Selected Studies in Geotechnics, Geo-informatics and Remote Sensing

This book contains the best papers accepted for presentation at the 3rd Springer Conference of the Arabian Journal of Geosciences (CAJG-3). The book is divided into three parts to distinguish research studies from the fields of (1) geological and geotechnical engineering, (2) geomechanical studies based on numerical and analytical methods, and (3) geo-informatics and remote sensing. The content of these papers provides new scientific knowledge for further understanding on landslides, new stabilization techniques, importance of geophysics for engineering geology investigations as well as new empirical approaches for easily predicting some physical and hydrogeomechanical properties of geomaterials. It also sheds the light on usage of different remote sensing technologies, mapping techniques in a geographic information systems environment along with some advanced signal processing, and deep learning approaches. The book is of interest to all researchers, practitioners, and students inthe fields of geological and mining engineering, geotechnical engineering, hydrogeomechanics, engineering geology, geotechnologies, groundwater and natural hazards, and analyses of some emerging earth processes and environmental variabilities.

Zeynal Abiddin Ergüler:
Kutahya Dumlupinar University, Kutahya, Turkey

Dr. Erguler is Full Professor at the geological engineering department at Kutahya Dumlupinar University (Turkey). He holds a B.Sc. (1998), an M.Sc. (2001), and a Ph.D. degree (2007) in Geological Engineering from Hacettepe University (Turkey). His research interests mainly focus on rock mechanics, engineering geology, environmental geology, and soil mechanics. His current investigation is to understand and model the thermo-hydro-mechanical behaviour of shale rocks in the area of shale gas production. In addition to performing many types of research and industry-funded projects, he has also been teaching and supervising undergraduate and graduate students. In 2017, he joined the Arabian Journal of Geosciences (AJGS) as Editor responsible for evaluating submissions in the fields of rock mechanics, engineering geology, environmental geology, and soil mechanics.

Riheb Hadji:
University of Sétif 1, Setif, Algeria

Prof Riheb Hadji is Professor in Geological Sciences in the Department of Earth Sciences, Institute of Architecture and Earth Sciences, Setif 1 University, Algeria. Specialized in Applied Geology, Geomatics and Environment, he does research in geomorphology, hydrogeology, and natural hazards. His current project is about risk management in North Africa. He is Head of the Laboratory of Applied Research in Engineering Geology, Geotechnics, Water Sciences, and Environment, Setif 1, University, Algeria, and Co-chairman of the International Association of Water Resources in the Southern Mediterranean Basin. He has published more than 100 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals, edited 2 books on soil mechanics, and has an RG-score of 23.21, an H-index of 24, and an i10 of 34. Prof Hadji has also been involved in four international collaboration projects and several national projects. He is Editorial Board Member in peer reviewed journals, and he is Internationally Known Expert in RS-GIS, natural hazard and, environmental issues.

Helder I. Chaminé:
School of Engineering (ISEP), Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal

Helder I. Chaminé is Skilled Geologist and Professor of engineering geosciences at the School of Engineering (ISEP) of the Polytechnic of Porto, with over 32 years of experience in multidisciplinary geosciences research, consultancy, and practice. He studied geological engineering and geology (B.Sc., 1990) at the Universities of Aveiro and Porto (Portugal), respectively. He received his Ph.D. in geology at the University of Porto in 2000 and spent his postdoctoral research in applied geosciences at the University of Aveiro (2001–2003). In 2011, he received his Habilitation (D.Sc.) in geosciences from the University of Aveiro. Before joining the academy, he worked for over a decade on international projects for mining, geotechnics, groundwater industry and/or academia related to geodynamics and regional geology, hard rock hydrogeology and water resources, engineering geosciences and applied geomorphology, rock engineering, and georesources. He is currently on the organising and scientific committees of the 3rd International Workshop on Natural Hazards―NATHAZ’22 (Terceira Island, Azores, May 2022), supported by Springer.

Jesus Rodrigo-Comino:
University of Granada, Granada, Germany

Dr. Jesús Rodrigo Comino, graduated in Geography, currently works as Assistant Professor at the University of Granada. He carried out a thesis with an extraordinary degree award with the work: “The soils of the province of Malaga: Revision according to the classification criteria of FAO-WRB (2006)”. He holds a Master's Degree in Territorial Planning and Geographic Information Systems (2013) from the University of Granada, whose final work was divided into 3 national publications and a monograph. During his predoc stage, he obtained three scholarships for doctoral studies: DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), La Caixa Foundation, and FPU (Ministry of Education, Spain). During this period, he completed his doctoral thesis between the University of Trier (Germany―2 years-) and Malaga (2 years). He was recently awarded with a Leonardo Grant (BBVA Foundation).

Amjad Kallel:
ENIS, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia

Dr. Amjad Kallel is currently Associate Professor of Environmental Geology in the Sfax National School of Engineers at the University of Sfax, Tunisia. He holds a B.Eng. in Georesources and Environment (1998) from the University of Sfax (Tunisia) and an M.Sc. degree and a Ph.D. degree in Georesources and Environment (2004) from Hokkaido University (Japan). He joined Venture Business Laboratory (VBL) at Akita University, Japan (2005–2006), as Researcher focusing on refining and recycling technologies for the recovery of rare elements from natural and secondary sources. Hehas co-organized many prestigious workshops, seminars, and international conferences. In 2016, he joined the Arabian Journal of Geosciences (Springer) and the Euro-Mediterranean Journal for Environmental Integration (Springer) as Chief Editor and Managing Editor, respectively.

Broder Merkel
TUBAF, Freiberg, Germany
Broder Merkel did Dissertation (PhD) Dr. rer.nat. as Hydrogeologist (TU München) and Habilitation  (Dr. habil) Christian-Albrechts Universität Kiel. Broder Merkel is Full Professor for Hydrogeology at TUBAF (1993–2015) hydrogeology, hydrochemistry, modeling chemical thermodynamics and reactive transport, geo-statistics, GIS, and remote sensing; Dean of the Faculty Geoscience, Geotechnics and Mining; DFG Liaison Officer of TUBAF; Vice Rector of TUBAF; and Head of the Scientific Diving Center of TUBAF. Broder Merkel’s field work was in Bolivia, China, Chile, Czech Republic, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Hungary, Mexico, Mozambique,Namibia, Palestine, Russia, Spain, and USA. Broder Merkel has organization of 7 International Conferences Uranium Mining and Hydrogeology.

Mehdi Eshagh
University West, Sweden

Mehdi Eshagh, 1977, born in Tehran, Iran, completed his M.Sc. degree in Geodesy from KNToosi University of Technology in Iran and Ph.D. in Geodesy at Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) under supervision of Professor Lars E. Sjöberg in 2009. He became docent (habilitation) in Physical Geodesy and Space Geodesy at KTH and worked there as Senior Researcher until 2016 and since September 2013 as Professor of Geodesy at University West in the western part of Sweden. He have about 22 years of activities in teaching diversity of courses in Surveying Engineering and Geodesy, research, and supervision of students at all levels of educations. He is Author of 120 articles in peer-reviewed international journals and the book " Satellite Gravimetry and the Solid Earth, mathematical foundations," published by Elsevier in 2020. He is Founder of Journal of Geodetic Science in 2010 and its Editor-in-Chief since 2018.

Haroun Chenchouni
Higher National School of Forests, Khenchela, Algeria

Dr. Haroun Chenchouni is Associate Professor and Research Scientist (Ecologist) at the Higher National School of Forests (Khenchela, Algeria). He is Former Associate Professor at the University of Tebessa (Algeria). He holds a M.Sc. (Magister) in Dryland Ecology from the University of Ouargla (Algeria) and a doctorate degree in Ecology and Environment from the University of Batna. He graduated as Engineer in Plant Ecology and Forest Ecosystems from the Department of Biological Sciences (University of Batna, Algeria). His research interests are fairly broad; he uses statistical modeling approaches to understand how natural environments, mainly climatic and edaphic factors, and anthropogenic perturbations influence biological interactions, shape trends in population dynamics, and influence community diversity. He is also involved in national and international research projects. In 2017, he joined the Arabian Journal of Geosciences (AJGS) as Associate Editor.

Stefan Grab
School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Stefan Grab is Swiss by birth but grew up in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Stefan Grab studied geomorphology at the University of Natal with specialization in periglacial geomorphology. Today, Stefan Grab works in both geomorphology and historical climate change sectors. Stefan Grab’s research regions include southern and eastern Africa, the mid-Atlantic and Iran (Middle East).

Murat Karakus
University of Adelaide, Adealide, Australia

Prof.  Karakus holds a B.Sc. in Mining Engineering (1991) from Hacettepe University (Turkey) and a Ph.D. degree in Rock Mechanics (2000) from the University of Leeds, UK. He is currently Chair Professor at the China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, and Associate Prof of the School of Civil, Environmental, and Mining Engineering. His research area is the field of experimental rock mechanics; fracture and damage mechanics, numerical analysis, plasticity and constitutive modeling in rock mechanics and strainburst/rockburst mechanisms for deep tunnels and mining.. He has published several chapters and over a hundred papers in international Journals and Conferences. He is Member of the ISRM Commission on Rockburst and the ISRM Commission of  Deep Mining. He is currently serving as Chief Editor of Track-12; Numerical and Analytical Methods in Mining Sciences, and Geomechanics of Arabian Journal of Geosciences.

Sami Khomsi
King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah Saudi Arabia and CERTE, University of Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia.

Sami Khomsi is Structural-Petroleum Geologist.  He got his Ph.D. at Tunis University in 2004 and his HDR (Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches) in the same university in 2015. Since 2011, he works in the Department of petroleum geology and sedimentology, and in the Geoexploration department in the faculty of Earth Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He has also experience in geophysical methods involving fast processing and interpretation of seismic reflexion sections in terms of structural geology-investigation-evaluation of plays, characterization of fractured reservoirs, and subsurface mapping.  His main research interests are geometry, kinematics, and dynamics of fold-thrust systems and foreland basins in North Africa, Middle East, and the Mediterranean realm, fractured reservoir analogues, applying structural analysis and subsurface techniques in the characterizations of drillable structures and structural evaluation of traps using regional cross sections at large scale as well as structural subsurface based onregional seismic reflection profiles in different basins.

Jasper Knight
University of Witwatersrand, South Africa

Professor of Physical Geography, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Professor Jasper Knight is Geoscientist with research interests in the spatial and temporal variability in landscape system responses to climate and environmental changes during the late Pleistocene and Holocene, looking at sediments and geomorphology. Jasper Knight's focus is thematically on glaciers, rivers, coasts, and mountains. Jasper Knight's focus is geographically on the UK and Ireland, northwest USA, Australia, European Alps, various locations in Asia, and across both southern and northern (Saharan) Africa. Jasper Knight is Editor of three major international journals (Sedimentary Geology, Journal of Maps, Land Degradation & Development). Jasper Knight's        teaching and student supervisionfocuses on the interconnections between the physical and human environments, landscape change, and environmental resources of the past, present, and future.

Mourad Bezzeghoud
Universidade de Evora, Évora, Portugal, Portugal

Mourad Bezzeghoud is Full Professor at the University of Évora (Professor in the Physics Department/School of Sciences and Technology and Researcher at the ICT/IIIFA). He has published dozens of articles in specialized revues and journals, and several books and chapters in book. He works in the area of Earth Sciences (Solid Earth Geophysics) with an emphasis in seismology. He interacted with 198 collaborators in co-authorship of scientific works. In his curriculum Ciência Vitae (FCT, Portugal), the most frequent terms in the context of scientific and technological production are seismicity, focal mechanisms, nonlinear dynamics, seismic risk, seismic source, Azores, broad band seismic network, chaos, earthquake faults, and seismic instrumentation.

Maurizio Barbieri
Department of Chemical Engineering Materials Environment, Faculty of Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy

Prof. Barbieri holds a degree in Geological Sciences (1994) and a Ph.D. degree in Earth Sciences (1998) from Sapienza University of Rome, (Italy). He is currently Full Professor of Environmental Geochemistry and Hydrogeochemistry at Sapienza University of Rome (Italy). He is Environmental Advisor (Hydrogeochemistry) for the International Project (2016-2019) SECOSUD II―conservation and equitable use of biological diversity in the SADC region. The project is financed by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and implemented through Eduardo Mondlane University, South African National Park, and Sapienza University of Rome. He is Scientific Coordinator (2014-2016) for the geochemical model of the Vico Lake (Central Italy), with particular regard to environmental arsenic. Client: Regional Agency for Environmental Protection of Lazio; Environmental Advisor (Hydrogeochemistry) for the International Project (2012-2014) “Institutional Support to the management of Protected Areas in Albania”. His project is supported by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Sandeep Panda

Dr. Panda is currently working as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Industrial Biotechnology, Gujarat Biotechnology University, Gujarat, India. His main research areas include (Bio) hydrometallurgical approaches for metal extraction from primary and secondary resources, Bio-desulphurization of Coal, Bio & Chemical approaches for Mine Water treatment and application of eco-friendly approaches for sustainable mineral-metal waste recycling and management. He has been involved as Principal/Co-Principal Investigator and as Team Member in several R&D and Industrial research projects (at both National and International level) since 2009. As of 2023, he has published 55 International journal papers; 4 book chapters & 5 Editorial books of high quality and impact that have received nearly 1950 citations (h-index – 25). One of his articles published in the journal NATURE related to Tech-Metal supply is receiving much attention and appreciation from global leaders working in his area. His research works have invited the attention of several press and media. He has been featured in the WORLD RANKING OF THE TOP 2% SCIENTISTS in the Domain of Mining & Metallurgy (Sub Domain – Environmental Sciences) as per the Standford University list of top-cited scientists in 2020, 2021, 2022. He is an active member of several prestigious professional bodies and technical/scientific committee member in several reputed international conferences. He has served as a reviewer in over 40 reputed International Journals and is currently serving as: (1) Associate Editor of the Arabian Journal of Geosciences & Euro-Mediterranean Journal of Environmental Integration (Springer Nature) and Editorial Board Member of: (2) Frontiers in Microbiology & Frontiers in Environmental Sciences (Frontiers Publications), (3) Mineral Processing & Extractive Metallurgy Review Journal (Taylor & Francis Group) and (4) Editorial Advisory Board of Detritus Journal (IWWG).

Ali Cemal Benim
Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences, Düsseldorf, Germany

Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Ali Cemal Benim received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Mechanical Engineering at the Boğaziҫi University, Istanbul, Turkey. He received his Ph.D. degree at the University of Stuttgart, Germany, in 1988, on the topic “Finite Element Modeling of Turbulent Diffusion Flames” with “Degree of Distinction”. Following a postdoctoral period at the University of Stuttgart, in 1990 he joined ABB Turbo Systems Ltd. in Baden, Switzerland, where he was Manager of the “Computational Flow and Combustion Modeling” group. Since January 1996, he is Professor for Energy Technology and Head of Center of Flow Simulation at the Duesseldorf University of Applied Sciences, Duesseldorf, Germany.

Hesham El-Askary
Chapman University, USA

Prof. El-Askary received his Ph.D. in Computational Sciences and Informatics from George Mason University in 2004. He is 2015 Recipient of the Chapman University's elite Senior Wang-Fradkin Professorship award. In 2016, he was named as Regional Coordinator on a $3 million Euro grant from the European Union’s (EU) Horizon 2020. The three-year project, known as GEO-CRADLE, deals with coordinating and integrating state-of-the-art Earth Observation Activities in the regions of North Africa, Middle East, and Balkans and developing links with GEO-related initiatives toward GEOSS. Through this work, he with the research team were able to deliver the first analytical solar Atlas of Egypt that is now considered to be the official document of the government for solar investment. This work was recently presented at Planet Earth Institute at the Royal Society in London during a seminar that discussed the future of solar energy in Africa.