The Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Sciences xxx (xxxx) xxx

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The Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Sciences

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Research Paper

Geological mapping of the Central Cairo-Suez District of Egypt, using

space-borne optical and radar dataset
Ahmed Hammam a,⇑, Ahmed Gaber b, Mohamed Abdelwahed a, Mohamed Hammed a
a
Cairo University, Faculty of Science, Geology Department, Giza 12613, Egypt
b
Port-Said University, Faculty of Science, Geology Department, Egypt

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The Central Cairo-Suez District (CCSD) has a special urban extension, particularly the fast growth of the
Received 1 September 2018 new Cairo and New Administration Capital of Egypt (NACE). Accurate discrimination of the lithology and
Revised 26 November 2018 surface and near-surface structures will be a valuable contribution to the geotechnical characterization of
Accepted 29 November 2018
the foundation rocks and geohazards. The present work utilizes remote sensing datasets; including
Available online xxxx
Phased Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR-2) scenes, Landsat-8 OLI/TIRS data and high-
resolution images of Google Earth accompanied with field work to update the geological map and high-
Keywords:
lighting the information on the spatial lithological distribution and the faulting history of the CCSD. Radar
PALSAR-2
Landsat-8
data is utilized to make use of its penetration capabilities to image the possible near-surface structures
Geological mapping and rock contacts. The PALSAR-2 data improved the surface and shallow structural imaging around Gebel
CCSD Oweibed and in other selected subsets. The NW-striking shear faults in Quaternary sediments were rec-
ognized for the first time. Their recent activation has been proved by the recent seismic events. The False
Color Composites (FCC), Band ratios (BR), Decorrelation Stretch (DS) image processing techniques have
been successfully applied to differentiate between sandstones, shales, marls, carbonates, basalts, and
gravels which represent eight lithological units of Middle Eocene to Quaternary time. The results were
enhanced and mapped by supervised classification with accuracy assessment exceeding 88%.
Integration of remote sensing data, previous mapping, and field check resulted in a more accurate map-
ping of the study area with new important modifications.
Ó 2018 National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-
nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction:
The rapid development of space-borne satellites technology
provides an enormous source of geomorphological, environmental
and geological information about the Earth’s surface. For example,
the active remote sensing SAR sensor with its side-looking imag-
ing, multi-frequencies, and polarizations is a very effective tool
for different geological and environmental applications (Mc Nairn
and Brisco, 2004; Zakeri et al., 2017). The longer wavelength
L-band SAR data (23.5 cm) has the capability to penetrate the sur-
face to few meters depth in very dry soils with low electrical losses
and imaging the near-surface structures (Owe and Van De Griend,
1998; Barrett et al., 2009; Paillou, 2017). McCauley et al. (1982)
demonstrated the use of SAR backscattered coefficient information
Peer review under responsibility of National Authority for Remote Sensing and
Space Sciences.
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: Ahmedabdelmoaty@cu.edu.eg (A. Hammam).
in mapping the surface and shallow subsurface features in the non-
vegetated desert environments. This issue has been investigated by
many researchers (Stern and Abdelsalam, 1996; Dabbagh et al.,
1998; Grandjean et al., 2001; Koch et al., 2015; Gaber et al.,
2017; Paillou, 2017; Xiong et al., 2017). The penetrated depths
and the intensity of returned backscattered energy are very sensi-
tive and dependent on two main types of parameters (Lusch,
1999); (1) Sensor Parameters (wavelength/frequency, polarization,
incidence angle, orbit), (2) ground parameters (topography, surface
roughness, object geometry and orientation, dielectric constant).
The depth of penetration is directly proportional to the wavelength
of the radar signal.
Moreover, The optical Landsat-8 mission, which has been
launched in 2013 and still operating, holds two passive sensors;
OLI sensor, which is collecting image data in nine bands ranging
from visible, near-infrared to shortwave infrared in addition to
TIRS, which is a Thermal Infrared sensor that records image data
in two bands belong to reflected and emitted thermal infrared
energy. The Landsat-8 data have been widely used in mineral

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrs.2018.11.004
1110-9823/Ó 2018 National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Please cite this article as: A. Hammam, A. Gaber, M. Abdelwahed et al., Geological mapping of the Central Cairo-Suez District of Egypt, using space-borne
optical and radar dataset, The Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrs.2018.11.004
2 A. Hammam et al. / Egypt. J. Remote Sensing Space Sci. xxx (xxxx) xxx
exploration, lithological, hydrothermal and structural mapping
(Pour and Hashim, 2015; Khawfany et al., 2017; Hassan and
Sadek, 2017).
Meanwhile, recently there is a fast-growing urbanization along
the Central Cairo-Suez District (CCSD), where several new cities
were built (Badr, Shorouk, new Cairo as well as the ongoing New
Administration Capital of Egypt). This study aims at integrating
the optical and radar satellite data for mapping the surface and
near-surface structures as well as discriminating the lithology
along the CCSD, which are of prime importance for the ongoing
geotechnical investigations along the study area. The study area
is located to the east of Greater Cairo about 60 km on the Cairo-
Suez highway, and delimited by 30°140 14.7000 N to 29°560 42.7000 N
and 31°480 36.3300 E to 32°210 4.4000 E coordinates (Fig. 1).
2. Geologic setting
The complex tectonic setting of the Cairo-Suez District as a part
of northeastern Egypt is responsible for the present-day geomor-
phological architecture and spatial distribution of the various
lithologic units (Moustafa et al., 1985). The important topographic
features along the study area comprise the E-W structural highs of
three slightly tilted fault blocks of Gebels Ataqa, Abu Treifiya, and
Qattamiya at the southern part, and the marked Gebel Oweibed
high at the central part. They are composed of Middle Eocene car-
bonates and form limestone plateaux bounded by major NW-ori-
ented normal faults and ENE- oriented fault belts formed of left
stepping en echelon normal faults (Moustafa et al., 1998; Hagag,
2016). Several soft linkage transfer zones are outcropped in the
form of folds that soft linking the overlapped ends of normal faults
(Henaish, 2018).
The northern part of the study area has a low-relief and charac-
terized by gentle folds (Figs. 1 and 2), which are deforming the
Upper Eocene, Oligocene and Miocene strata (Said, 1990).
Multiple deformation phases affected the study area through-
out the reactivation of the E-W oriented deep-seated faults that
were initiated during Pre-Mesozoic time and activated during Late
Fig. 1. Optical Landsat-8 (RGB; 432) image shows the locations of the study area and the New Administration Capital of Egypt (NACE).
Please cite this article as: A. Hammam, A. Gaber, M. Abdelwahed et al., Geological mapping of the Central Cairo-Suez District of Egypt, using space-borne
optical and radar dataset, The Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrs.2018.11.004
Cretaceous, Late Eocene, Miocene and post-Miocene times whereas
the NW-SE striking faults were originated during Oligo-Miocene
time (Hussein and Abd-Allah, 2001; Moustafa et al., 2014; Hagag,
2016). Moustafa and Abd-Allah (1992) mentioned that the north-
ward termination of the Gulf of Suez led to the westward transfer
of the stress field toward the northwest of the Gulf of Suez. Such
stresses were accommodated by NW–SE normal faulting. More-
over, the E-W striking faults represent the western continuation
of the Sinai hinge belt (Moustafa et al., 2014).
The stratigraphy of the exposed rock units are classified accord-
ing to their relation to the Gulf of Suez rifting into pre-rift and syn-
rift sequences; the former is Eocene rocks and could be subdivided
into Observatory, Qurn, wadi Garawi and wadi Hof formations
(Farag and Ismail, 1959; Strougo and Abd-Allah, 1990; Sallam
et al., 2015). While the latter is represented by Oligocene and Mio-
cene strata. These sequences are unconformably overlain by
reworked Pliocene carbonates and Quaternary clastic sediments
of poorly lithified sands, gravels, and recent alluvium (Fig. 3).
Abou Khadrah et al. (1993) examined and described the Oligo-
cene rocks of Gebel Ahmer Formation (Shukri, 1954) as two units;
sand and gravel units with a characteristic dark brown color and
silicified wood trunks at the base and rift-related basaltic sheets
at the top. The syn-rift rocks occur as; a) Oligocene elliptical dark
hills and elongated ridges, which are covered by lag gravels and
has a well-defined geographic distribution pattern along E-W
ridges to the north and west of Gebel Oweibed, b) Numerous basal-
tic rocks recorded in the study area in the form of dikes cutting the
Eocene rocks and flows overlain by the Miocene strata and c) The
Miocene rocks of two main units; marine Miocene basal unit com-
posed of marls, sandstones, shales, and limestone interbeds and
non-Marine unit consists of sandstones, gravels, chalky limestones,
in addition to clays (Sadek, 1926; Said, 1990; Hammed and
Abdelkhalek, 2015).
Generally, the mapped faults in the study area can be classified
into three main sets: the NW Clysmic, E-W Mediterranean and
NNW fault trends (Abd-Allah and Moustafa, 1991). The E–W strik-
ing faults are well exposed along the southern and central part of
 A. Hammam et al. / Egypt. J. Remote Sensing Space Sci. xxx (xxxx) xxx
Fig. 2. 3D perspective views from Google earth show G. Oweibed and G. Abu Treifiya (a, b) and NE-SW topographic profile along the study area.
Fig. 3. Generalized stratigraphic column of the study area (modified after Abd-allah
and Moustafa, 1991).
the study area. Also, the NW-oriented faults are well traced in the
entire area.
3. Materials and methods
3.1. Characteristics of the used satellite dataset
In the present work, two types of remotely sensed datasets
were used: a) Georeferenced optical dataset of the Landsat-8 scene
Please cite this article as: A. Hammam, A. Gaber, M. Abdelwahed et al., Geological mapping of the Central Cairo-Suez District of Egypt, using space-borne
optical and radar dataset, The Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrs.2018.11.004
3
(path 176/row 039) of UTM projection, zone 36 N and WGS-84
datum, acquired in July 2016 with scene ID
‘‘LC81760392016192LGN00”. The data was downloaded from the
US Geological Survey (USGS) through the Glovis website (glovis.
usgs.gov); b) Four SAR scenes of ALOS/PALSAR-2
(ALOS2077890590, ALOS2077890580, ALOS2060590590 and
ALOS2060590600) were used with the dual polarization (HH &
HV), acquired in November 1st, 2015 and July 7th, 2015, with strip
map operation mode, ascending orbit, product level 1.1, right-
pointing antenna with range spacing 4.291 m, azimuth spacing
3.414 m and calibration factor 83 dB. In addition to the space-
borne (Optical/Radar) data, the geological, geomorphological and
topographical maps of the North Eastern Desert were also used,
georeferenced and stored in a GIS database as layers for subse-
quent surface and subsurface correlation and analysis. All afore-
mentioned remote sensing datasets and the performed
processing works were supported by carrying out field observa-
tions and validation.
3.2. Remote sensing data processing
An integrated workflow was applied using the free SNAP soft-
ware for SAR data processing and the commercial software ENVI-
5.1 and ArcGIS-10.3 for optical data processing and mapping,
together with Google Earth Pro, which provides high-resolution
images, topographic profiles, and 3D perspective views.
The workflow of the data processing, transformation, and anal-
ysis (Fig. 4a) includes atmospheric correction and several digital
image processing steps for both optical and radar data.
3.2.1. Processing of optical data
The Quick Atmospheric Correction (QUAC) was performed for
the multispectral optical data that covering the visible and near-
infrared- shortwave infrared spectral (Bernstein et al., 2012). The
spectral profiles of the eight exposed rock units in the study area,
which are ranging from Middle Eocene to Quaternary were
extracted. These profiles show the reflectance behavior of such
eight rock units over the different bands of the OLI optical data
(Fig. 4b). Nevertheless, the same rock unit may have more than
one reflectance/thermal behavior due to changes in depositional,
weathering and/or diagenesis environment (Rajendran et al.,
2009). Thus, the different rock units which are covering the study
area were carefully discriminated using different band ratios.
In addition, the False Color Composites (FCC) of the band com-
bination of 432 were produced in the Red-Green-Blue order,
respectively and therefore enhanced using the Histogram
4 A. Hammam et al. / Egypt. J. Remote Sensing Space Sci. xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 4. (a) Flowchart of the main processing steps that performed in the present study. (b) Spectral signature profiles of the exposed eight rock units along the study area.

Equalization (Richards, 2012) to clarify the difference between the
mapped eight rock units were also generated based on SSA.
The main goal of band ratios is to enhance spectral dissimi-
larities between various targets as high generated DN ratio (Liu
and Mason, 2016). In this study, the spectral signature profiles
(Fig. 4b) were considered as the basic criteria for choosing the
band ratios transformation. One of the main advantages of band
ratios is to suppress the effect of topographic shadows (Liu and
Mason, 2016). Three band ratios (3/1, 4/2, 1/7), (5/1, 6/2, 7/3)
and (4/10, 5/2, 7/1) were applied successfully in the current
work.
Decorrelation stretch is considered an important application of
Principle Component Analysis (Liu and Mason, 2016). Its vital role
is to reduce the correlation between multispectral bands and con-
sequently generate more distinctive and saturated colors. In the
present work, the bands 7, 5 and 3 were used for de-correlation
stretch. Therefore, the Minimum Noise Fraction transform (MNF),
which is an effective technique that used to magnify the variation
between the exposed rock units by remove noise from data (Green
et al., 1988) has been also performed in this study to determine the
inherent dimensionality of the multispectral Landsat-8 data (OLI/
TIRS) as 7, 5, 3 for RGB to segregate the noise in the data
(Boardman and Kruse, 1994).
The supervised classification is a type of data clustering of the
pixels into classes based on training sites introduced by the user
(CCRS, 1999). Usually, for geological mapping, the selection of
the training sites requires prior knowledge and integration
between previous geologic maps and images produced from image
processing and transformation techniques. There are many algo-
rithms of supervised classification, however, in the present work
the maximum likelihood, which is one of the most common algo-
rithms, was used. Nine training areas were used, corresponding
to the eight exposed lithologies in addition to the quarrying activ-
ity areas. Finally, the classification accuracy assessment by the con-
fusion matrix algorithm was performed to check the accuracy of
the discriminated classes.
3.2.2. Processing of ALOS/PALSAR-2 data
The dual polarized ALOS/PLSAR-2 SAR data were imported to
SNAP software to be radiometrically calibrated and generate the

Please cite this article as: A. Hammam, A. Gaber, M. Abdelwahed et al., Geological mapping of the Central Cairo-Suez District of Egypt, using space-borne
optical and radar dataset, The Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrs.2018.11.004
 A. Hammam et al. / Egypt. J. Remote Sensing Space Sci. xxx (xxxx) xxx 5

true values of radar backscattered energy pixels. This is followed
by conversion from slant range to ground range resolution to gen-
erate an image with equal pixel size (7.4  7.4 m) throughout per-
forming the multilooking process using 2 looks in the azimuth
direction and 1 look in the range direction. In addition, the refined
Lee filter with 7  7 window size was applied to reduce the speckle
noise resulted from the constructive and destructive interference
of the waves. Consequently, geocoding of the calibrated and fil-
tered SAR images was carried out by correcting the SAR geometri-
cal distortions using the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) that covers
the study area.
Finally, these images were mosaicked and two SAR images were
produced, which are corresponding to the two polarizations (HH
and HV). These processed images were imported into the ArcGIS
database to integrate and spatially correlate them with the other
optical and ancillary datasets. The reason to reveal the near-
surface structures is that these structures are covered by a thin
layer of loose sediments, which makes it hidden in the optical
images. However, with the advances of SAR penetration capability,
these structures were easily defined and mapped at the area
around Gebel Oweibed.
were divided into the following; a) clarifying the surface struc-
tures, b) revealing the near-surface structures and c) lithological
discrimination:
4.1. Clarifying the surface structures
The dynamics of the eolian and fluvial loose sediments over the
rock surfaces in the arid Egyptian deserts make the surface struc-
tures and rock contacts hazy-defined in the field and on the optical
images. The SAR sensor has a longer wavelength able to penetrate
the thin loose dry sedimentary cover and provides accurate detec-
tion of the surface that partially being masked. In the present
study, some structures were imaged and traced, while they are
covered by thin layer of aeolian sediments, after the interpretation
of the processed SAR images of selected sectors (Fig. 5). NW- strik-
ing faults, N-S inferred fault and NW- oriented double plunging
anticline can be clearly mapped in sector ‘‘b” (Fig. 5b). In addition,
NW- plunging anticline in sector ‘‘c” (Fig. 5c), and NW- plunging
anticline and syncline in the sector ‘‘d” (Fig. 5d) can be traced.
All of these structures lie in an almost flat terrain and are partially
masked by loose sediments and difficult to be completely recog-
nized in the field or on the optical Landsat images

4. Results and discussion 4.2. Revealing the near-surface structures

The results of the formerly mentioned processing steps in struc- Usually, the topographically flat-lying terrains of relatively
tural mapping and lithological discrimination along the study area smooth surfaces are considered as bad sectors for structural map-

Fig. 5. (a) Reference optical image shows the locations of the zoomed-in areas. (b) A processed SAR image shows the main structures in area ‘‘b”. (c) A processed SAR image
shows a NW-striking fault and plunged folds in the Miocene rocks in area ‘‘c”. (d) An interpreted SAR image shows NW-striking fault and plunged folds in the Miocene rocks
in area ‘‘d”.

Please cite this article as: A. Hammam, A. Gaber, M. Abdelwahed et al., Geological mapping of the Central Cairo-Suez District of Egypt, using space-borne
optical and radar dataset, The Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrs.2018.11.004
6 A. Hammam et al. / Egypt. J. Remote Sensing Space Sci. xxx (xxxx) xxx

ping. As a result of continuous and successive sediment supply,
various structural elements were buried under the recent wadi
and aeolian sand deposits. Consequently, these elements are not
detectable on the optical satellite images. Many researchers have
used radar data for detecting the structures control the river sys-
tems (Stern and Abdelsalam, 1996). When the environmental con-
ditions change to arid or semi-arid, the environment becomes drier
with low electrical conductivity and represents the optimum con-
dition for SAR sensors with a longer wavelength (L-band) to probe
the subsurface for centimeters to meters depth (Dabbagh et al.,
1997).
Gebel Oweibed represents a unique topographic high in the
middle part of the study area, affected by folding and bounded
by faults. In the field, these faults run along scarps and dissipate
over the surrounding flat terrain. The Quaternary deposits, in con-
tact with the ESE margin of Gebel Oweibed, show noticeable differ-
ences in the backscattered energy of SAR data between the
different wadi loads that belong to different active depositional
periods (Fig. 6).
Moreover, data fusion of optical and radar data was applied and
enhanced by histogram equalization to clarify the boundaries and
structures within these Quaternary deposits (Fig. 6a, b), in which a
hidden fault of NW trend is clearly observed. This fault took a com-
mon Gulf parallel trend and cut across the basal part of the wadi
sediments, which indicates recent reactivation phase during the
Quaternary time. Reactivation along this trend is common and con-
firmed by the recent seismicity data recorded along the Cairo-Suez
District (Fig. 7) that suggest seismic activity along the NW-SE and
E-W fault trends (Abou Elenean et al., 2010). These faults are nor-
mal faults with a small strike-slip component (Badawy, 2005;
Abou Elenean, 2007).
4.3. Lithological discrimination
The Spectral Signature profiles (Fig. 4b) indicate that most of
the exposed lithological units have a strong absorption reaction
at bands 1 and 2 and moderate absorption at band 7, while an
increasing spectral reflectance behavior was noticed at bands 3, 4

Fig. 6. (a) Fused image of ALOS/PALSAR-2 and Landsat-8 data shows normal fault with strike-slip component and lithological contact within the Quaternary deposits. (b)
Processed SAR image with a geological sketch.

Please cite this article as: A. Hammam, A. Gaber, M. Abdelwahed et al., Geological mapping of the Central Cairo-Suez District of Egypt, using space-borne
optical and radar dataset, The Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrs.2018.11.004
 A. Hammam et al. / Egypt. J. Remote Sensing Space Sci. xxx (xxxx) xxx 7

Fig. 7. Seismic epicenters along the study area (black rectangle) and environs from 1900 to 2007 for the events with ML 3 (Compiled catalog after Maamoun et al., 1984;
Abou Elenean, 1997; and Egyptian National Seismic Network data from 1997 to 2007). Black lines are the mapped surface faults (Klitzsch et al., 1987). Focal mechanism of one
studied event is represented on the lower-hemisphere stereographic projection; red quadrants denote extension.

Fig. 8. (a, b) FCC images 2,5,7 and 4,3,2 for RGB, respectively, differentiate Oligocene clastics from non-marine Miocene and Oligocene Basalts. (c) FCC image 6,3,2 for RGB,
discriminates the Middle Eocene from the Upper Eocene and Oligocene clastics. (d) Image of Band Ratios 3/1, 4/2 and 1/7 for RGB, separates all clastics rocks of different ages
(OC, NMM, Q1, and Q2) and distinguishes between Middle and Upper Eocene rocks.

Please cite this article as: A. Hammam, A. Gaber, M. Abdelwahed et al., Geological mapping of the Central Cairo-Suez District of Egypt, using space-borne
optical and radar dataset, The Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrs.2018.11.004
8 A. Hammam et al. / Egypt. J. Remote Sensing Space Sci. xxx (xxxx) xxx

and 5 to reach its maximum reflectance at band 6. Moreover, their
thermal behavior was examined using bands 10 and 11 to take
share in band ratios processing, which indicates that Oligocene
clastics have the highest mean temperature, while Middle Eocene
exhibits the lowest one.
The FCC images 2,5,7, 4,3,2, and 6,3,2 for RGB were generated
and the results show that the FCC of 2,5,7 and 4,3,2 are much effec-
tive in the discrimination of the Oligocene clastics from the non-
marine Miocene and Oligocene basalts (Fig. 8a, b).
Moreover, the FCC of 6,3,2 is useful for discriminating the Mid-
dle Eocene, Upper Eocene and the Oligocene clastics (Fig. 8c). on
the other hand, the band ratios of 3/1, 4/2, 1/7 for RGB are effective
in distinguishing the Oligocene clastics by unique deep- yellow
(Canarian yellow) from the Miocene clastics of faint yellow color
and the Quaternary clastics by blue and yellow colors (Fig. 8d).
The image of Band Ratios 5/1, 6/2 and 7/3 (Fig. 9a) is a unique
one and was capable to discriminate a large number of rock units
including marine Miocene and clarifying its bedding (orange to
pale green), Basalts (black), Pliocene carbonates (rose), in addition
to the multicolored Quaternary deposits (faint blue, orange, red
and brown) indicating more than one source for these sediments.
One of the most obvious results of this band ratio is the accurate

Fig. 9. (a) Image of Band Ratios 5/1, 6/2 and 7/3 for RGB showing the marine Miocene and clarifying its bedding (white arrows) in addition to Oligocene basalts, Pliocene
carbonates and Quaternary sediments, (b) Image of Band Ratios 4/10, 5/2, 7/1 for RGB, distinguishing between the marine Miocene and the Pliocene rocks.

Please cite this article as: A. Hammam, A. Gaber, M. Abdelwahed et al., Geological mapping of the Central Cairo-Suez District of Egypt, using space-borne
optical and radar dataset, The Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrs.2018.11.004
 A. Hammam et al. / Egypt. J. Remote Sensing Space Sci. xxx (xxxx) xxx 9

delineation of Pliocene sediments with carbonate composition that
has been confirmed in the field (Fig. 10).
Band ratios of 4/10, 5/2 and 7/1 for RGB (Fig. 9b), improved and
enhanced the differences between rock units. Minimum Noise
Fraction and Decorrelation stretch of band combination 7,5,3 are
done and found to confirm the previously shown results.
The supervised classification was performed using the Maxi-
mum Likelihood Algorithm using 63 training sites to generate a
lithological map with an overall accuracy of 88.72% with Kappa
coefficient 0.85 using 120 reference points. (Fig. 11).
One of the advantages of the present research is the accurate
geometrical tracing of the folded marine Miocene rocks (Fig. 5c),
which were not traced in previous studies based on aerial pho-
tographs (Morcos, 1964). It is worth to mention that the Pliocene
rocks were traced and mapped with poorly defined boundaries
without any structural control or considered as Quaternary sedi-
ments (Sadek, 1968; Klitzsch et al., 1987; Abu Al-Saud, 2016).
Moreover, in the present work, after performing several processing
techniques on the Landsat-8 data complemented with high-
resolution Google Earth data, such Pliocene rocks boundaries are
easily delineated (Fig. 9b).
The final results of the present study were integrated with the
previous geological maps to update the geological map of the Cen-
tral Cairo Suez District (Fig. 12).

5. Conclusions

The present study is mainly focused on the benefits of using

Fig. 10. Field photo of the Pliocene carbonates.
optical and radar data in geological mapping with an accurate
and effective way. It indicated the high potential of radar data for
surface and near-surface structural delineation in semi-flat terrains
of arid environments using its penetration capability. In addition to
radar data, the optical dataset was used for lithological discrimina-
tion of the exposed rock units along the Central Cairo Suez District
(CCSD) together with the aid of high-resolution Google Earth
images.
Three selected subsets in the study area reflect the advantage
and role of ALOS/PLSAR-2 data in clarifying the surface structures.
These locations were partially masked by the fluvial and eolian
deposits. In addition, hidden structural elements were revealed
close to Gebel Oweibed that were totally masked on satellite
images. A NW- normal fault with right lateral strike-slip compo-
nent controlling the spatial distribution of the quaternary sedi-
ments was successfully mapped and pointing to recent activity
along this trend.

Fig. 11. The generated supervised classification map.

Please cite this article as: A. Hammam, A. Gaber, M. Abdelwahed et al., Geological mapping of the Central Cairo-Suez District of Egypt, using space-borne
optical and radar dataset, The Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrs.2018.11.004
10 A. Hammam et al. / Egypt. J. Remote Sensing Space Sci. xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 12. The updated geological map of the Central Cairo-Suez District (CCSD).

Various processing techniques of Landsat-8 optical data were References

performed by applying the spectral profile, FCC, band ratios,
MNF, DS and finally supervised classification to differentiate the
exposed rock units in the study area. The high-resolution Google
Earth images have also helped in mapping the different structures
and lithological boundaries with high accuracy. A field check work
of some accessible sites was done to validate the obtained results.
The main contribution of this study is an update and accurate geo-
logical mapping for the study area. It is highly recommended to
make advanced use of SAR data together with the ground penetrat-
ing radar (GPR) survey to validate the near-surface extension of
such extracted structures.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Japan Aerospace Explo-
ration Agency (JAXA) for providing the ALOS data as part of the
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