Reconstructing the Spatio-Temporal Development of Irrigation Systems in Uzbekistan Using Landsat Time Series

Abstract

Abstract:The expansion of irrigated agriculture during the Soviet Union (SU) era made Central Asia a leading cotton production region in the world. However, the successor states of the SU in Central Asia face on-going environmental damages and soil degradation that are endangering the sustainability of agricultural production. With Landsat MSS and TM data from 1972/73, 1977, 1987, 1998, and 2000 the expansion and densification of the irrigated cropland could be reconstructed in the Kashkadarya Province of Uzbekistan, Central Asia. Classification trees were generated by interpreting multitemporal normalized difference vegetation index data and crop phenological knowledge. Assessments based on image-derived validation samples showed good accuracy. Official statistics were found to be of limited use for analyzing the plausibility of the results, because they hardly represent the area that is cropped in the very dry study region. The cropping area increased from OPEN ACCESS Remote Sens. 2012, 4 3973 134,800 ha in 1972/73 to 470,000 ha in 2009. Overlaying a historical soil map illustrated that initially sierozems were preferred for irrigated agriculture, but later the less favorable solonchaks and solonetzs were also explored, illustrating the strategy of agricultural expansion in the Aral Sea Basin. Winter wheat cultivation doubled between 1987 and 1998 to approximately 211,000 ha demonstrating its growing relevance for modern Uzbekistan. The spatial-temporal approach used enhances the understanding of natural conditions before irrigation is employed and supports decision-making for investments in irrigation infrastructure and land cultivation throughout the Landsat era.

Agricultural Expansion and Intensification in the Foothills of Mount Kenya: A Landscape Perspective

“…Some studies have successfully assessed agricultural intensification in areas where it manifested itself in a change of land cover [33], a greater number of cropping cycles [34], or an increase in center-pivot irrigation areas [35]. However, most of these studies focus on pixel-level land cover and land use changes [32,36] rather than landscape-level changes towards more intense land use systems.…”

Advances in Remote Sensing of Agriculture: Context Description, Existing Operational Monitoring Systems and Major Information Needs

“…The review paper of Rembold et al (this issue) [34] provides an overview of remote sensing techniques for yield mapping. The reconstruction of past land use systems is exemplified in [35,36].…”

“…They conclude that meeting the food security and sustainability challenges of the coming decades is possible, but will require considerable changes in nutrient and water management. The papers [14,15,36] of this issue illustrate how remote sensing can be used in pest, water and nitrogen management (see also [40][41][42] …”

“…Besides these problems, Foody (2010) [135] points out the importance of ground truthing. The papers [33,[35][36][37] of this special issue provide examples on how to use remote sensing data for reconstructing past land use patterns at the landscape level.…”

Impact of Institutional Change on Irrigation Management: A Case Study from Southern Uzbekistan

“…The traditional way of combating salinization is the application of large amounts of water to induce leaching. Soil types in the irrigated areas of Kashkadarya are dominated by sierozems, with a recent increase in solonchaks and solonetzs [38].…”