Change detection and restoration alternatives for the Egyptian Lake Maryut

This paper analyzes all changes that occurred to the Egyptian Lake Maryut in order to identify the best strategy for restoring it. Four scenes were used for change detection; three LANDSAT images (dated 15th of March 1991, 2nd of May 2004, and 22nd of May 2013), and the fourth scene was a SPOT-HRV image dated 16th of August 1995. Maximum likelihood classification (MLC) algorithm was used to classify the images. The next step used was to focus on land cover changes by using change detection comparison (pixel by pixel) and the cross tabulation technique to analyze changes for the four supervised classification images. The results indicated that severe land cover changes occurred in different land covers especially in the last few years that may be due to political and socio-economic problems. Finally, a modern method based on the Delphi technique was used to select the best restoration alternative for restoring the Lake Maryut. Results indicate that severe land cover changes have occurred. In addition, the most suitable restoration alternatives are pollution control for the eastern part of the lake and reopening closed parts in its western part.