Identification of Soil Erosion-Based Degraded Land Areas by Employing a Geographic Information System—A Case Study of Pakistan for 1990–2020

Abstract

Land is one of the most vital nonrenewable resources that guarantee the survival and development of humans on planet Earth. In the 21st century, rapid population growth accompanied by expeditious industrialization and urbanization has led to land degradation and irreparable damage. In Pakistan, land degradation has affected the livelihood of 3.58% of the total population. This study aimed to identify the soil erosion-based land that is degraded in Pakistan through an analytical hierarchal process (AHP). For this purpose, climatic parameters such as vis-a-vis precipitation, temperature, land use/land cover, soil parameters (i.e., soil pH, soil texture, soil bulk density, and soil moisture content), and topographic parameters (i.e., slope, elevation, aspect, and drainage density) were taken into the consideration. Weights and scores were assigned in integration with a weighted overlay analysis (WOA) to the prioritized parameters. The findings revealed that Zone A comprising high mountains is severely affected by land degradation, followed by Zone D and E (Sindh and Balochistan). Key factors operating in Zone D and E are hyper-arid climatic conditions along with inefficient land management practices. The overall results validated the hypothesis that soil erosion strongly correlates with an increase in the magnitude and severity of land degradation.

Hybrid Energy Powered Smart Irrigation System for Smallholder Farmers: Installation Site and Crop Selection

“…Therefore, the study aims to explore suitable installation sites and crop selection analyses. The site suitability analysis is explored from viewpoints of IBIS mapping, groundwater table/depth, land use land cover (LULC) classification, and soil classification which are available in the literature [29][30][31][32]. For crops selection, seven significant factors for each studied food and cash crop are considered which are listed as (i) cultivated area (thousand acres), (ii) irrigation requirements (mm/season), (iii) water cost (Rs/acre), (iv) net production (thousand tonnes), (v) average yield (kg/acre), (vi) production cost (Rs/acre), and (vii) net profit (Rs/acre).…”

“…Each step for Sindh province was performed in literature. Therefore, the present study utilizes data of the IBIS mapping [29], groundwater depth [30], groundwater quality [30], LULC classification [31], and soil classification [32] from the cited literature for exploring suitable installation sites.…”

“…Soil classification provides critical insights for appropriate cultivation practices and crops selection to improve overall yield. Ulain et al, [32] performed the soil classification for Pakistan and results are presented in Figure 12 [32]. It is observable that, the cultivated/agricultural land of Sindh mostly experiences sandy loam, clay loam, and sandy clay loam soil.…”

Estimating the Soil Erosion Response to Land-Use Change Using GIS-Based RUSLE and Remote Sensing: A Case Study of Heilongjiang Province, China

“…As the source of all things and the root of life, soil carries the important task of promoting the growth and prosperity of all things and is one of the natural resources that cannot be renewed to promote scientific and technological progress and human development [1]. However, owing to long-term over-cultivation and use, fast population expansion accompanied by the accelerated industrial revolution, gentrification, long-term over-cultivation and utilization, climate change, and other factors, soil degradation has brought challenges to sustainable human development [2]. One of the most prevalent types of soil degradation is soil erosion, which is a natural process where the topsoil is stripped from its original location, exposing the subsoil.…”

Mapping of soil erosion susceptibility using advanced machine learning models at Nghe An, Vietnam

“…However, this model can be implemented based on expert opinion, and therefore, it is associated with high uncertainty. Other traditional methods include the use of Weighted Overlay Analysis (WOA) to identify soil erosion high-risk areas (Ulain et al 2022).…”