; Mackay and Band, 1998; Martinez-Casasnovas an area of 629 km2 and the length of its inner shores is and Stuiver, 1998; Sarangi et al., 2001; Lane et al., 2003; Jor- 611 km. Using solid model surface analysis (true 3D models), dan, 2004; Gustavsson et al., 2006, 2008; Klingseisen et al., the average volume of the lake was estimated as 193 · 106 m3. 2008; Mina´r and Evans, 2008; Moawad, 2008; Moawad and Generally the lake is very shallow, with a mean depth of Grunert, 2008; Guth, 2009; Qin et al., 2009; Moawad and around À1.5 m, and a maximum of À7.5 m. Maximum depth Khidr, 2011; Seijmonsbergen et al., 2011; Bishop et al., 2012; in Boghaz (II) is À5.75 m due to dredging. Areas with depths Evans, 2012; Seijmonsbergen, 2012; Wilson, 2012). less than one m occupy about 20 % of the lagoon area, The semi-automated methods refer to the automatic proce- whereas areas with depths between 1 and 1.5 m constitute dures of extracting landform based-process. This is mainly 65% of the lagoon area, and those deeper than 1.5 m cover relying on unsupervised isodata classification, pixel-based clas- 15% only of the Lagoon.