This lecture highlights the growing importance of geophysical methods in addressing critical challenges related to subsurface resource management.

As climate change, land degradation, and water scarcity increasingly threaten agricultural productivity, understanding subsurface conditions has become essential for informed decision-making. Geophysics provides a non-invasive, cost-effective, and scalable set of tools capable of characterizing soil, water, and geological properties with high spatial and temporal resolution.

The session will introduce the emerging field of Agrogeophysics and its applications to enhance soil assessment, guide irrigation efficiency, diagnose land degradation, and support sustainable land and water management. Practical examples will demonstrate how geophysical measurements can be used to estimate soil moisture, map soil salinization, detect water logging zones, assess water-harvesting suitability, and evaluate the vulnerability of coastal aquifers to seawater intrusion. Together, these applications show how geophysics contributes to improving land resilience, optimizing agricultural practices, and promoting sustainable environmental management in both arid and semi-arid regions.

Ahmed Elshenawy

Since 2000, Elshenawy has been involved as a research team member of several national, international, and private projects regarding the application of geophysical methods for groundwater exploration, water management, aquifer characterization, desertification process monitoring, sustainable development, engineering, geotechnical and environmental problems. He’s conducted intensive data acquisition, processing, modeling, and interpretation of geoelectric and electromagnetic (VES, 2D/3D ERT, SP, IP/SIP, VLF, TDEM, and MT), geomagnetic and seismic refraction measurements as well as petrophysical measurements on both field and laboratory scale in Egypt, UK, and USA.

Currently Ahmed is CEO of the Egyptian team of the project: Sustainable Approaches to Water and Soil Management for Drylands in the Mediterranean Basin (SALM-MED) funded by the European Union’s Programme for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA).