Environmental Earth Sciences

, Volume 62, Issue 4, pp 769–777 | Cite as

Change detection of the coastal zone east of the Nile Delta using remote sensing

Original Article
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Abstract

The coastal zone of the Nile Delta is a promising area for energy resources and industrial activities. It also contains important wetland ecosystems. This coastal area witnessed several changes during the last century. A set of four satellite images from the multi-spectral scanner (MSS), thematic mapper (TM) and Systeme Pour l’Observation de la Terre (SPOT) sensors were utilized in order to estimate the spatio-temporal changes that occurred in the coastal zone between Damietta Nile branch and Port-Said between 1973 and 2007. Image processing applied in this study included geometric rectification; atmospheric correction; on-screen shoreline digitizing of the 1973 (MSS) and 2007 (SPOT) images for tracking the shoreline position between Damietta promontory and Port-Said; and water index approach for quantifying Manzala lagoon surface area change using 1973 (MSS), 1984 (TM) and 2003 (TM) images. Results showed that coastal erosion was severe near Damietta promontory and decreased eastward, however, accretion was observed near Port-Said. About 50% of the coastal strip was under erosion and 13% was under accretion. In addition, a remarkable decline (34.5%) of the Manzala lagoon surface area was estimated. These changes were attributed mainly to the control of the River Nile flooding and the land use change by anthropogenic activities.

Keywords

Nile Delta Remote sensing Change detection 
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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 2010

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Damietta BranchMansoura UniversityNew DamiettaEgypt
  2. 2.Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, Damietta BranchMansoura UniversityNew DamiettaEgypt

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