U.S.-Egypt Cooperative Research: Near-Surface Drainage Within a Groundwater Basin in Southwest Egypt Using Radar Images

0417704 El-Baz描述：该奖项旨在支持位于马萨诸塞州波士顿的波士顿大学遥感中心主任Farouk El-Baz博士和位于埃及开罗的研究和地下水总公司董事长兼总经理Ali Werwer先生之间的合作研究。 项目研究人员将采用一种新的方法，利用星载雷达图像和地下水数据来确定埃及西南部米萨哈地堑Sharq Oweinat地区努比亚含水层的特征。BU团队将进行卫星图像增强和解释，REGWA团队将提供适用的地下水数据，两个团队将参与现场调查。 努比亚含水层系统被认为是不承压的，地下水存在于不整合地覆盖在基底岩石上的砂岩中，并被第四纪沉积物覆盖。 然而，含水层并不均匀，这一点从卫星图像上观察到的排水方式和密度的变化、断裂程度以及从在那里钻探的383口生产威尔斯井获得的数据中可以看出，这些井的深度从300米到700米不等。拟议的研究的目标是了解河流和结构特征分布在Misaha地堑区，并建立地下水数据中的异常是否可以在河流和结构控制的背景下解释。这意味着，努比亚非承压含水层具有可变的性质，因为目前的地下水取决于：地质历史中的补给;以及压裂，这将次生孔隙引入岩石并增加其储存能力。 地下水数据中观察到的波动（例如，盐度、渗透压、测压等）至今下落不明 近地表河流地貌和相关结构地貌的空间组织将从空间雷达图像和地理信息系统数据库中的数字高程模型中得出，以确定过去接受过补给的地区。 这些矢量层将与同一数据库中的REGWA地下水数据相关联。 新数据的可访问性，为分析雷达数据而建立的流程例程（迄今为止，这是了解努比亚含水层性质的一种未充分利用的工具），以及这些数据集的相关性，确保了对埃及西南部Misaha地堑地区努比亚含水层系统的更好了解。范围和更广泛的影响：这项研究的结果将确定努比亚含水层系统的可变特征是否可以在河流和结构补给的背景下得到解释;因此，可以确定这项试点研究中设计的努比亚含水层特征描述方法是否可以适用于大撒哈拉其他地区。研究结果将发表在国际同行评审的科学期刊上。该项目将建立一个新的基础设施，通过建立拟议的数据库和建立研究伙伴关系，加强目前对努比亚含水层性质的了解。该项目得到了美国-埃及联合基金方案的支持，该方案向两国的科学家和工程师提供赠款，以开展这些合作活动。

0417704El-BazDescription: This award is to support a cooperative research between Dr. Farouk El-Baz, Director, Center for Remote Sensing, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts and Mr. Ali Werwer, Chairman and Managing Director, the General Company for Research and Ground Water, Cairo, Egypt. The PIs will use a new approach by utilizing space-borne radar imagery and groundwater data to characterize the Nubia aquifer in the Sharq Oweinat area of the Misaha graben in southwest Egypt. Satellite image enhancement and interpretation will be conducted by the BU team, applicable groundwater data will be supplied by the REGWA team and field investigations will involve both teams. The Nubia aquifer system is considered to be unconfined whereby groundwater resides in sandstone rocks that unconformably overlie basement rocks and are covered by Quaternary deposits. The aquifer, however, is not homogeneous as evidenced by the variation of drainage styles and densities, and the degree of fracturing observed in satellite images, as well as data obtained from 383 productive wells that have been drilled there and that range from 300 to700 meters in depth. The goal of the proposed research is to understand the fluvial and structural feature distributions in the Misaha graben area and establish if anomalies in groundwater data can be explained in the context of fluvial and structural controls. The implication is that the unconfined Nubia aquifer has a variable nature in that the groundwater present depends on: recharge in the geologic past; and fracturing, which introduced secondary porosity into the rocks and increased their storage capacity. Fluctuations observed in groundwater data (e.g., salinity, transmissivity, piezometry, etc.) are so far unaccounted for. The spatial organization of near-surface fluvial features and associated structural features will be derived from space-borne radar images and Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) in a Geographical Information System (GIS) database to identify areas that received recharge in the past. These vector layers will be correlated with REGWA groundwater data in the same database. The accessibility of new data, the process-flow routine established for analyzing radar data (which so far has been an underutilized tool for understanding the nature of the Nubia aquifer), and the correlation of these datasets, ensures improved understanding of the Nubia aquifer system in the Misaha graben area of southwest Egypt. Scope and broader impacts: Results from this research will establish whether variable characteristics of the Nubia aquifer system can be explained in the context of fluvial and structural recharge; thus, it can be determined if the methodology devised in this pilot study to characterize the Nubia aquifer can be applied to other areas in the Great Sahara. Research findings will be published in international peer-reviewed scientific journals. The project will develop a new infrastructure that can enhance current understandings of the nature of the Nubia aquifer by the creation of the proposed database and the formation of the research partnership. This project is being supported under the US-Egypt Joint Fund Program, which provides grants to scientists and engineers in both countries to carry out these cooperative activities.