Skip to main content
Home

Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center

Main Menu

  • EROS Home
  • Image Gallery
  • Video Library
  • Earthshots
  • Remote Sensing Classroom

Earthshots

  • Earthshots
    • Sharq El Owainat, Egypt
      • Picking Calibration Sites
      • Watering the Sahara
      • Landsat’s Accuracy
      • Earth As Art
  • Download Cards
  • More Information
  • Contact Information
Earthshots Logo

Watering the Sahara A Sharq El Owainat, Egypt story

Agriculture  / 
Deserts
  1. Sharq El Owainat, Egypt
  2. Watering the Sahara
Description

One of the best test sites, named Egypt-2, was steadily reliable until around the late 1990s. In a vast expanse of Sahara Desert in southern Egypt, center pivot irrigation fields began appearing where there had only been sand just a few years before, changing the reflectance.

Precipitation is extremely rare here, so how do they get water for all these crops?

The region, called Sharq El Owainat, sits atop the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System. Groundwater from the aquifer is pumped through wells to the surface and spread to the field via center-pivot irrigation sprinklers. The region now produces about a third of Egypt’s wheat crop, which is exported by way of the Sharq El Owainat airport.

With all of that land use change happening in the region, Egypt-2 could not continue as a test site.

Landsat animation of the Sharq El Owainat center pivots

View Related Imagery & Stories

Location

Dec. 4, 1997, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Dec. 4, 1997, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Feb. 9, 1999, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Feb. 9, 1999, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Mar. 15, 2000, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Mar. 15, 2000, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Feb. 25, 2005, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Feb. 25, 2005, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Nov. 16, 2008, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Nov. 16, 2008, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Jan. 3, 2009, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Jan. 3, 2009, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Feb. 4, 2009, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Feb. 4, 2009, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Nov. 19, 2009, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Nov. 19, 2009, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Jan. 22, 2010, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Jan. 22, 2010, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Jan. 25, 2011, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Jan. 25, 2011, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Mar. 19, 2013, Landsat 8 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Mar. 19, 2013, Landsat 8 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Jan. 20, 2015, Landsat 8 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Jan. 20, 2015, Landsat 8 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Feb. 19, 2020, Landsat 8 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Feb. 19, 2020, Landsat 8 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Dec. 4, 1997, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt
Feb. 9, 1999, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt
Mar. 15, 2000, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt
Feb. 25, 2005, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt
Nov. 16, 2008, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt
Jan. 3, 2009, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt
Feb. 4, 2009, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt
Nov. 19, 2009, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt
Jan. 22, 2010, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt
Jan. 25, 2011, Landsat 5 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt
Mar. 19, 2013, Landsat 8 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt
Jan. 20, 2015, Landsat 8 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt
Feb. 19, 2020, Landsat 8 (path/row 177/44) — center pivot irrigation, Sharq El Owainat, Egypt

Sharq El Owainat, Egypt Additional Imagery & Stories

Earth As Art
Earth As Art

The view of this region from Landsat is so fascinating, it’s the subject of two Earth As Art images. These and all Earth As Art images can be download...

Read More
Landsat’s Accuracy
Landsat’s Accuracy

The Sharq El Owainat airport is visible on the right side of these images. The runway appears in the 1997 image. Landsat’s accuracy is key to other sy...

Read More
Picking Calibration Sites
Picking Calibration Sites

Engineers use test sites around the world to make sure Landsat imagery is consistent and accurate. These calibration test sites are regions on the Ear...

Read More
  • DOI Privacy Policy
  • Legal
  • Accessibility
  • Site Map
  • Contact USGS

  • U.S. Department of the Interior
  • DOI Inspector General
  • White House
  • E-gov
  • No Fear Act
  • FOIA