Department of Geography and Disaster Management, University of Kashmir, Srinagar-190 006, India
1Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Srinagar-190 006, India
The present study is to assess the land degradation in the Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir with the use of multi temporal satellite images of Sentinel II data of three seasons of the year 2018 with the spatial resolution of 10 metres within the third, fourth, and the Eighth bands in conjunction with the ground truthing of the study area. The evaluation was done with the utilization of visual interpretation keys like tone, texture, etc in Arc GIS 10.2 Software. Based on the severity of the land degradation the study area was mapped into categories of anthropogenic (mining), barren rocky/stony waste, water erosion gullies and water erosion ravines. Out of 1371 square kilometres of the study area, approximately 129.20 square kilometres are degraded, out of which 118.84 square kilometres were categorized into the barren rocky stony waste class, which is due to the undulating topography (Kandi) of the realm. The decrease in the vegetation cover and also the transformation of the agricultural land into horticulture and other commercial activities is the reason for the land degradation. This paper will function as an input to the planners, district system for monitoring and management of the severity of land degradation within the area.
Land degradation, Identification, Mapping, Budgam, Brick kilns, Visual interpretation
