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GIS methods for sustainable stormwater harvesting and storage using remote sensing for land cover data - location assessment

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Abstract

Identification of potential sites for rainwater harvesting (RWH) is an important step toward maximizing water availability and land productivity in arid semiarid regions. Characterised as a “water scarce” country, Egypt has limited fresh water supplies, and is expected to suffer from water stress by the year 2030. Therefore, it is important to develop any means available to supply water and maintain human habitability in a sustainable manner. Practiced or simply indispensable in many countries around the world, rainwater harvesting (RWH) promotes a sustainable and efficient manner of exploiting water resources. In the present study, suitable areas for sustainable stormwater harvesting and storage in Egypt were identified using remote sensing for land cover data - location assessment linked to a decision support system (DSS). The DSS took into consideration a combination of thematic layers such as rainfall surplus, slope, potential runoff coefficient (PRC), land cover/use, and soil texture. Taking into account five thematic layers, the spatial extents of RWH suitability areas were identified by an analytical hierarchy process (AHP). The model generated a RWH map with five categories of suitability: excellent, good, moderate, poor and unsuitable. The spatial distribution of these categories in the area investigated was such that 4.8% (47910 km2) and 14% (139739 km2) of the study area was classified as excellent or good in terms of RWH, respectively, while 30.1% (300439 km2), 47.6% (474116 km2) and 3.5% (34935 km2) of the area were classified as moderate, unsuitable and poor, respectively. Most of the areas with excellent to good suitability had slopes of between 2% and 8% and were intensively cultivated areas. The major soil type in the excellent suitability areas was loam, while rainfall ranged from 100 to 200 mm yr−1. The use of a number of RWH sites in the excellent areas is recommended to ensure successful implementation of RWH systems.

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Acknowledgments

This project was financially supported by King Saud University, Deanship of Scientific Research, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences Research Centre.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alamoudi Water Research Chair, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Shereif H. Mahmoud & A. A. Alazba

  2. Department of Bioresource Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, McGill University, Montréal, Canada

    J. Adamowski

  3. Department of Agriculture Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

    A. M. El-Gindy

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  1. Shereif H. Mahmoud
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  2. A. A. Alazba
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  3. J. Adamowski
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  4. A. M. El-Gindy
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Correspondence to Shereif H. Mahmoud.

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Mahmoud, S.H., Alazba, A.A., Adamowski, J. et al. GIS methods for sustainable stormwater harvesting and storage using remote sensing for land cover data - location assessment. Environ Monit Assess 187, 598 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-015-4822-x

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