Background

The Division of Remote sensing Applications was established in 1985 as research division in the Headquarters of NBSS&LUP, Nagpur. The aim is to use the latest satellite technology in soil resource inventory, soil degradation and land ecological studies for  land resource management. 

List of Scientists

Name of the official and designation	E-mail	Discipline
Dr. A.K. Maji, Pr. Scientist & Head	akmaji@nbsslup.ernet.in	Pedology
Dr. Rajeev Srivastava, Pr. Scientist	rajeev@nbsslup.ernet.in	Pedology
Dr. M.S.S. Nagaraju, Sr. Scientist	nraju@nbsslup.ernet.in	Pedology

 

Mandate

Completed Projects

The Division of Remote Sensing Applications is engaged in conducting research on application of satellite remote sensing data for soil resource inventory, soil degradation assessment, watershed characterization and development of soil spectral library.

Institutional Projects

	Image interpretation for soil resource mapping of states (1:250,000) and of India (1:1M)
	Mapping and characterization of salt affected and associated degraded soils in Etah district of Uttar Pradesh
	Characterization of Jhilpi Watershed for land use planning using IRS-1C data.
	Modeling the spatial variability of soil loss estimation in a watershed near Nagpur using Remote Sensing and GIS techniques.
	Evaluation of land use in relation to land quality in North Deccan plateau using Remote Sensing-GIS integration.
	Temporal changes in Peri-Urban land utilization and their influence on surrounding regions in Nagpur and Delhi .

UNDP Funded Project

Application of remote sensing techniques for identifying, delineating and monitoring soil degradation and its hazard.

Department of Wastelands Development Funded Project

Harmonization of wastelands with soil degradation datasets (Collaborative research project between NBSS&LUP- NRSA).

AP Cess Funded Project

Standardization of methodology for large scale soil mapping using satellite data – (Collaborative research project between NBSS&LUP and NRSA).

NATP Project

Reflectance Libraries for development of soil sensors for periodic assessment of state of soil resource.

Ongoing Projects

Institutional Projects

	Spectral reflectance characteristics of soils of Indo-Gangetic alluvial plains.
	Assessment of soil erosion risk and land quality in Warora tehsil, Chandrapur district, Maharashtra.
	Land resources and their evaluation for land use planning in basaltic terrain using remote sensing and GIS.

Infrastructure

The division has the setup of modern infrastructure for visual and digital interpretation of satellite data. It has remote sensing and GIS softwares viz. ILWIS, Geomatica, ENVI, TNT-MIPS, Definiens Professional (Ecognition) and ArcGIS. For spectroscopy studies, the Division has ASD Spectroradiometer for soil reflectance measurement between 350-2500 nm. 

Major Achievements

	Physiographic map of India representing twelve physiographic regions and 43 sub-physiographic regions were prepared on 1:250,000 scale based on interpretation of Landsat FCC and B/W infrared images
	Physiographic map of Sikkim, Goa and Andaman Nicobar Islands were prepared on 1:50,000 using TM FCC.
	Soil degradation map of India prepared using GLASOD Methodology indicate that 187 million ha is suffering from various kind and degree of soil degradation. Water erosion is the major problem causing loss of top soil and/or terrain deformation in about 148 million ha representing 45% of the total geographical area of the country. Wind erosion is dominant in western regions covering 13.5 million ha (4.1%). The chemical degradation is observed in 13.6 million ha causing salinization in 10.1 million ha and loss of nutrient and/or organic matter in 3.7 m. ha. Physical deterioration due to water logging accounts for 11.6 m.ha.
	The GLASOD methodology was modified for precise assessment of soil degradation due to water erosion. The criteria for degree of soil degradation denoted qualitatively by slight, moderate, strong and extreme correlated well with quantitative figures of soil loss as 5-10, 10-20, 20-40 and >40 t/ha/yr, respectively.
	Satellite data acquired between 15th March and 10th April has been found most appropriate for mapping salt affected soils in the Indo-Gangetic plains. October - November image is suitable for differentiation between poorly drained and well drained soils. Similarity of tone of salt affected soils and sandy soils on satellite data has been resolved with integration of thermal remote sensing data (10.5-12.5µm) with FCC.
	Harmonisation of wastelands and soil degradation datasets indicate that in Salem district (Tamil Nadu), 52.4 per cent of the wastelands fall under strong degree of soil degradation, 27.3 per cent under moderate and 18.7 per cent under extreme degree of soil degradation. Udaipur maps of Rajasthan indicate that 26.6 per cent of the total wastelands are under moderate degree of soil degradation, 39.2 per cent under strong and the rest 34.1 per cent is under extreme soil degradation class. In Pune district (Maharashtra), 62.7 per cent of the wastelands fall under moderate degree of soil degradation, 22.4 per cent under strong and the remaining 14.9 per cent under extreme degree of soil degradation.
	Methodology for large-scale soil mapping using IRS data was developed. Soil landscape model was found most appropriate for mapping soils using remote sensing data as it takes into consideration the factors of soil formation. Remote sensing data helps in faster soil mapping and it saves time by 30 to 40 per cent depending upon the terrain conditions.
	IRS-LISS-III data has been found appropriate for mapping soils on 1:50,000 scale with soil series association as mapping unit whereas PAN merged LISS-III data can be used for mapping at 1:12,500 scale.
	Methodology for utilization of IRS-IC data for mapping soil at village level has been developed. The methodology involved (i) generation of PAN merged data, (ii) interpretation of merged data to derive information on land use/land cover and physiography, (iii) generation of physiography-landuse units (PLU), (iv) ground-truth collection to develop PLU-soil relationship and (v) finalization of soil map i.e. soil series with phases.
	For characterization of watershed and soil erosion assessment on 1: 50,000 scale, IRS-LISS-III temporal data was found appropriate. Spatial maps of soils, land use/land cover and slope maps were reclassified to generate USLE (Universal Soil Loss Equation) soil erodibility factor (K), slope-length factor (LS) and crop management and conservation factor (CP). These maps were integrated under GIS environment to compute the soil loss and soil erosion map of the watershed.
	Soil spectral library containing spectra of 128 surface soils collected from different physiographic/climatic region of India has been prepared both in digital and analog form (Atlas of soil spectral library).Each spectrum in the spectral library (developed in ENVI) was assigned suitable code so that salient information about soils could be derived from the soil spectra.
	The spectral curves of all soils showed prominent absorption features at 1400, 1900 and 2200 nm. These features are mainly associated with free and lattice OH feature of the clay minerals. Soils dominant in kaolinitic clay minerals showed relatively strong absorption feature around 2200 nm than the soils with smectitic mineralogy. Broad absorption feature around 950 nm was observed in red and ferralitic soils (soils rich in Fe content). The salt affected soils rich in Na/Mg chloride salts, showed a characteristic ‘U’ shaped absorption feature at 1900 nm. The soil rich in moisture and/ or organic carbon content, in general, have low soil reflectance in all the wave bands, thus reducing the soil albedo.
	Prediction of the soil properties of some shrink-swell soils of Central India using soil reflectance data indicates that soil reflectance properties could be used as a potential tool to provide information on wide range of soil properties.