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Detection of ancient irrigation canals of Deir El-Hagar playa, Dakhla Oasis, Egypt, using Egyptsat-1 data

2013; Elsevier BV; Volume: 16; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.ejrs.2013.06.001

2090-2476

Elsayed A. Zaghloul, Safiya M. Hassan, A.M. Bahy El-Dein, Salwa F. Elbeih,

Geochemistry and Geologic Mapping

Dakhla Oasis is the second provincial oasis in Al-Wadi El-Gedid Governorate in the Western Desert of Egypt. Dakhla contains several springs and wells, the most important of which are Mut Wells. Deir El – Hagar playa, located about 45 km to the northwest of Mut, the capital of the oasis, is the most important playa where the Roman Deir El-Hagar Temple is located. The Mid-Pleistocene to Holocene exposed lacustrine sediments provide evidence for a more humid climate than that present today. The main aim of this work is to use the High Pass Filter (HPF) image processing technique to enhance and extract archaeological remains and ancient irrigation canals from an Egyptsat-1 2010 satellite image in addition to link between the locations of these canals and the source of the water that replenished these canals. The enhanced images as well as the 3D prospective view indicate that the playa is a semicircular basin covered by extensive lake deposits that owed its water to the natural flowing springs, located 2 km to the south, and rainfall over the depression during the Terminal Paleolithic and Neolithic times. The significance of this research is to highlight how our ancestors were brilliant so as to utilize the local resources to allow water to be conveyed from its source to its destination where it will be fully utilized in irrigation.