Soil quality assesment based on remote sensing and GIS techniques, in the middel of Nile Delta, Egypt.

This study was conducted in 2023 in Kafr El-Zayat province soils, east of the Rosetta branch, Gharbia governorate, located in the middle of the Nile Delta. This area lies between longitudes 30° 40` and 30° 50` E and latitudes 30° 44` and 30° 52` N, with an area of 49662.61 feddans. The work aimed to get recent information about the geomorphological, pedological, and hydrological characteristics of the soils of the study area. This included classification and land evaluation of these soils. To achieve those aims, remote sensing imagery was analyzed, GIS programs were used, and field surveys were conducted. Accordingly, ground control points and pertaining terrestrial data are examined to study and assess the changes in land use/land cover between the years 2010 and 2023. The interpretation of satellite images showed that this area has an Alluvial Plain main geomorphic unit with eight landform units. These landform units are High Terraces (19.93% of the studied area), Medium Terraces (30.62%), Low Terraces (21.36%), Overflow Basin (7.31%), Decantation Basin (4.41%), Meandering belt (4.25%), Depression (4.87%), and Levee (3.30%) besides Water (3.94 %). Twenty soil profiles were selected representing these landforms. The land and site features were observed and registered. The soil profiles were dug and morphologically described. The samples were collected to represent the subsequent layers in each profile for integrated physical and chemical analysis. Also, some soil characteristics were valued using reflectance of high-spectral and spatial-resolution images using spectroscopy techniques to develop a new complete procedure for mapping soil features. Additionally, a spatial model is used to assess the Soil Quality Index.