Biography:

Abstract:

Nile delta is located between Damietta and Rosetta branches, which locate at northern part of Egypt. Damietta and Rosetta branches drain in Mediterranean Sea. Soil in Nile delta is clay soil so common irrigation system in Nile delta is tradition surface irrigation with 60% irrigation efficiency. The area of Nile delta is 8900 km2 (890000 ha). Vegetation cover consumes more than 80% of water resources under surface irrigation (tradition methods). At last decade vegetation cover decreased because of urban drawl (urbanization). Vegetation change may have important impacts on water consumption. Although, Vegetation expanded in northern part of Nile delta, on the other hand, it decreased in other parts. Generally, vegetation cover decreased from 690743 (ha) to 679826 (ha) between years 2002 and 2011 respectively. Five classes which is agriculture land, bare soil, Fish ponds, Lake and Urban produced for studying Land use/cover changing. The sequence of NDVI data gives information about agricultural seasons at the year. The maximum vegetation cover density and weather conditions play a vital role in schedule irrigation. So, a 16 day MODIS Normalized Deference Vegetation Index (NDVI) used to detect the period of winter and summer season. In Egypt, Agricultural cycle is often tow agricultural seasons yearly; summer and winter. Common summer crops are Maize, Rice and Cotton while common winter crops are Clover and Wheat. In arid and semi-arid regions consumptive use is the best index for irrigation requirements. A large part of the irrigation water applied to farm land is consumed by Evapotranspiration (ET). Irrigation water consumption under each of the physical and climatic conditions for large scale will be easier with remote sensing techniques. Changing in vegetation cover will be meet changing in irrigation water consumption. Monthly MODIS actual evapotranspiration (ETa) data were used to estimate actual quantity of water consumed by vegetation cover in Nile delta at years 2002 and 2011. The lost of water in agriculture sector is very high, such as canals evaporation and percolation and efficiency of water distribution in the field especially under surface irrigation methods. The water use efficiency of irrigation water consumption for traditional surface irrigation methods is 45%. Vegetation cover in Nile delta consumed 5.399*109 and 5.041*109 (m3/year) at years 2002 and 2011 respectively. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques used to producing land cover, NDVI and ET maps.