USING NEW INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR EVALUATING SOIL AND WATER RESOURCES IN REGIONS OF EL-SALAM CANAL AREA

The current work was undertaken to assess the soil resources in Port Said Governorate (Egypt). A reconnaissance soil survey, remote sensing and GIS technologies were used to produce physiographic mapping units. Twelve soil profiles were described and sampled for laboratory analyses. Surface interpolation methods were used to generate thematic maps of soil characteristics such as texture, mean weight diameter, CaCO₃ content, salinity and sodicity.

Twenty-six different sampling locations were selected to cover the studied area of El-Salam Canal extending from El Adelia village at the Damietta branch upstream of Faraskor Dam at 219 km to 89 km Sahara. Monthly water samples were collected from these locations starting from October 2009 to September 2010. EC, pH, soluble cation (Ca⁺⁺, Mg⁺⁺, Na⁺, K⁺), anion (CO₃^--, HCO₃^-, Cl^-, SO₄ ^--) and trace element (B, Fe, Mn, Co, Zn, Pb, Cd, Cu, Ni) concentrations were determined. Soil properties data were presented as individual maps using GIS (pH, EC, CaCO₃, texture).

Results show that the pH values are slightly alkaline in all of the studied locations and ranged between 7.71 and 8.0. The EC for the monitored year ranged from 0.46-2.62 dS/m. The water near the outlet of El-Salam canal and the drainage water had the greatest salinity level (>1500 ppm) throughout the year. The EC of Farscor drain was 1.51, Alatwi drain was 1.91, El Serw was 1.25 and Hadous drainage was 2.62. The water of El-Salam canal and some drains had adjusted SAR >10 (10-20) and water is classified as A₂, which indicates low sodium waters according to the Gupta classification. Calcium values ranged between 1.94 to 4.16 mmol_c/l, Magnesium concentration ranged between 2.18 to 8.88 mmol_c/l, Potassium values fall between 0.21 and 0.74 mmol_c/l and the chloride content ranged between 1.72 to 20.42 mmol_c/l. This means that the waters have moderate concentration of soluble salts and slight alkalinity and can be used with care for some crops, particularly those which are semi-tolerant to salinity with proper soil and water management practices. The findings of this work indicate that most soil resources of Port Said Governorate are not prune resources.