Keywords

1 Introduction

Remote sensing is an efficient approach used to acquire, gather, and handle a large amount of temporal and spatial land-surface observations using satellite sensors, images, and measurements (Hassan 2013; Mohamed and Elmahdy 2017). The remotely-sensed imagery can be acquired regarding acoustic wave technology, variation in electromagnetic energy, force-sensing mechanisms, and other data detection, collection, and processing methods (Ghassemian 2016; Zhu et al. 2017). Recently, the Egyptian government has developed advanced strategies to improve and expand the application of satellite remote sensing in several engineering and environmental fields (Abdelkareem and El-Baz 2018). Accordingly, this chapter represents the number, types, and aims/scopes of documents about the field of “Remote Sensing” that have recently been published by the Egyptian researchers. The governmental and non-governmental sponsors that have funded the grant projects covering the application of remote sensing in various environmental, engineering, agricultural, industrial, and ecological sectors are demonstrated. Moreover, the institutions, laboratories, and research centers that are collaborating in these projects are listed.

2 National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences (NARSS) in Egypt

2.1 Establishment of NARSS

The National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences (NARSS) is the pioneering Egyptian institution in the remote sensing platforms. In 1971, NARSS started in Egypt through an American-Egyptian joint project, which was affiliated to the Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT) (NARSS 2019). In 1991, NARSS worked under the umbrella of the Ministry of State for Scientific Research as a national authority for remote sensing. In 1994, NARSS was reorganized, following the presidential decree No. 261 for 1992 under the authority of the Ministry of Scientific Research, to cover two major sectors, i.e., Remote Sensing and Space Sciences. Nowadays, NARSS employs the state-of-the-art in space technologies to monitor and assist the water, land, and natural resources of Egypt. It also generates maps and spatial data to record the environmental changes and to identify, control, and avoid unexpected hazards.

NARSS includes eight scientific divisions, which can be summarized as follows (NARSS 2019):

  1. (a)

    Geological Applications and Mineral Resources. The division activities include the generation of geological and geomorphological information databases, evaluation of the non-renewable natural resources (e.g., minerals, and groundwater), and prediction of hazard events (e.g., earthquakes, landslides, and flash floods). The division also employs Geographic Information Systems (GISs) to generate basic layers such as roads, streams, railway lines, and important places that can support the planning process and the development of new communities.

  2. (b)

    Aviation and Aerial Photography. This sector provides mapping and surveying services to NARSS projects. It is responsible for flight and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data processing, aerial photography sheet film production, and photogrammetry and image analysis.

  3. (c)

    Environmental Studies and Land Use. The strategic goal of this division is to develop the capabilities of national scientists and specialists for the applications of remote sensing and related technologies. The division also attempts to generate high-quality technical reports and scientific articles for addressing sustainable development objectives.

  4. (d)

    Scientific Training and Continuous Studies. This sector offers advanced and technical courses to NARSS staff, external scientists and researchers, and regional organizations from the Arab and African countries. It prepares highly qualified graduates that can provide technical and informational supports to decision-makers. For instance, in 2018, a professional diploma was launched via the collaboration between NARSS and Ain Shams University to prepare qualified candidates that can cope with the development of modern technologies in remote sensing and GIS.

  5. (e)

    Engineering Applications and Water Resources. This division establishes the use of remote sensing in the fields of groundwater monitoring and assessment, water pollution detection, irrigation and hydraulics works, traffic evaluation and management, archaeological survey and exploration, geotechnical studies, and drinking water supply and sewage networks.

  6. (f)

    Space Sciences and Strategic Studies. The main aim of this sector is to establish a scientific and research base, enabling Egypt to join the space age and manufacture its satellites. This objective is considered through acquiring technological knowledge and capabilities, as well as regarding the gradual construction of small-sized and infrastructure-related satellites.

  7. (g)

    Data Reception, Analysis, and Receiving Station Affairs. This division aims at generating, processing, and archiving various satellite digital data, photomaps, mosaics, and atlases.

  8. (h)

    Agriculture Applications, Soils, and Marine. This division conducts several types of research and consultancies on the agricultural sectors, soil science, irrigation management, food security, and marine fields for various governmental and non-governmental agencies.

2.2 Contribution of NARSS to the Field of Remote Sensing

During the previous decade, NARSS has been funded by about 340 research and development projects. The grant projects designate the application of remote sensing and related technologies in geology, agriculture, engineering, environment, water, marine sciences, mineral resources, and space archaeology. According to the Scopus database (Scopus 2019), about 150 authors from NARSS have published 487 documents during 1996–2019. The document types are classified into articles (67.6%), conference papers (24.0%), book chapters (2.9%), reviews (1.8%), and others (3.7%). As shown in Fig. 2.1, the number of publications from NARSS has significantly (p < 0.05) increased from 107 documents in 2009 to 487 documents in 2019. Moreover, the slope of the linear regression line during 2009–2019 (y = 37.16x – 74,561; R2: 0.996) is 6-fold greater than that during 1996–2009 (y = 6.02x – 12,041; R2: 0.676). This pattern suggests that the studies on “Remote Sensing” are becoming an important and essential topic of research in Egypt.

Fig. 2.1
figure 1

Cumulative number of documents in Scopus database containing “National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences” from 1996 to 2019 (Scopus 2019)

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Based on the Scopus database (Scopus 2019), several countries have contributed to the published articles of NARSS from 1996 to 2019. Amongst them, the leading country is Egypt, which participated in about 485 documents. Further, United States, Saudi Arabia, Germany, and the United Kingdom were involved in 47, 33, 21, and 17 published papers, respectively. The published works that contained the affiliation “National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences” in Scopus during 1996–2019 were funded by more than 15 sponsors and research organizations. Moreover, several institutions and funding sources, such as Western Michigan University, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Science Foundation, Science and Technology Development Fund, Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche, Hanyang University, Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration, were acknowledged in the funding statements of the published documents. The most significant number of NARSS documents was published in the Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Sciences (74 papers), followed by the Arabian Journal of Geosciences (34 documents), and the Journal of African Earth Sciences (23 documents). These journals cover all aspects of remote sensing, GIS, space sciences, sedimentology, oceanography, natural hazards, hydrogeology, tectonics, geology, environmental sciences, and sustainable development.

Recently, NARSS has collaborated with several organizations and local entities, such as Urban Planning Authority, Building Cooperatives Authority, Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, National Defense Council, General Authority for Drinking Water and Sewage, General Organization for Physical Planning, New Urban Cities Authority, General Authority for Tourism Development, National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority, General Authority for Construction and Housing Cooperatives, General Authority for Fish Resources Development, National Authority for the Development of Sinai, and General Petroleum Company. Moreover, the list of laboratories involved in the remote sensing research of NARSS comprises Satellite Images Receiving Station at Aswan; Meteorological Receiving Station, NARSS building, Cairo; Ground Control Station, New Cairo City, Cairo; Image Processing Laboratory; Modeling and Assimilation Laboratory; Survey Instrumentation Facilities; GIS Laboratory; Space Payload Laboratory.

3 Survey for Recent Publications of Remote Sensing in Egypt

The search (on July 2019) in the Scopus database (Scopus 2019) using the keywords “Remote”, “Sensing”, and “Egypt” shows 517 documents that have recently been published during this decade (i.e., 2010–2019). This number is higher than that reported during 2000–2009 (181 documents) and 1990–1999 (67 documents). The pattern in Fig. 2.2 implies that the Egyptian government is currently exerting considerable efforts for the widespread application of remote sensing in various research and industrial sectors. The publications about “Remote sensing in Egypt” during 2010–2019 include 386 articles, 73 conference papers, 26 book chapters, and 13 reviews. These documents aim at addressing, transferring, and providing the most advanced technologies in the fields of remote sensing and space sciences.

Fig. 2.2
figure 2

Cumulative number of documents in Scopus database containing the keywords “Remote”, “Sensing”, and “Egypt” from 1996 to 2019 (Scopus 2019)

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The funding sponsors about “Remote sensing in Egypt” during 2010–2019 include National Science Foundation (10 documents), Science and Technology Development Fund (STDF) (10 papers), Ministry of Higher Education, Egypt (9 papers), Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (7 documents), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (5 documents). About 84 documents were published in the Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, followed by 46, 27, and 21 in the Arabian Journal of Geosciences, Journal of African Earth Sciences, and Environmental Earth Sciences, respectively. Furthermore, Egypt is a member/partner in the European Union (EU) Framework Programme, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) programs.

Based on the observations mentioned above, some examples of the recent publications during 2010–2019 can be summarized as follows:

In 2010, Hereher (2010) used remote sensing to determine the areas located at the Nile Delta of Egypt, which were negatively influenced by the sea-level rise in 2006. The study depicted that a 1 m sea-level rise would cause flooding to more than 25% of the Nile Delta region. Moreover, the shoreline would be shifted by 60–80 km southward due to the rise of the sea level by 2 m.

In 2011, Belal and Moghanm (2011) applied remote sensing to generate land use and land cover maps of several areas in Al-Gharbiya Governorate located at Middle of Nile Delta, Egypt. The study also monitored the changes in agricultural lands and water bodies, and it was demonstrated that urbanization during 1972–2005 caused the reduction of productive farm areas by 5.84–7.17%.

In 2012, Yones et al. (2012) used the remote sensing approach to limit cotton leafworm, namely Spodoptera littoralis, in Ezbet Shalaqan, Al-Qalyubiya Governorate, Egypt during 2006. The study demonstrated that 174.85–197.59 degree-days were the optimum timing for pest control, avoiding dense sprays of pesticides.

In 2013, Hassan (2013) used the remote sensing technique to estimate the evaporation rate and water balance of Lake Nasser located in Upper Egypt. The study depicted that the daily evaporation rate of Lake Nasser ranged between 6.0 and 6.7 mm during October 1998–October 2000.

In 2014, Hereher (2014) employed remote sensing to assess the sand drift potential along the Nile Valley and Delta, Egypt. The study demonstrated that the longitudinal and transverse dunes were primarily influenced by the wind environment and topography (i.e., duration, energy, and direction of the wind).

In 2015, Gabr et al. (2015) used the remote sensing approach to map the gold and gold-related alteration zones at El-Hoteib, South Eastern Desert, Egypt. The study demonstrated that the monitored area contained smithsonite and hemimorphite and that the gold content varied from 0.3 to 6.4 g/t in the altered rock and declined to 0.3–0.9 g/t in the related quartz veins.

Elbeih and Soliman (2015) mapped various swelling clay minerals near Sohag-Safaga highway, Eastern Desert of Egypt by integrating field samples with Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) satellite imageries. It was depicted that the soil of the study area contained smectite clay minerals (montmorillonite), reflecting a swelling property. Accordingly, special considerations should be given to the existing and the future planned projects within the area.

In 2016, Abdalla et al. (2016) employed remote sensing to illustrate the influences of human activities on the archaeological sites in Southern Egypt. The study also described the characterization and evolution of social activities, causing groundwater level increase, loss of agricultural/arable lands, and recharging and pollution of groundwater.

In 2017, El-Zeiny et al. (2017) investigated the environmental variables associated with the spatial distribution of mosquito species at Suez Canal Zone using field surveys along with remote sensing techniques. The developed GIS model predicted that the most abundant mosquito species were Culex pipiens and Ochlerotatus detritus. Moreover, Ismailia Governorate could comprise the most areas suffering from environmental risks of mosquito-borne diseases.

Mohamed and Elmahdy (2017) used remote sensing to obtain data about site condition, geology, and tectonics of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), as well as the impact of the dam construction on the Sudanese and Egyptian environments. The study succeeded to collect relevant information about the factors affecting dam stability and failure. Moreover, the study outputs could predict the flooded parts in Sudan and seawater disturbance in the Nile Delta of Egypt due to the constructed dam. The dam also could influence the amount of sediments, Nile water evaporation rate, water quality, and the bird and mammal life in the study area.

In 2018, Abdelkareem and El-Baz (2018) applied remote sensing to identify the changes of hydrothermal zones in the middle part of the Eastern Desert of Egypt. The study succeeded to define the area of high alteration zone, and it depicted that the hydrothermal alteration profile was associated with gold and massive sulphide mineralization.

Elbeih and El-Zeiny (2018) assessed the temporal and spatial variations in the groundwater quality parameters at the west of Sohag Governorate, Egypt. The status of groundwater was obtained using two multispectral Landsat images and a set of spectral derived land use indices. It was reported that the increased sources of groundwater pollution could be linked to the high coverage of cultivated and urban lands (>75%). Moreover, groundwater quality was negatively influenced by urbanization, agricultural expansion, land degradation, usage of phosphate fertilizers, and other natural and anthropogenic activities.

In 2019, Hassan et al. (2019) used the remote sensing technique to monitor waterlogged zones (water bodies and wet sabkhas) in Ismailia Governorate. The study demonstrated that water table levels, land use/land cover, and soil properties, elevation, and texture influenced the seasonal and spatial variations of soil moisture content. Moreover, several sabkhas (salt-encrusted mudflats) were converted into fish farms and water bodies over 1998–2015 due to excessive surface irrigation and water table rise; i.e., a pattern that increased the surface soil moisture.

Moreover, in 2019, Ramzi and El-Bedawi (2019) used the remote sensing method to investigate, locate, monitor, distribute, and manage the primary health care centers (PHCCs) at El-Salam medical region, Cairo, Egypt. The work indicated that the existence of several public and private health services coped well with the shortage of PHCCs in the study area.

In Sayed et al. (2019), a multi-criteria analysis model supported by GIS was employed to select the optimum locations for extracting and pumping groundwater using solar energy. The GIS-based model was used to generate an informative map for the solar energy distribution in Moghra Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt. The model input parameters included solar radiation, area accessibility, depths to groundwater, topography, salinity, and land-use. The output of the model revealed that the optimum site for the installation of the Photovoltaic panels would be near the Nile Delta and outside the oil fields, Qattara Depression, and Moghra Lake.

4 Conclusions and Recommendations

This chapter represents an essential survey about the recent applications of remote sensing in Egypt. According to the Scopus database, the number of publications about “Remote sensing in Egypt” has increased from 181 documents during 2000–2009 to 517 documents during 2010–2019. The publications during 2010–2019 comprise 386 articles, 73 conference papers, 26 book chapters, and 13 reviews. The published documents attempt to address, transfer, and sustain the most advanced technologies in the fields of remote sensing and space sciences in Egypt. The academic disciplines and fields of study cover essential areas in geology, agriculture, engineering, environment, water, marine sciences, mineral resources, and space archaeology. The outputs of this chapter are beneficial to undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, decision-makers, stakeholders, and several public and private sectors.

Based on the chapter’s outputs, it’s recommended that:

  • Additional governmental and non-governmental sponsors should fund the grant projects to cover the application of remote sensing in various sectors.

  • The Egyptian government should exert additional efforts to ensure the widespread application of remote sensing in various research and industrial fields.

  • More institutions, laboratories, and research centers should be developed to incorporate scientists and specialists that can apply remote sensing and related technologies.

  • More attention needs to be paid to expand the application of satellite remote sensing that can monitor and assess the Mediterranean and Red seas surrounding Egypt.

  • There is a need to promote international collaborations in the field of satellite remote sensing with different countries and international organizations.