Surface area change detection of the Burullus Lagoon, North of the Nile Delta, Egypt, using water indices: A remote sensing approach

Hesham M. El-Asmar, Mohamed E. Hereher, Sameh B. El Kafrawy*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

85 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The Burullus Lagoon is one of the most severely impacted water bodies in the Nile Delta. A set of six satellite images acquired between 1973 and 2011 was employed to map the change of the surface area of the Burullus Lagoon in the Nile Delta using the water indices approach. In this paper we applied the non-traditional normalized difference water index (NDWI) and the modified normalized difference water index (MNDWI) to quantify the change in the water body area of the lagoon during the study period. Results showed that the lagoon lost 42.8% of its open water area due to the severe anthropogenic activities, such as the reclaiming of its southern margins for agricultural purposes and the filling caused by the discharge of agricultural wastes. Proper management should be adopted to sustain the vitality of the Burullus wetland ecosystem.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)119-123
Number of pages5
JournalEgyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Science
Volume16
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Burullus Lagoon
  • Nile Delta
  • Remote Sensing
  • Water Indices

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Earth and Planetary Sciences

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