Applicability of Open Source Satellite Data and GIS for Soil Resources Inventorying and Monitoring

Abstract

The open source satellite data and geographic information system (GIS) have broader capability in soil resources mapping and monitoring. Soil resource mapping, basic requirement is base maps such as satellite imagery, google imagery, toposheets, cadastral maps and GIS software’s. The cost of purchasing satellite imagery and GIS soft ware’s is too high and not economical, mainly in developing countries like India, hence its very necessary to use freely available open source satellite data and GIS software’s for soil resource mapping. Monitoring and mapping of soil resource is a prerequisite to know the soil characteristics as which influences agricultural land use planning through identifying their potentials and problems of the soils/land in a particular region. A study was conducted at a selected mandal, Rayachoty, YSR Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh, India to map the soil resources using open source satellite imagery such as sentinel-2 and google imagery and DEM data. By using these imagery and DEM, land use land cover, slope, landform were mapped in GIS. With the help of these maps, soil survey was conducted in detail (1:10000 scale) at farm level in Rayachoty mandal. Representative model pedons were selected and soils were brought to laboratory and analysed for physico-chemical properties. Soils were classified in to 10 soil series and 53 mapping units based on physical, chemical and morphological properties. And then soil map was prepared in GIS environment. Using soil map as base, different soil site characteristics viz., soil depth, slope, texture, gravelliness, drainage were mapped. Hence, the study highlights the importance and applicability of freely available open source satellite data and GIS and their greater benefit in soil resource mapping which are cost effective, timely available and reliable thereby have huge impact on agricultural land use planning.