Saline degradation of Indian agricultural lands : A case study in Khambhat Taluka,Gujarat state (India), using satellite remote sensing

In certain agricultural fields of Khambhat Taluka in Gujarat State, the salinity has increased considerably rendering the land completely infertile. The occurrence of salinity in this area can be attributed partly to subsurface sea‐water ingress and partly to improper land and water management practices prior to implementation of irrigation. Landsat MSS or TM and IRS IA LISS II data was used to test the feasibility of delineating saline soils by both visual image interpretation and digital analysis. The study of saline soils using multi‐temporal Landsat images of the year 1977, 1983, and 1987, indicated an evident increase in saline areas in past few years. The Soil Brightness Index (SBI) generated from the IRS‐IA data by the application of MSS equivalent coefficients brought out different categories of soil degradation. The supervised classification scheme aided in generating various salinity levels. The analysis of the soil samples of the above area exhibited increasing values of Electrical Conductivity (ECe), and the soluble cations with increasing levels of salinity.