Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1979
Abstract
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project photographs of the Western Desert of Egypt were studied to discover the usefulness of orbital imagery in delineating sand deposits. A strip of Apollo-Soyuz mapping- camera photographs was used to map sand dis- tribution patterns. nformation from this strip was extrapolated to the rest of Egypt using a false- color mosaic of Landsat images.Sand deposits in the Western Desert were divided into the following 12 areas for observation and discussion: (1) Wadi el Natrûn, (2) Qattara, (3) Bahariya, (4) north Sitra, (5) south Sitra, (6) Great Sand Sea, (7) El-Quss Abu Said, (8) Farâfra, (9) Dakhia, (10) Khârga, (11) Oweinat, and (12) Faiyûm. Each area shows a distinct pattern of sand deposition and dune formation that is closely related to topography and wind patterns. In general, the dunes of thc Western Desert trend in a clock wise pattern around a center near Kufra Oasis in Libya. The dune rientations change from north-northwesterly in the northern desert to north-northeasterly in the south. The dunes are intimately associated with scarps that bound numerous depressions in the Western Desert, This relationship is believed to result from the interactions between sand-carrying winds and scarps and other topographic variations.The sand distribution pattern also reveals areas whcre dune movement presenis a thrcat to culti- vated land, Examples of these areas are on the western sideof'the Nile Valley, where the Faiyûm dune field in particular is encroaching on fertile land and in several of the Western Desert oases.
Recommended Citation
Gifford, A. W., Warner, Delia M., and El-Baz, Farouk. 1979. "Orbital observations of sand distribution in the Western Desert of Egypt." In Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Summary Science Report. Volume II: Earth Observations and Photography, NASA SP-412. El-Baz, Farouk and Warner, Delia M., editors. 219–236. Washington, D.C.: NASA Scientific and Technical Information Branch.