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ABSTRACT

Remote sensing and GIS technologies help in generating a state-of-the-art informatics-capturing the variability and vulnerability of soil resources. Thematic maps are thus essential for monitoring and quantifying change over time scale and assist in decision making. Smart sensor-based irrigation system saves water nearly 41.43% when compared to the flood irrigation and 13.03% when compared to drip irrigation. Suitability and capability of land maps display of patial representation of soils suitable for agriculture. The vegetation health index developed can be used for site-specific crop management for better utilization of available resources and maximizing the crop yield. Variable-rate application of fertilizers coupled with target yield approach economizes fertilizer use by avoiding over and minimum application.

Keywords: Remote sensing, GIS, fertility mapping, resource management

Soil is the most wondrous gift of nature to all the earthlings. It is a vital natural resource base that performs fundamental functions for the benefit of humankind and the environment. Share of India in global degraded soil area is about 10%, it was largely impelled by anthropogenic misuse of soil via non-scientific, indiscriminate, and non-sustainable intensive agricultural practices. It has become more imperative now than ever before to protect and preserve the quality of soil resources to sustainably build productivity growth. Since onslaught on soil quality, more than nature is the act of all stakeholders-farmers, builders, and common folks. They have to be part of protection and conservation programs also. Recent development in the field of Remote Sensing (RS), Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques have great advantages in generating state-of-the-art informatics-capturing the variability and vulnerability of natural resources. This information enables us to provide valuable scientific insights into the factors contributing to the low productivity of soil resources which in turn would form the essential ingredients to evolve the effective strategies for optimal use of resources to enhance productivity.

Remote sensing and its basic process

Remote sensing is the science of obtaining information about an object or area through the analysis of measurements made without coming in contact with it. The information needs a physical carrier to travel from the objects/events to the sensors through an intervening medium. Electromagnetic radiation is normally used as an information carrier in remote sensing.

Basic processes of remote sensing are depicted in pictorial form (fig. 1) and are as follows;

A. Energy sources (Sun or transmitter)

B. Transmission of energy from source to object

C. Energy interaction with the object surface

D. Transmission of energy to the sensor

E.  Scattering and absorption by the atmosphere

F. Detection, measurement, and output by the sensor

G. Data acquisition, recording, pre-processing, analysis and application

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

A geographic information system is defined as a powerful set of computer-based tools for collecting, storing, retrieving at will, transforming, and displaying spatial data from the real world for a particular set of purposes (Sahoo, 2015). GIS consists of:

a.     An extensive database of geographic information involving both positional data about land features and descriptive/ non-locational data about these features at different points of time; and

b.     Sets of programs of applications, which enable the data to be input, assessed, manipulated, analyzed, and reported.

Use of Geoinformatics for resource management in Agriculture

 

1.     Preparation of soil fertility maps

Geo-referenced soil samples and coordinates of the sampling sites (Honnavalli micro-watershed) were collected and analyzed. The assessed soil fertility status was linked to the grid points. The thematic maps for spatial variable soil properties are prepared using geo-statistics. We used ArcGIS software for thematic mapping using the interpolation technique and kriging method. The surface soil fertility maps of pH, EC, OC, available nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, exchangeable calcium, and magnesium, available Sulphur are prepared based on soil fertility ratings. This will help the farmers to identify and overcome the nutrient-related constraints in crop production (Basavaraj et al., 2020).

 

 2.     Water resource management

                Barkunan et al. (2019) reported that smart sensor-based irrigation system in paddy consumes only 58.57% and 86.97% of water as compared to the flood and drip irrigation, respectively. It saves water nearly 41.43% when compared to flood irrigation and 13.03% when compared to drip irrigation.

 

3.     Land resource management

                Mohamed et al. (2016) assessed land suitability and capability by integrating remote sensing and GIS for agriculture. To reduce the human influence on natural resources and to identify appropriate land use, it is essential to carry out scientific land evaluations. GIS-based land-use suitability assessment for agricultural planning and GIS has been used to match the suitability for main crops based on the requirements of the crops and the quality and characteristics of the land.

 

4.     Vegetation health index mapping

Tripathi et al. (2013) developed a vegetation health index (VHI) for wheat ranging from 0 to 1. Wheat areas with very poor growth conditions were having VHI ranging from 0 - 0.25 and 0.26 - 0.50 for poor growth, 0.51 to 0.75 to good, and above 0.75 for very good conditions.

 

Conclusion

                Overexploitation of natural resources to meet the basic amenities viz., food, fuel, and fiber to an ever-increasing population, has not only depleted the finite resources but also degraded their quality. Accurate baseline information and methods to evaluate the quantity and the quality of each resource is the basic requirement for further planning. Under such conditions, geospatial technology i.e., remote sensing and geographical information system (GIS) are highly applicable for the acquisition and management of huge Spatio-temporal data by using satellite information, digital maps and simulation models, etc. Remote sensing technology has the potential of revolutionizing the detection and characterization of agricultural productivity based on biophysical attributes of crops and/or soils.

References

Barkunan, S. R., Bhanumathi, V., & Sethuram, J. (2019). Smart sensor for an automatic drip irrigation system for paddy cultivation. Computers & Electrical Engineering, 73, 180-193.

Biradar, B., Jayadeva, H. M., Channakeshava, S., Geetha, K. N., Sannagoudar, M. S., Pavan, A. S., & Prakash, K. N. (2020). Assessment of soil fertility through GIS techniques and thematic mapping in micro-watershed of Hassan, Karnataka. Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry, 9(4), 3218-3228.

Mohamed, A. E., Abdel, R. A. A., Natarajan, B. and Rajendra, H., (2016). Assessment of land suitability and capability by integrating remote sensing and GIS for agriculture in Chamarajanagar district, Karnataka, India. The Egyptian J. Remote Sens. Space Sci., 19: 125-141.

Sahoo, R. N. (2015). Remote Sensing, GIS and GPS in Soil Resource Studies, Soil Science -An Introduction, by Indian Society of Soil science. 2015: 113-133.

Tripathi, R., Sahoo, R. N., Gupta, V. K., Sehgal, V. K. and Sahoo, P. M., 2013, Developing vegetation health index from biophysical variables derived using MODIS satellite data in the Trans-Gangetic plains of India. Emir. J. Food Agric., 25(5): 376-384.

 

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