potential and cracking in clay soils of Saskatchewan. Can. J. Soil Sci. 68:251-26O.Clay soils in Saskatchewan were studied to understand their shrink-swell potential, to identify soil properties that predict the coefficient oflinear extensibility (COLE), and to assess the extent of cracking during the growing season. The soils have medium to very high shrink-swell potential, which is related to the specific surface area associated with expandable clays. Because expandable clays in these soils are predominantly of fine clay size, COLE is reasonably well predicted from percent fine clay. The extent of cracking is estimated for some sites using an improved method of measurement.Limited data suggest that cracking intensity in native grassland is less than in cultivated sites and that, under wheat, it is more pronounced in subarid than in subhumid sites.
The current study was taken up to investigate the utility of remote sensing and GIS tools for evaluation of Integrated Wasteland Development Programme (IWDP) implemented during 1997-2001 in Katangidda Nala watershed, Chincholi taluk, Gulbarga district, Karnataka. The study was carried out using IRS 1C, LISS III data of December 11, 1997 (pre-treatment) and November 15, 2002 (post-treatment) covering the watershed to assess the changes in land use / land cover and biomass that have changed over a period of five years (1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002). The images were classified into different land use/land cover categories using supervised classification by maximum likelihood algorithm. They were also classified into different biomass levels using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) approach. The results indicated that the area under agriculture crops and forest land were increased by 671 ha (5.7%) and 1,414 ha (11.94%) respectively. This is due to the fact that parts of wastelands and fallow lands were brought into cultivation. This increase in the area may be attributed to better utilization of surface and ground waters, adoption of soil and water conservation practices and changes in cropping pattern. The area under waste lands and fallow lands decreased by 1,667 ha (14.07%) and 467 ha (3.94%), respectively. The vegetation vigour of the area was classified into three classes using NDVI. Substantial increase in the area under high and low biomass Photonirvachak 123 RESEARCH ARTICLE 376 J. Indian Soc. Remote Sens. (December 2008) 36:375-386 levels was observed (502 ha and 19 ha respectively). The benefit-cost analysis indicates that the use of remote sensing and GIS was 2.2 times cheaper than the conventional methods. Thus, the repetitive coverage of the satellite data provides an excellent opportunity to monitor the land resources and evaluate the land cover changes through comparison of images for the watershed at different periods.
Soil fertility parameters viz., pH, electrical conductivity (EC), available macro-and micronutrients were determined in soil samples drawn at 300 m grid intervals from three micro-watersheds representing northern dry zone (zone-3), northern transition zone (zone-8) and hilly zone (zone-9) across a climatic gradient in Belgaum district of Karnataka. Based on the data maps were prepared in GIS environment using Arc GIS v 10.0. The soil fertility parameters clearly reflect the agro-climatic conditions under which the soils are formed. Soils of zone-3 were alkaline (pH> 8.5), soils of zone-8 slightly alkaline (7.0-8.5) and those of zone-9 slightly acidic (5.5-6.5). Whereas carbon and available nitrogen (N) in soils of both zone-3 and zone-8 were low, organic carbon (OC) was high (6.9 g kg -1 ) but the available N was medium (412 kg ha -1 ) in soils of zone-9. Available phosphorus (P) remained low in zones-3 and zone-8 but was marginally medium in zone-9. The available potassium (K) status of zone-3 soils was high (401 kg ha -1 ) but was medium in zone-8 and zone-9. Available sulphur (S) was low, DTPA extractable Zn and Fe was deficient, and Mn and Cu was sufficient in soils of both zone-3 and zone-8. In zone-9, however, available S and Zn were marginally sufficient but Fe, Mn and Cu were distinctly sufficient. In conformity with mean values described above, OC, available N, P, S and Zn were low (100% area for each) and available K was high in 91.2% area in soils of zone-3. Similarly for zone-8, OC and available N was low in 2/3 of area, available P was low in 76.5% area, available K was medium in 92.0% area, and low in available S (10%), deficient in Zn (99.1% area) and Fe (100% area). In agreement with means a large area under high OC (66.2%) and medium in available N (81.2%) and low in P (71.7%) was reflected in maps of zone-9. However, available K, S and Zn were distributed equally between low and medium classes despite K being medium and S being low and Zn being sufficient suggesting maps are preferred over means. The pH was slightly lower, OC and available N distinctly higher, and available P and DTPA extractable Cu lower in forest lands compared to agricultural lands in zone-9. Land use did not influence available K and DTPA extractable Zn, Fe and Mn.
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