eChapters

Abstract

The landslides of the hill ecosystems are either due to the natural morphotectonic and morphodynamics processes of the planet earth or due to the anthropogenic effects or due to the combinations of the both. In the Indian subcontinent, the landslides are reported from three major provinces viz: Himalayas, Westernghats and The Nilgiris. While the landslides of the Himalayas are demonstrated to be predominantly due to active tectonics, the landslides of the Westernghats are attributed to excessive weathering and rock fall. On the contrary the landslides of the Nilgiris have been thought to be due to extensive deforestation and the related increase in the pore pressure during rainy seasons. But the studies carried out in the recent years show that not only in the Nilgiris but also in other hill systems of Tamil Nadu, the landslides seem to be related to the recent earth movements. This is very significant in the context of fastly recurring seismicities in South India and hence this aspect warrants detailed studies for landslide mitigation.

Minerals are the building blocks of the earth’s crust. Derived inorganically, either as chemical elements or more often as chemical compounds, minerals are essentially solid. Minerals often form crystals, while aggregate of minerals constitute a rock. Mineralogy is the discipline devoted to the study of minerals including their formation, occurrence, properties, composition and classification . Needless to say, the subject of mineralogy is the foundation of crystallography, petrology and other branches of geology.

Section A dealing with Minerals comprises nine chapters. Chapter I presents salient features of the earth including composition. and structure of the crust mantle and core. Chapter II presents their categories and the how minerals derive their names. Since minerals are essentially a combination of atoms and molecules the significance of chapter III which deals with crystal chemistry cannot be over emphasized.. Chapter IV and V deal with physical and optical properties of minerals which are crucial in identifying them in hand specimens and under the polarising microscope. Classification of minerals and their occurrence is dealt in a general way in chapter VI while descriptive mineralogy is presented in Chapters VII ( Silicate Mnerals) and VIII ( Non-Silicate Mnerals). Minerals are no doubt a subject of serious scientific curiosity but ultimately their use to man is by far the most important theme. Chapter IX therefore is devoted exclusively to different uses that are minerals are put to. The chapter ends with eye opening information as to the quantum of minerals that man uses, taking one of the most industrialized nation USA as an example.

The Mineral Kingdom presents a dazzling floral-display in the form of natural crystals. This is what makes mineralogy a very fascinating subject both for an amateur as well as an expert. Unless one visits the celebrated Lechuguilla cave in New Mexcio, USA it will be difficult to visualize the breathtaking beauty that crystals present. This, over 160 km cave is lined with gigantic as well as delicate gypsum crystals- as thin as human hair to several centimetres across and 6 m long . Crystals come in all shapes, sizes and colours. Their beauty and regular shape has not only attracted the scientists but made them objects of magical and mythical powers in many cultures of the world.

The study of crystals - including their growth, structure, classification by form and their physical properties forms the subject of crystallography. As of today one can’t think of this subject without x-ray crystallography, however, this being not in your syllabus only an introduction will be presented in the last chapter, while the entire section will be devoted to fundamental aspects of crystal morphology.

The section comprises four chapters. Chapter I describes and introduces the theme, presents a brief historical background of the development of the subject and gives some fundamental definitions. Chapter II presents the morphological elements including symmetry elements( plane, axes and centre of symmetry), parameters, indices, notation of crystal faces and other related aspects which are the basis for dividing crystals of all shapes and sorts into six or seven systems and several sub-types. This chapter will help you understand as to why mineral galena belongs to cubic system, while gypsum is monoclinic, or as to why an octahedron is represented by a symbol (111) but a cube with (100). Chapter III describes the seven systems and their sub-types and ends with an account of twinning- a curious feature quite often encountered among crystals. The section ends with a preliminary idea about stereographic projection and x-ray crystallography.

A rock is the home for minerals. In other words, naturally occurring coherent aggregate of minerals (or glassy mass) will constitute a rock. Like in a family, more often, there are several members(minerals) within a rock but occasionally just one mineral also makes a rock( olivine in dunite, quartz in quartzite and calcite in marble). The root word petros is of Greek origin, meaning rock and a petrologist is one who specializes in the study of rocks. The three main categories of rocks are distinguished on the basis of their origin. Igneous rocks are the ones that have solidified from a molten state in deep seated conditions, as also on the surface while Sedimentary rocks are formed from the erosion of preexisting rocks and subsequent re-deposition or precipitation of the resulting material at or near the surface. Metamorphic rocks on the other hand, are formed by the action of heat or pressure or both on preexisting rocks.

The theme of rocks is split into five chapters. The first chapter introduces the theme of petrology, petrography and petrogenesis., presents rocks as the storehouses of minerals and their grouping into three classes. The second chapter presents all the important aspects of igneous rocks( plutonic, hypabasal and volcanic) including their forms, texture, structure, chemistry and classification and variation diagrams. It also presents a somewhat sufficient description of different kinds of igneous rocks under the categories of ultrabasic, basic, intermediate acid and alkalic rocks. The chapter ends with an introduction to some of the peculiar kinds of igneous rocks and also presents a brief account of causes of diversity among igneous rocks.

Chapter III is devoted to the study of sedimentary rocks beginning with nature and categories of sediments and general factors that affect sedimentary process. Sequence of breakdown, sedimentary minerals, depositional environment , classification of sediments and sedimentary rocks is the next theme followed by primary and secondary and biogenic structures. The next theme is a description of important sedimentary rocks under different categories ( rudaceous, arenaceous, asrgillaceous and rocks of biogenic origin). The chapter ends with introducing sedimentary rocks as the home for natural resources.

Chapter IV dwells on metamorphic rocks distinguishing between metamorphism and metasomatism. Metamorphic minerals and naming metamorphic rocks is the next theme. Next, agents and types of metamorphism is followed by grade, zones, index minerals and metamorphic facies. Textures, structures and the description of metamorphic rocks comes next. The use of triangular plots in metamorphic petrology is introduced and ends with considering metamorphic process in the light of global tectonics.

The last chapter is a short but important chapter- The Rock Cycle which combines the three important geo-processes of igneous activity, sedimentary process and metamorphism while presenting a birds eye view of them. It considers the movement, not only of matter but also the energy that drives the rock cycle. The chapter closes with introducing the rock-cycle-mineral deposits relationship.

As milk to a cow or fruit to a tree, ore is to Earth Sciences. Different academic and scientific aspects of geology are of no consequence to a common man. Ores and ore minerals from which valuable constituents could be extracted profitably is what the world is after- be it the continental masses, oceanic depths, desolate icy Antarctic tracts or now, even other planets of the solar system. The subject of economic geology is thus a subject of greatest interest among other natural sciences.

This last section will dwell on the theme of metallic and non metallic ore deposits. The first chapter begins with fundamental definitions, signifying the importance of minerals in human affairs. It also looks at ore minerals against the background of average crustal composition and presents a glossary of important terms in economic geology. The second chapter is a lengthy chapter devoted to the ways ore deposits are formed ( ore genesis). Broadly, the processes are described under two categories, the internal processes and the surface processes. Fuel minerals are taken separately towards the end of this chapter. Chapter III briefly introduces the relationship between location of minerals deposits to the revolutionary theme of global tectonics which attempts to answer why a mineral deposits occurs where it occurs.

The fourth chapter is devoted entirely to the Indian Mineral Deposits. It begins with a few important themes of mineral economics and dwells on the description of important Indian Mineral Deposits as to their geology, geography and economic potential. Lastly, the fifth chapter exclusively deals with the facts and figures of the Indian Mineral Industry presenting recent available data of resources, production, import, export and future prospects. It also gives a brief introduction to the important geo-scientific organizations of the country.

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Geographic Information System (GIS) is the new emerging field and grows at very rapid pace. Now GIS is a billion dollar industry with applications in varied disciplines. At present, GIS is being used by professionals from various disciplines. In this decade, GIS is being used by experts who are good in GIS technology for various applications. The development trend indicates that GIS will be used by common man in near future and at the same time, advanced GIS analysis will be carried out by GIS experts.

Any technology is developed out of necessity and GIS is of no exception. When a large amount of data were available for water distribution systems, road network, sewer lines, telecom lines, electricity lines, gas pipe lines, state wise population, natural resources etc, it is important to store, maintain and retrieve the data for applications. It is not possible to manually browse through the large amount of paper records. Also even if the data is available in an unorganized way in the computerized environment, it is not useful. Hence if the data are referred to locations in earth surface and the data are stored in an organized way, it is possible to retrieve and analyse the data for applications. Hence the solution is GIS and developed today into reality. Developed countries are using GIS widely in many areas but developing countries are moving towards the development of GIS database for their resources.

Remote sensing, aerial photography, cartography, surveying and other field instruments for attribute data collection contributes to the data acquisition. Cartography, surveying, geography, geodesy contributes for mapping process. Disciplines like computer science and statistics, mathematics involved in processing and analysing data . Computer science and mathematics involved in storing the data structure.

GIS maps are intelligent. It has many advantages compared with paper map in this digital age.

Spatial data means data which are referenced to earth. Maps, satellite imageries, aerial photographs are example of spatial data. Attribute data which are attached to spatial data are called as aspatial data or non-spatial data.

If these data are brought into GIS then it is stored in a standard format, it is possible to update, share, retrieve, manipulate and analyse quickly. Much of the time and money is saved in case of reproduction and better decisions could be made

2.1 INTRODUCTION

GIS is a tool that can be used in varied disciplines ranging from civil engineering to business. Remote sensing data is often brought into GIS to have a complete data set in many natural resource application areas. Full capability of GIS is not used widely. Many a times people use GIS only for digitising maps and to do simple query on maps. But it can also be used in modeling, simulation and forecasting, only then one may regard GIS technology is utilised to its full potential. Some GIS softwares handle simple problems for location based services while other complex softwares posses advanced modules to do all types of spatial, network and 3D analysis. Integration of softwares used in natural resources study are being interfaced with GIS to create scenarios.

Remote sensing and GIS technology is useful in the following fields:

3.1 INTRODUCTION

Geographic Information System handles large volumes of data. It is important to know the nature of data, instruments from which the data is collected and represented in computers. GIS data is either spatial or aspatial. Data is an important component in GIS. Digital data are available for some projects. but for many projects, input data may not be available. Now-a-days, data is supplied by many government, private organizations and also available on internet. If data for a particular project is not available, then the user has to collect the data from satellite imageries, GPS and other instruments and maps from various sources.

Spatial Data

All locations in the earth surface are spatial data. Location of a city, location of a river, location of a lake are represented in earth by their latitude or longitude in global coordinate system or as x,y coordinate in Cartesian coordinate system. Spatial data consists of location, shape and size in earth. A village boundary is represented as a polygon in map. The village is having certain shape of irregular polygon with definite area. As all these are mappable , they are called as spatial data. But name of the village, revenue of a village and description about a village and called as non-spatial or aspatial data.

4.1 INTRODUCTION

Database management system is a computer program to store, search, manipulate retrieve and give the result. Vast amount of spatial data are available and it is necessary to arrange them, store them for retrieval and analysis. Attribute data adds intelligent to GIS. Without database, a GIS will be just a Cad software. Cad softwares do not have database. GIS softwares have their own databases besides it has the potential to link with external database like Oracle, MS Access, MS Excel, Informix, INGRESS, Sybase and dbase. The data available in paper has to be digitally stored in a proper order. Previously the data were stored in a a flat file format where the data was stored without any structure. But to search and retrieve and analyse the database, database structures were developed. There are of 4 types of database structures namely Hierarchical, Network, Relational database and Object orientation.

Tables are made of rows and columns. Rows represent a map feature. Columns represents characteristic of map feature. Row is called a record or a tupule column is a field or an item. Table 4.1 is a table where rows 1, 2 and 3 represent the locations with the soil types. A column soil type represents various soil types.

5.1 INTRODUCTION

A GIS database without single error is reliable for decision making. There are various possible sources of errors in GIS. If an error is not removed during scanning, the final output will also have that error. Besides whatever the work has been carried on wrongly scanned map it will add to errors because the source map itself's erroneous. This is like garbage in garbage out proverb. If wrong data is taken for analysis it will only result in wrong output. Hence it is important to remove error at every stage of GIS work. It is important to locate the sources of errors so that due care may be taken while handling a project.

5.2 ORIGINAL SOURCES OF ERRORS

All the equipments which give attributed data and spatial data will give errors. Before going to field or before collecting data all the related instruments should be calibrated properly. Also the instrument should not cross the permissible error. Besides these while using data from diversified sources errors pertaining to those instruments are mixed to give a different result. When very good accuracy is desired data should be collected from high end equipments. Even if one adds the data from a comparbly less accurate instrument to the data of many accurate instrument is then the result obtained finally will not reliable enough. Global Positioning System (GPS) is available with mm accuracy to meters accuracy. Also surveying with suitable map projection and datum is important; otherwise the result will be wrong. Survey instruments posses some inaccuracy and when a person is using it he should have the accuracy over the instrumental like rain gauge, water level recorders which give attributed data which should be checked for instrumental inaccuracies and method of data collection before using it. Likewise satellite and aerial sensors miss some data and some error are inherent. Such errors should be removed before moving ahead. Errors are resulted due to map reduction, enlargement, data editing and computation method adopted. At the same mapping instruments also possess inaccuracies. When after certain interval a person is going for survey, the registered object may have been changed. Many new features might have come up. Hence the established control points are changed and if the wrongly placed control points are taken for survey then the result itself will be wrong. If proper resolution is not available in the instruments, then the instruments may not capture the minute details which are required.

6.1 INTRODUCTION

Besides simple analysis, GIS is useful to do advanced analysis like network analysis, spatial analysis, 3D analysis and modeling. Different softwares are available to perform such analysis and the above mentioned analysis is done in separate modules of the softwares.

6.2 NETWORK ANALYSIS

Network consists of well connected linear features. Roads, railway line, water distribution system, sewer line, streams are some of the examples of networks. These networks consists of nodes and arcs with designated directions and connection with other linear features. Networks are topology based with attributes for the flow of objects like traffic. Road network will be considered for explaining network analysis.

Road map is digitised with nodes and arcs. Signals, accidents are represented as points. Road is represented as line and two or more roads intersect at nodes. Attributes are added to the nodes and lines. Dynamic segmentation model is used for network analysis. It is built on lines of network. In road network analysis, attributes for travel time, one way street, two way street, right turn, impedance are added to the nodes and arcs. A link is the line running between two nodes. Link impedance is the cost of passing through the link. Travel time is different in links in cities due to varying traffic at different locations. Time taken to pass through a known length of link may give the cost but the travel time in a link is not uniform because of varying speed designated in the link as 20 km per hour and 30 km per hour. Hence it is important to consider the length of link and also the travel time. If the speed limit is 20 miles per hour for a length of 2 miles, then the travel time is 6 minutes (2/20x60 minutes). Also tuning in the network is considered. A road may have a maximum of 12 possible turns excluding U turns. There are right turn, left turn, straight way for each road. Also U turn is possible. This turning takes different time depending on the signal. Straight way takes less time but left and right turn may require some more time. If signals is available then signal time should also be taken into account. Fig 6.1 show the possible turns in a road.

7.1 INTRODUCTION

Web technology revolutionised information technology and GIS of no exception. Analysis of maps available in internet through remote personal computer is called as web GIS. The term web is GIS synonymous with the term internet GIS. Most of the software vendors in the field of GIS have developed their GIS compatible to internet. The advantage of internet GIS is no need to own a GIS software in the personal computer. Maps available in a web site can be analysed for GIS functions as one could do with GIS in standalone personal computer. Applications of web GIS is not limited. Most of the governmental agencies, business people and others put their data in their server and the data could be analysed spatially for the users requirement. Internet mapping is simple, cost effective and reach vast audience.

Internet GIS is useful in field like civil engineering, government organisations, forestry, environment, goescience, utility planning etc.

8.1 INTRODUCTION

To implement a good GIS project, a well structured project design and management are essential. Well planned project will give fruitful result within the stipulated time. Project not completed in time will not incur more cost and also the time delay will add negative value to the project. Hence all the elements in project planning and implementation should be considered to have a desired result. Some of the issues are also present in GIS and they will be rectified in the next decade.

8.2 PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

Any project is coming into reality due to necessity. If water scarcity is more in a hard rock region with sufficient rainfall, it is important to augment groundwater resource using rain water harvesting structures. It is important to build water harvesting structures like check dam, percolation pond in suitable locations so that groundwater recharge will be more. Hence a problem is identified and the project work may be carried out by a government or private organisation and the result is given to the government to implement the project. Likewise many area may require a project in GIS environment for planning. Once a project is created any development taking place can be added and GIS database is updated.

Abstract

The ever increasing population in India and the world, impeding threats from the climate change scenario and the increasing demand for land resources from the industrial sector calls for improved resource efficiency. The production strategies are changing from input intensive to integrated resource management strategies. The shift is towards adopting the precision farming technologies like addressing the site specific variability and crop needs. Remote sensing technology coupled with GIS has been recognized as reliable tool in agriculture to guide application of fertilizer, pesticides and other farm inputs. With precision farming, technologies such as grid soil sampling, remote sensing, on- the-go sensing, and electronic yield monitoring help farmers gather very detailed information about the heterogeneous makeup of a farm field. Site specific applications means application of required input only where it is required rather than entire fields or adjusting application rates accordingly. This chapter discussed the input management based on the time of intervention - Input management prior to crop sowing, in season crop management and end of the season.

Keywords : Management zones, soil variability and Remote Sensing

Abstract

Soil Resource Appraisal helps in characterizing the existing land resources, assessing their suitability for various land uses and then helping the user to prepare a rational land use plan suitable for the integrated development of the area. Application of Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) helps not only in the characterization of the resource base, but also in the generation of various thematic maps and preparation of land use and action plans for effective implementation of various developmental plans at farm level.

Keywords : Soil Resource Appraisal, Land Use Plan, Farm level Developmental Plans

1.0 Introduction

A thorough knowledge and understanding of soils is basic to the development and management of agricultural resources. About 100 years ago, man began systematic study of soils in the field and tried to separate, classify and map their geographic distri­bution. Today we have sufficient knowledge about soils; however the characterisation, classification and mapping of soils is still tedious, time consuming and costly affair. Therefore the need for adopting new and more rapid and accurate methods of mapping soils has resulted in the use of satellite images with image interpretation techniques for soil survey and map­ping.

In India for the country as a whole, soil and other land resources information is available at 1:1 M scale, which was generated from the state level mapping done at 1:250,000 scale under the Soil Resources Mapping Project of India during the period from 1986 to 1995. This information is of general nature and useful for planning on a wide canvas and not particularly useful for farm or watershed level planning in the country. For site-specific needs and for developmental works at watershed level, we need detailed farm level database at 1:10,000 scale. Once this type of information is generated at village/watershed level, this will be useful for identifying site specific constraints, generation of area and site specific agro technologies, land-use options based on soil site suitability assessment, wasteland identification, identification of prime farm lands and farm clusters for zoning and Strategic planning, preparation of farm level development plans by line departments and proactive advice and technology transfer to farmers.

1.0 Overview

Natural resources sustain life and are critical for economic development of nations. In developing countries like India where more than half the population is rural, economic development is inextricably linked with agricultural development. In these countries, the food and livelihoods security of the poor are critically associated with access to the services provided by the natural resources - land, soil, water, biodiversity and climate resources. The natural resources are finite, and with increasing population, economic growth, urbanization, and demands for food and other agricultural commodities, these are being increasingly strained. As a result, the productive capacity of the natural resource base is shrinking and deteriorating. Sustaining the productive capacity of natural resources for future generations, while meeting the food and other demands of the growing populations, is the major development challenge of the twenty first century.

In India, during the last forty years the net sown area under agriculture has remained nearly constant at 141 million ha. In the same period, the population has more than doubled (from 541 million in 1970 to 1186 million in 2010) and per capita income grew by more than 3.5 times (from Rs 14824 in 1970 to Rs 53331 in 2010). As available land resources for agriculture are finite, increases in agricultural production to meet the growing demands of the population have to come from intensification of agriculture on the same lands. As a result, the quality of soils on these lands is gradually deteriorating both at the farm and ecosystem levels. The major threats to soil quality come from loss of organic carbon, erosion, nutrient imbalance, compaction, salinization, water-logging, decline in soil bio-diversity, urbanization, and contamination with heavy metals. More than 100 million ha of the total cultivated land of 141 million ha is stated to be under some form of soil degradation.

Similarly, utilizable fresh water resources of India are finite at about 1123 billion cubic meters (BSM), of which about 690 BCM are from surface water resources and 433 BCM are from groundwater. This supply is shared among multiple uses: human and animal consumption, agriculture, urban uses, industry and for provision of environmental services. The total water demand in 2010 is estimated at 710 BCM and is projected to increase to 1180 BCM by 2050. Several parts of India are already facing severe water shortages as a result of the growing demand for water. The quality of water resources is also impacted by agricultural intensification and development, and is increasingly a matter of concern. By the year 2050, when population is expected to stabilize, the shortages will only intensify. The country as whole can be on the verge of becoming a water scarce country, with nearly all the presently estimated utilizable water resources being put to use.

Biodiversity natural resources refer to the abundance of different species and ecosystems in nature. These resources are the primary sources of present and future productive agriculture and human well being, as they provide the basic resources for use in breeding crops and livestock, soil formation and structure, soil fertility, nutrient cycling and the provision of water services. India is among the 12 mega diversity regions of the world. It is known to have more than 18,000 species of higher plants including, 160 major and minor crop species and 325 of their wild relatives. Increasing pressure from human population growth, agricultural intensification, urbanization, pollution and degradation of land, soil and water resources are having a negative impact on the plant, animal and microbial biodiversity resources of the country and their productivity.

Abstract

Food security to the increasing population on one side and the increasing export of food grains on the other side has lead to the immediate attention on to raise the food production in our country. The decreasing land availability for agriculture due to the increased degraded lands and use of agricultural lands for non agricultural purposes has still worsened the situation. In order to match with the food requirement from decreasing agricultural lands, Indian agriculture has been pushed towards indiscriminate use of farm inputs exploiting the non renewable natural resources without any concern to the environmental ill effects leading to further degrading of the situation. Even though the concept of sustainability is age old, the importance is felt recently. Sustainable use of resources at farm level can magnify the effect of conserving non renewable resources and reducing ill effects on the environment at state level and to the country. Sustained farm production is a key to manage our resources and environment. Adoption of new information technologies with the conventional agronomic practices to increase farm production is made inevitable due to our past experience. The advancement in the technology tools like Remote Sensing, Geographic Information System, Global Positioning System and Decision Support Systems have paved way for better and effective management of crop production at farm level. 46 Geospatial Technologies for Natural Resources Management

A systematic approach of management involving advanced technologies and conventional agronomic practices through understanding the factors like soil variability, weather parameters and crops that contribute for the sustainable farm production is need of the hour. The spatial and temporal variability of the farm production parameters are to be studied and mapped in relation to historical data of the farm for successful site specific management. Site specific management tools may improve decisions related to site conditions, thereby reducing the aspect of uncertainty in the management system. This approach of farm management using advanced technologies viz., Remote Sensing, Geographic Information System, Global Positioning System, Variable rate technology, crop production modeling and Decision Support System can enable sustainable farm production with beneficial effect on the environment in future.

Keywords : Remote sensing, GIS, Sustainable Farm production, Site Specific Management

Abstract

The present study discusses the cropping pattern changes in Andhra Pradesh agriculture will leads to crop diversification and crop concentration using with Geographical Information System (GIS). Crop data were compiled for the triennium ending period 1980-81, 1990-91, 2000-01 and 2004-05 from various statistical abstracts of Andhra Pradesh. For measuring the crop diversification indices, we have used the Herfindahle index and for crop specialization is measured by using the Location quotient method. The level of crop diversification in the some districts of the state in the eighties is very high. However with the advent of green revolution, there had been a moderate crop unification or crop concentration in the eighties. This trend of crop unification is found to be reversed after 1990-91, though the magnitude of the change is not very striking. The crop diversification is observed to differ across the districts. The level of crop diversification is high in the agricultural backward regions of Rayalaseema and Telangana districts and low in the agriculturally progressive Coastal Andhra districts. During the period 1990-91 to 2004-05, the major trends in crop concentration are increase in the concentration of rice in the districts where it is popularly grown and decline in the concentration of coarse cereal crops, pulses and oilseeds. The concentration of spice crops and fruits and vegetables are also on an increasing trend, which they are popularly grown in their respective districts.

Keywords : Cropping Pattern, Diversification, Location Quotient, Andhra Pradesh, GIS

Abstract

Remote sensing is the art and science of obtaining information about an object or phenomenon without having any contact with the object concerned. Geographical information system is a tool to create, manage, retrieve and query spatial databases. Remote sensing in conjunction with Geographical Information System (GIS) has wide applications in all spheres of life and especially in agriculture. Specifically, this paper reveals some of the applications of remote sensing and GIS in the field of crop condition assessment viz., crop type classification, crop stress detection, crop yield estimation and pest and disease monitoring.

Keywords : Remote Sensing, GIS, Yield Forecasting, Crop Stress, Pest and Disease Monitoring

1.0 Introduction

Remote sensing is the art and science of obtaining information about an object or phenomenon without there being any physical contact. The information is so collected using a device called a sensor. The sensors are mounted on a platform at an advantageous position. Accordingly the remote sensing is called ground based (sensor is hand held or mounted on mast), air borne (sensor is on a balloon or aero plane) or space borne (sensor is mounted on a satellite). The basic principle in remote sensing is that each and every object has unique reflecting property like human thumb impression and when the solar energy is falling on an object a part of it gets reflected, which carries the information about the object. The reflected light is converted in to reflection percentage of incoming solar radiation. This percentage of reflection can be used to work out the vegetation indices which are surrogate measure of crop condition.

Geographical Information System (GIS) is software system which enable Collection of large volume of data with spatial relation Integration of data from different source is possible Analyze such data for our requirement Present the data in different formats (maps, table and reports)

Abstract

Carrying out effective and sustainable agriculture has become an important issue in recent years. A key to this is the usage of modern technologies for precision agriculture. Recent technological developments allowed envisioning sensor devices with distributed ambient sensory network, which could be a potential technology for monitoring various natural phenomena (weather parameters, soil moisture, etc.) at micro level. As more and more agricultural data are virtually being harvested along with the crops and are being collected/ stored in databases, the same can be used in productive decision making if appropriate data mining techniques are developed/applied. As a case study for this, an experiment was conducted with four consecutive agricultural (Kharif and Rabi) seasons in a semi-arid region of India to understand the crop-weather-environment-pest/diseases relations using wireless sensory and field-level surveillance data on closely related and interdependent pest/disease dynamics of groundnut crop. Association rule and multivariate regression mining techniques/algorithms were propose developed /tailor-made to turn the data into useful information/ knowledge/relations/trends to know crop-weather- environment-pest/disease continuum. These findings have been used for development of prediction models (cumulative and non-cumulative) followed by a web based pest/disease decision support system.

Keywords : Data Mining, Pest/Disease Management, Precession Protection, Wireless Sensor Networks