The use of remotely sensed data to reveal geologic, structural, and hydrologic features and predict potential areas of water resources in arid regions

Fusion of Remote Sensing Data Using GIS-Based AHP-Weighted Overlay Techniques for Groundwater Sustainability in Arid Regions

“…This also includes Egypt, which will probably suffer from water deficiencies in the future if it does not find additional water resources [2]. Hence, mapping groundwater potential zones (GWPZs) is essential to afford water security in residential areas and other localities [6,7]. Increase in the demand for freshwater worldwide calls for revealing new water resources through applying geological, geophysical, and remote sensing techniques.…”

“…Radar waves have an ability to image the desert surface at any time irrespective of weather conditions and proved to be a significant approach in characterizing the past fluvial deposits which were masked by sand sheets and dunes before further field investigations [1], as radar waves have the capability to probe the subsurface to the depth of many meters [23,24]. Several studies successfully applied radar data, e.g., Radarsat-1, ALOS/PALSAR, and SRTM, in finding water resources [2,6,7].…”

“…Lithologic characteristics control the permeability and porosity, which hold groundwater and influence infiltration capacity [3,7,33]. Formations of high permeability and porosity induce the percolation and recharging of water into the aquifers below.…”

“…In addition, the altitude is also an important index of controlling the occurrence of the groundwater as it is widely employed in mapping GWPZs [2,36] and is extremely necessary for groundwater prospection studies. The areas of low elevations are positively related to infiltration, particularly depression areas [2,7]. The variation in elevations generates slope, which is an important factor in controlling the runoff, and infiltration capacity for revealing GWPZs due to its indication of the gradient in the elevations of the catchments [8,13], the speed of runoff, and infiltration capabilities [2,8].…”

“…The TWI was presented by Moore et al [39]. The physical properties of the catchments and the density of drainage networks provide effective information regarding the infiltration and runoff characteristics of precipitated water during heavy rainfall [7,30,40]. The quantitative morphometric parameters derived from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) digital elevation model (DEM) data [2,12,41] also present valuable information regarding the geometry, texture, and relief of the morphometric characteristics of the basins that control the runoff and infiltration capacity and thus the occurrence of groundwater.…”