Assessment of Land Degradation Risk in Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate Using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques

The selected area, located in Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate and covering an area of 371280 ha, had 24 soil profiles described. The geomorphologic features in the study comprised three forms: Flood plain, Aeolian deposits, and and Lacustrine deposits. The main landforms are: overflow basins (OB), decantation basins (DB), high river terraces (RT1), moderate river terraces (RT2), low river terraces (RT3), levees (L), sand sheet (SS), hammocky areas (HA), wet sabkha (WS), and dray sabkha (DS). The most important problems of deterioration in the study area sodicity, water logging, salinity, and sompaction. The area affected by salinity, compaction, Alkalinization, and water logging problems, which covered 14.78, 10.60, 14.78 and 45.39% of the total area, respectively. The WS and DS mapping units were characterized by severe chemical degradation. Additionally, there was a physical degradation risk affecting 14.78% of the study area, The RT1 mapping unit exhibits very high levels of chemical degradation, while physical degradation remains low, accounting for 5.47% of the study area, In the OB mapping unit, chemical degradation is also high, with physical degradation remaining low, representing approximately 14.01% of the total area. There is a moderate risk of physical degradation and a low risk of chemical degradation, representing 8.08% of the total study area, in the SS mapping unit. Additionally, the DB, RT2, and RT3 mapping units show low risks of both chemical and physical degradation, accounting for 39.14% of the study area.