TY - JOUR
T1 - Land use/land cover change impact on groundwater quantity and quality
T2 - a case study of Ajman Emirate, the United Arab Emirates, using remote sensing and GIS
AU - Elmahdy, Samy Ismail
AU - Mohamed, Mohamed Mostafa
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge the assistance provided by the UAE National Water Center (NWC) and the UAE University Program for Advanced Research (UPAR).
Funding Information:
This research was supported by funds from the UAE National Water Center (NWC) and the UAE University Program for Advanced Research (UPAR) (projects numbers NWC-3-2013-31R008 and UPAR-7-2013-31N166).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016, Saudi Society for Geosciences.
PY - 2016/12/1
Y1 - 2016/12/1
N2 - Ajman is a rapidly urbanizing emirate with land development succeeding at a fast pace. This study aims to monitor land use/land cover changes and assesses the impact of these changes on groundwater quality and quantity of the shallow aquifer using multitemporal remote sensing data and geographic information system (GIS). To monitor the land use/land cover changes, the Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) algorithms were utilized. The obtained maps were correlated against a set of total dissolved solid (TDS); Mg, Cl, and NO3 groundwater quality index; and depth to the groundwater table maps constructed from groundwater data. The spatial analysis revealed a sharp depletion in groundwater quality and quantity related to the increase in the land use/land cover classes. The mean total TDS is from 21,971 to 26,450 mg/L and depth to groundwater level from −12.33 to −17.2 m over a period of 15 years. Maps of normalized difference and groundwater quality sustainability showed that the eastern side of the study area has a high value of groundwater quality sustainability and normalized difference, while the western side of the study area has a minimal value of groundwater quality sustainability and normalized difference. This study is of great assistance for decision makers and land developers to relate to municipal land allotment in rapidly developing regions such as Ajman.
AB - Ajman is a rapidly urbanizing emirate with land development succeeding at a fast pace. This study aims to monitor land use/land cover changes and assesses the impact of these changes on groundwater quality and quantity of the shallow aquifer using multitemporal remote sensing data and geographic information system (GIS). To monitor the land use/land cover changes, the Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) algorithms were utilized. The obtained maps were correlated against a set of total dissolved solid (TDS); Mg, Cl, and NO3 groundwater quality index; and depth to the groundwater table maps constructed from groundwater data. The spatial analysis revealed a sharp depletion in groundwater quality and quantity related to the increase in the land use/land cover classes. The mean total TDS is from 21,971 to 26,450 mg/L and depth to groundwater level from −12.33 to −17.2 m over a period of 15 years. Maps of normalized difference and groundwater quality sustainability showed that the eastern side of the study area has a high value of groundwater quality sustainability and normalized difference, while the western side of the study area has a minimal value of groundwater quality sustainability and normalized difference. This study is of great assistance for decision makers and land developers to relate to municipal land allotment in rapidly developing regions such as Ajman.
KW - Ajman
KW - GIS
KW - Groundwater quality
KW - Remote sensing
KW - UAE
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U2 - 10.1007/s12517-016-2725-y
DO - 10.1007/s12517-016-2725-y
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84996548547
SN - 1866-7511
VL - 9
JO - Arabian Journal of Geosciences
JF - Arabian Journal of Geosciences
IS - 19
M1 - 722
ER -