ASSESSMENT OF SOIL DEGRADATION HAZARDS THROUGH REMOTE SENSING

Abstract

Soils are the most vital and precious natural resource for the existence of man kind. The degradation of soils stems from a number of causes, the most serious is the rate at which the productive capacity of the land/soil being reduced or destroyed through salinization. erosion, desertification, waterlogging, and leaching. Thus, soil degradation is a result of one or more processes which reduces the current and/or potential capability of soil to produce (qualitatively and/or quantitatively) goods or services. In this context, it is therefore necessary to understand the risks of soil degradation and their geographical distribution in a catchment. Remote sensing techniques are particularly suited to provide spatial information on land resources. Remote sensing provides a valuable source of data ' to aid soil erosion incidence forecasting. In the present study, remote sensing technique has been applied for the assessment of soil degradation (quantitatively and qualitatively), primarily due to water erosion and salinization for both pre and post-monsoon seasons. in the upper Narmada catchment. In the quantitative study, the parameters considered are laird slope, rainfall, runoff and land use/land cover to get the sediment yield from the