EVALUATION OF SOME SOILS IN NORTH WESTERN PARIS OASIS (EGYPT) USING STORIE INDEX AND SYS MODELS

Abstract

The North Western of Paris Oases represents one of the highest priority areas for future development in the country. The study area is located between longitudes 30 11 34.9 to 30 26 59.4 East and latitudes 24 40 9.3 to 24 51 8.7'' North and covers an area about 123966 feddans. The purpose of this study is to evaluate some soils in north western Paris oasis using Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS). For this purpose, Forty-Three soil profiles were described in the field and their representative samples were analyzed. Using geomorpholical map, geological map and visual interpretation of satellite data a physiographic soil map was created to present mapping units of the study area. The area under investigation was classified into three landscape units, i.e. Plain, Dunes and Hills. Soil characteristics of the obtained mapping units were discussed and soil taxonomic unit were identified. Two models of land capability were used to evaluate the soils of study area. According to Storie Index model, the area under investigation was classified into three capability grades reflect the limitation factors, i.e. grade 1 (67.4 %), grade 3 (26.16 %) and grade 6 (6.44 %). on the other hand and according to Sys model the study area was classified into three capability classes, i.e. S2, S3 and N2. The soils of S2 have moderate limitations for agricultural crops, where texture is the main limiting factor (67.4 % of the total area). The main limiting factors of soils of S3 are texture, depth and salinity (26.16 %), while the soils of N2 (6.44 % of the total study area) include sand dunes, rock crops and shallow to very shallow soils. Five crops were selected to assess soil suitability for cultivation in the study area, i.e. wheat, barley, maize, tomato and olive. The results indicated that olive was more suitable for growing in such soils.