Assessment and Monitoring of Land Degradation Using Geospatial Technology in Bathinda District, Punjab, India

Abstract

Abstract. Land degradation leads to alteration in ecological and economic functions due to decrease in productivity and quality of the land. The aim of the present study was to assess land degradation with the help of geospatial technology – Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information System (GIS)) in Bathinda district, Punjab. The severity of land degradation was estimated by analysing the physico-chemical parameters in the laboratory and correlating them with satellite based studies.The results revealed that the soils in the study area were exposed to the salt intrusion which could be mainly attributed to irrigation practices in the state of Punjab. Most of the soil samples of the study area were largely found slightly or moderately saline with a few salt-free sites. Further, majority of the soil samples were calcareous and a few samples were alkaline or sodic in nature. A comparative analysis of temporal satellite datasets of Landsat-7 ETM+ and Landsat-8 OLI_TIRS of the year 2000 and 2014 respectively, revealed that the water body showed a slight decreasing trend from 2.46 km2 in 2000 to 1.87 km2 in 2014; while, the human settlements and other built-up areas expanded from 586.25 km2 to 891.09 km2 in a span of 14 years. The results also showed a decrease in area under barren land from 68.9847 km2 in 2000 to 15.2602 km2 in the year 2014. Significant correlation was observed between the Digital Number (DN) of near Infrared band and pH and EC. Therefore, it is suggested that the present study can be applied to projects with special relevance to soil scientists, environmental scientists and planning agencies that can use the present study as a baseline data to combat land degradation and conserve land resources in an efficient manner.

Prediction and mapping of land degradation in the Batanghari watershed, Sumatra, Indonesia: utilizing multi-source geospatial data and machine learning modeling techniques

“…In general, the main causes of land degradation are climate change and human activities (Ahmad 2013). Several factors that cause land degradation include climatic conditions, geology, geography, land cover, water resources, population pressure, social, economic, ecological, and the interaction between humans and nature (Abu Hammad and Tumeizi 2012; Wijitkosum 2021).…”

“…Wibowo et al (2012) developed a land degradation model based on vegetation and erosion. Ahmad (2013) used geoinformation technology to identify land degradation patterns. Ali et al (2019) performed a land degradation risk assessment based on spatial data and geographic information system (GIS) analysis.…”

Sorption of Organic Pollutants onto Soils: Surface Diffusion Mechanism of Congo Red Azo Dye

“…Soil pollution and land degradation are emerging issues with consequences at a local, regional and global scale [1][2][3]. The main phenomena involved in soil and land degradation are erosion, chemical contamination, loss of soil's organic matter, nutrient imbalance, salinization, surface sealing, loss of soil biodiversity, acidification, compaction, and waterlogging [4][5][6].…”

“…The main phenomena involved in soil and land degradation are erosion, chemical contamination, loss of soil's organic matter, nutrient imbalance, salinization, surface sealing, loss of soil biodiversity, acidification, compaction, and waterlogging [4][5][6]. It is estimated that 1.9 billion hectares of land are affected globally [2]. At a European level, the European Environment Agency [7] predicted that around 3 million sites in the EU Member States are affected by industrial activities, and on significant surfaces (250,000 sites) the urgent application of land remediation technologies is required.…”