Fertility and productivity index of some Soils in El-Sharkia Governorate, Eastern Nile Delta, Egypt using remote sensing and GIS techniques.

Esraa A. M. Ameen, Ali A. Abdel-Salam and Heba S. A. Rashed

Abstract

The study aimed at assessing the potential of Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) to quantify soil fertility and productivity in some soils El-Sharkia Governorate of Egypt. Field survey data, Landsat-8 ETM+ image and digital elevation model (DEM), were used to define the physiographic units. The physiographic units include, overflow mantel (OM), overflow basins (OB), Decantation Basins (DB), river terraces (RT) and turtle backs (TB), clay flats (CF), alkali flats (AF) and sand remnants (SR). Soil fertility index (SFI) and Land productivity index (LPI) were based on parametric approaches using GIS.The Requier index (RI) was used taking in view of soil and topographic parameters using specific formulas, fertility and productivity classifications. There were variation in the Require index (RI). LPI for the OB and RT soil ranged from class I “excellent” to class II “good” in fertility and productivity index respectively. For DB soils, the grade of Requier Index was class "I"in fertility as well asproductivity. The productivity index'sin TBsoils were class I “excellent” in fertility to class IV “low” in productivity. For the CF soils, the Requier Index'swere class I “excellent” forfertility and class III “average” for productivity. TheRI is mainly affected by soil depth and soil texture.

Key words

El-Sharqia Governorate, land productivity, Soil fertility, Riquier index.