Remote sensing uses airborne or satellite sensors to acquire information about Earth from a distance. It is used in geographic information systems (GIS). GIS is a collection of computer tools that organize spatial data from various sources to map and analyze changes on Earth. The global positioning system (GPS) helps pinpoint locations with meter accuracy worldwide. The document discusses various applications of remote sensing, GIS, and GPS in agriculture, natural resource management, transportation, urban planning, and other fields.

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Remote sensing and GIS and GPS
Topic
Submitted to
B.Sc. Agriculture
Dr. Madhurima Banik, Assistant Professor
The Neotia University
Submitted by
B.Sc. Agriculture Student

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Remote sensing is the acquiring of information from a distance and also the art and science of
making measurements of the earth using airborne- or satellite-based sensors, is used in GIS. GIS is a collection
of computer-based tools for organizing information from a variety of data sources to map and examine changes
on Earth. Global Positioning System or GPS is a space-based radio navigation system that helps pinpoint a
three-dimensional position to about a meter of accuracy (for example latitude, longitude and altitude) and
provide nano-second precise time anywhere on Earth.
Modern technologies for soil investigation
Application of GIS
1. GIS in Mapping: GIS store data in database and then represent it visually in a mapped format. It is
not necessary to be a skilled cartographer to create maps. e.g. Google map, Bing map, Yahoo map
2. Telecom and Network services: GDi GISDATA enables wireless telecommunication
organizations to incorporate geographic data in to the complex network design, planning,
optimization, maintenance and activities. e.g. Engineering application, customer relationship
management and location-based services.
3. Accident Analysis and Hot Spot Analysis: GIS can be achieved by proper traffic management. By
identifying the accident locations, remedial measures can be planned by the district
administrations to minimize the accidents in different parts of the world. Rerouting design is also
very convenient using GIS.
4. Urban Planning: In order to identify the sites suitable for the urban growth, certain factors have
to consider which is: land should have proper accessibility, land should be more or less flat, land
should be vacant or having low usage value presently and it should have good supply of water.
5. Transportation Planning: If transport department is planning for a new railway or a road route
then this can be performed by adding environmental and topographical data into the GIS platform.
GIS can also help in monitoring rail systems and road conditions.
6. Environmental Impact Analysis Many human activities produce potential adverse environmental
effects which include the construction and operation of highways, rail roads, pipelines, airports,
radioactive waste disposal and more.
7. Agricultural Applications: GIS can analyze soil data and to determine: what are the best crop to
plant? where they should go? how to maintain nutrition levels to best benefit crop to plant?. This
could increase food production in different parts of the world so the world food crisis could be
avoided.
8. Disaster Management and Mitigation: It has become an integrated, well developed and
successful tool in disaster management and mitigation.
9. Landslide Hazard Zonation using GIS: Landslide hazard zonation is the process of ranking different parts
of an area according to the degrees of actual or potential hazard from landslides.
10.Determine land use/land cover changes: The role of GIS technology in land use and land cover
applications is that we can determine land use/land cover changes in the different areas.
11.Navigation (routing and scheduling): Ferry paths and shipping routes are identified for the
better routing.
12.Flood damage estimation: GIS helps to document the need for federal disaster relief funds, when
appropriate and can be utilized by insurance agencies to assist in assessing monetary value of
property loss.

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13.Natural Resources Management: By the help of GIS technology the agricultural, water and forest
resources can be well maintaining and manage.
14.GIS Solutions in Banking Sector: GIS plays an important role providing planning, organizing and
decision making.
15.Soil Mapping: Soil mapping provides resource information about an area. It helps in
understanding soil suitability for various land use activities.
16.GIS based Digital Taxation: It is used to maximize the government income.
17.Land Information System: It would help in assessment, payments for private land with owner
details, tracking of land allotments and possessions identification and timely resolution of land
acquisition related issues.
18.Surveying: Land survey is measuring the distance and angles between different points on the
earth surface.
19.Wetland Mapping: GIS provide options for wetland mapping and design projects for wetland
conservation quickly with the help of GIS.
20.GIS Applications in Geology: The GIS is used to study geologic features, analyze soils and strata,
assess seismic information, and or create three dimensional (3D) displays of geographic features.
21.Detection of Coal Mine Fires: Coal mine have developed an information management system, the
administrators can monitor the safe production of coal mine and at the same time improve the
abilities to make decisions.
22.Assets Management and Maintenance: GIS helps organizations to gain efficiency even in the face
of finite resources and the need to hold down the cost.
23.GIS for Planning and Community Development: Today GIS technology is advancing rapidly,
providing many new capabilities and innovations in planning.
24.GIS in Dairy Industry: Geographic Information System is used in a various application in the
dairy industry, such as distribution of products, production rate, location of shops and their
selling rate.
25.Tourism Information System: They will get all the information on click, measure distance, find
hotels, restaurant and even navigate to their respective links.
26.Irrigation water management: To evaluate the irrigation performance, integrated use of
satellite remote sensing and GIS assisted by ground information has been found to be efficient
technique in spatial and time domain for identification of major crops and their conditions, and
determination of their areal extent and yield. Irrigation requirements of crop were determined by
considering the factors such as evapotranspiration, Net Irrigation Requirement, Field irrigation
Requirement, Gross Irrigation Requirement, and month total volume of water required, by
organizing them in GIS environment.
27.Fire equipment response distance analysis: GIS can be used to evaluate how far (as measured
as via the street network) each portion of the street network is from a firehouse.
28.Worldwide Earthquake Information System: One of the most frightening and destructive
phenomena of nature is the occurrence of an earthquake.
29.Volcanic Hazard Identification: Volcanic hazard to human life and environment include hot
avalanches, hot particles gas clouds, lava flows and flooding.
30.Energy Use Tracking and Planning: GIS is a valuable tool that helps in the planning organizing
and subsequent growth in the energy and utilities industries.
31.GIS for Fisheries and Ocean Industries: ArcGis is used to determine the spatial data for a
fisheries assessment and management system.
32. Monitor Rangeland Resources: GIS is a valuable tool used to monitor the changes of rangeland
resource and for evaluating its impact on environment, livestock and wild life.
33. Reservoir Site Selection: GIS is used to find a suitable site for the dam. GIS tries to find best
location that respect to natural hazards like earthquake and volcanic eruption.
34.Forest Fire Hazard Zone Mapping: GIS can effectively use for the forest fire hazard zone
mapping and also for the loss estimation.
35.Pest Control and Management: This leads in the development of weed and pest management
plan.

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36.Traffic Density Studies: By creating an extensive database that has all the traffic information
such as speed data, road geometry, traffic flow and other spatial data and processing this
information will provide us the graphical bigger picture for the traffic management.
37.Deforestation: Nowadays forest area is decreasing every year, due to different activities. GIS is
used to indicate the degree of deforestation and vital causes for the deforestation process. GIS is
used to monitor deforestation.
38.Space Utilization: GIS helps managers to organize and spatially visualize space and how it can
best be used.
39.Desertification: GIS can provide the information of degraded land which can be managed by
governmental agencies or by the communities themselves.
40.Disaster and Business Continuity Planning: Viewing building and locations assets along with
emergency information such as weather patterns, and disaster zones, can provide organizations
the required information to make better decision.
41.GIS for Business: GIS can keep a track of where the customers are located, site business, target
marketing campaigns, and optimize sales territories and model retail spending patterns.
42.Utilities: The GIS is used for different type of utilities like electricity, telecom and cooking gas on
a daily basis and utilities to help them in mapping, in inventory systems, track maintenance,
monitor regulatory compliance or model distribution analysis, transformer analysis and load
analysis.
43.Lease Property and Management: Revenue can be increased; operations and maintenance cost
can be reduced when GIS is used to help manage space.
44.Development of Public Infrastructure Facilities: GIS can be used by facility managers for space
management, visualization and planning, emergency and disaster planning and response. It can be
used throughout the life cycle of a facility from deciding where to build to space planning.
45.GIS for Drainage Problems in Tea Plantation Areas: Drainage problem in tea plantation differ
widely because of its varied nature of physical conditions. Tea crop requires moisture at adequate
levels all times of its growth. Any variation either excess or lack has a direct impact on the tea
yield. This become greatly influenced the productivity of tea. Required some hydraulic design to
solve this problem such as design of drains, checking the adequacy of the river and classification
of water logged areas etc.
46.Collection of Information about Geographic Features: A map is simply the most common way
of reporting information from a GIS database.
47.GIS for Public Health GIS analysis, environmental health data is also helpful in explaining disease
patterns of relationships with social, institutional, technological and natural environment.
48.Location Identification: A location can be described in many ways, using, for instance, name of
place, post code, or geographic reference such as longitude or latitude or X/Y.
49.Knowledge Based System for Défense Purpose: Conventional method of studying paper
topographical maps is being replaced by use of maps in digital form to get terrain information.
50.Pipeline Route Selection: GIS technology is faster, better and more efficient in this complex task.
Accurate pipeline route selection brings about risk and cost reduction as well as better decision-
making process.
51.Producing Mailing Labels for abutter Notification: A GIS application for producing abutter
mailing labels enables you to identify abutting property owners are in different ways.
52.Site Suitability for Waste Treatment Plant: With the help of GIS we can integrate various aspect
layers in GIS and can identify which place is suitable for waste treatment plant.
53.Geologic Mapping: It becomes easy for surveyors to create 3D maps of any area with precise and
desired scaling. The results provide accurate measurements, which helps in several field where
geological map is required.
54.Environment: The environmental professional uses GIS to produce maps, inventory species,
measure environmental impact, or trace pollutants.
55.Infrastructure Development: Advancement and availability of technology has set a new mark for
professionals in the infrastructure development area.

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56.Coastal Development and Management: The coastal zone represents varied and highly
productive ecosystem such as mangrove, coral reefs, see grasses and sand dunes. GIS could be
generating data required for macro and micro level planning of coastal zone management. GIS
could be used in creating baseline inventory of mapping and monitoring coastal resources,
selecting sites for brackish water aquaculture, studying coastal land forms.
57.Crime Analysis: Crime mapping is a key component of crime analysis. Satellite images can
display important information about criminal activities.
58.River Crossing Site Selection for Bridges: On the basis of these information asses the amount of
river channel contraction, degree of curvature of river bend, nature of bed and bank materials
including the flood flow and the flow depth, all these can be done in GIS within estimated time and
accurately.
59.Land Use Changes Associated with Open Cast Strip Mining: Mapping, monitoring and
controlling the impact caused by the mining activities is necessary so as to understand the
character and magnitude of these hazardous events in an area.
60.Economic Development: It helps in site selection, suitability analysis, and for finding the right
sites to locate new business and grow existing ones.
61.School Student Walking Distance Analysis: If your community buses students to school, but
only if they lived beyond a certain distance from their school, this can be used to determine what
addresses are eligible for busing.
62.Locating Underground Pipes and Cables: It can be used to understand your water network,
conducting repairs and adjustments, locating leaks known distance for correlating etc.
63.Coastal Vegetation Mapping and Conservation: Coastal vegetation like Mangroves are the
protectors of coast from natural hazards like tsunami, so that the conservation of these vegetation
is highly important. GIS enable us to map which are having higher density of vegetation and which
area need more vegetated?
64.Regional Planning: GIS provides planners, surveyors, and engineers with the tools they need to
design and map their neighbourhoods and cities.
65.GIS for Land Administration: In a number of countries, the separate functions of land
administration are being drawn together through the creation of digital cadastral databases, with
these databases they can reuse land for suitable needs, digital taxation and even utilities are also
easily handle using these databases.
66.Snow Cover Mapping and Runoff Prediction: Systematic, periodical and precise snow cover
mapping supported by GIS technology, and the organization of the results in a snow cover
information system forms the basis for a wide range of applications.
67. GIS for Wildlife Management: GIS technology is an effective tool for managing, analysing, and
visualizing wildlife data to target areas where international management practices are needed and
to monitor their effectiveness.
Application of Remote sensing in agriculture
1. Crop production forecasting: Remote sensing is used to forecast the expected crop production
and yield over a given area and determine how much of the crop will be harvested under specific
conditions.
2. Assessment of crop damage and crop progress: In the event of crop damage or crop progress,
remote sensing technology can be used to penetrate the farmland and determine exactly how
much of a given crop has been damaged and the progress of the remaining crop in the farm.
3. Horticulture, Cropping Systems Analysis: Remote sensing technology has also been
instrumental in the analysis of various crop planting systems. This technology has mainly been in
use in the horticulture industry where flower growth patterns can be analyzed and a prediction
made out of the analysis.
4. Crop Identification: Remote sensing has also played an important role in crop identification
especially in cases where the crop under observation is mysterious or shows some mysterious
characteristics. The data from the crop is collected and taken to the labs where various aspects of
the crop including the crop culture are studied.

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5. Crop acreage estimation: Remote sensing has also played a very important role in the estimation
of the farmland on which a crop has been planted. This is usually a cumbersome procedure if it is
carried out manually because of the vast sizes of the lands being estimated.
6. Crop condition assessment and stress detection: Remote sensing technology plays an
important role in the assessment of the health condition of each crop and the extent to which the
crop has withstood stress. This data is then used to determine the quality of the crop.
7. Identification of planting and harvesting dates: Because of the predictive nature of the remote
sensing technology, farmers can now use remote sensing to observe a variety of factors including
the weather patterns and the soil types to predict the planting and harvesting seasons of each
crop.
8. Crop yield modelling and estimation: Remote sensing also allows farmers and experts to predict
the expected crop yield from a given farmland by estimating the quality of the crop and the extent
of the farmland. This is then used to determine the overall expected yield of the crop.
9. Identification of pests and disease infestation: Remote sensing technology also plays a
significant role in the identification of pests in farmland and gives data on the right pests control
mechanism to be used to get rid of the pests and diseases on the farm.
10.Soil moisture estimation: Soil moisture can be difficult to measure without the help of remote
sensing technology. Remote sensing gives the soil moisture data and helps in determining the
quantity of moisture in the soil and hence the type of crop that can be grown in the soil.
11.Irrigation monitoring and management: Remote sensing gives information on the moisture
quantity of soils. This information is used to determine whether a particular soil is moisture
deficient or not and helps in planning the irrigation needs of the soil.
12.Soil mapping: Soil mapping is one of the most common yet most important uses of remote
sensing. Through soil mapping, farmers are able to tell what soils are ideal for which crops and
what soil require irrigation and which ones do not. This information helps in precision
agriculture.
13.Monitoring of droughts: Remote sensing technology is used to monitor the weather patterns
including the drought patterns over a given area. The information can be used to predict the
rainfall patterns of an area and also tell the time difference between the current rainfall and the
next rainfall which helps to keep track of the drought.
14.Land cover and land degradation mapping: Remote sensing has been used by experts to map
out the land cover of a given area. Experts can now tell what areas of the land have been degraded
and which areas are still intact. This also helps them in implementing measures to curb land
degradation.
15.Identification of problematic soils: Remote sensing has also played a very important role in the
identification of problematic soils that have a problem in sustaining optimum crop yield
throughout a planting season.
16.Crop nutrient deficiency detection: Remote sensing technology has also helped farmers and
other agricultural experts to determine the extent of crop nutrients deficiency and come up with
remedies that would increase the nutrients level in crops hence increasing the overall crop yield.
17.Reflectance modeling: Remote sensing technology is just about the only technology that can
provide data on crop reflectance. Crop reflectance will depend on the amount of moisture in the
soil and the nutrients in the crop which may also have a significant impact on the overall crop
yield.
18.Determination of water content of field crops: Apart from determining the soil moisture
content, remote sensing also plays an important role in the estimation of the water content in the
field crops.
19.Crop yield forecasting: Remote sensing technology can give accurate estimates of the expected
crop yield in a planting season using various crop information such as the crop quality, the
moisture level in the soil and in the crop and the crop cover of the land. When all of this data is
combined it gives almost accurate estimates of the crop yield.
20.Flood mapping and monitoring: Using remote sensing technology, farmers and agricultural
experts can be able to map out the areas that are likely to be hit by floods and the areas that lack
proper drainage. This data can then be used to avert any flood disaster in future.
21.Collection of past and current weather data: Remote sensing technology is ideal for collection
and storing of past and current weather data which can be used for future decision making and
prediction.

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22.Crop intensification: Remote sensing can be used for crop intensification that includes collection
of important crop data such as the cropping pattern, crop rotation needs and crop diversity over a
given soil.
23.Water resources mapping: Remote sensing is instrumental in the mapping of water resources
that can be used for agriculture over a given farmland. Through remote sensing, farmers can tell
what water resources are available for use over a given land and whether the resources are
adequate.
24.Precision farming: Remote sensing has played a very vital role in precision agriculture. Precision
agriculture has resulted in the cultivation of healthy crops that guarantees farmers optimum
harvests over a given period of time.
25.Climate change monitoring: Remote sensing technology is important in monitoring of climate
change and keeping track of the climatic conditions which play an important role in the
determination of what crops can be grown where.
26.Compliance monitoring: For the agricultural experts and other farmers, remote sensing is
important in keeping track of the farming practices by all farmers and ensuring compliance by all
farmers. This helps in ensuring that all farmers follow the correct procedures when planting and
when harvesting crops.
27.Soil management practices: Remote sensing technology is important in the determination of soil
management practices based on the data collected from the farms.
28.Air moisture estimation: Remote sensing technology is used in the estimation of air moisture
which determines the humidity of the area. The level of humidity determines the type of crops to
be grown within the area.
29.Crop health analysis: Remote sensing technology plays an important role in the analysis of crop
health which determines the overall crop yield.
30.Land mapping: Remote sensing helps in mapping land for use for various purposes such as crop
growing and landscaping. The mapping technology used helps in precision agriculture where
specific land soils are used for specific purposes.
Applications of GPS in agriculture
1. Soil sampling: GPS provides the necessary data to accurately determine soil variability and to
establish whether a given type of soil is ideal for the growth of a particular crop. Soil sampling
also helps in profiling of soils to distinguish between soils that are viable and those that are not.
2. Weed location: Using linear sampling techniques, GPS can be used to single out weed patches in
vast areas of lands. Weed usually hinders the effective growth of a crop and hampers the eventual
yields over a given period of time.
3. Accurate planting: GPS also comes in handy when planning the planting of a given crop. Each
seed has specific spacing and depth required depending on the soil type. Using GPS, it is easier to
tell what spacing a given seed requires and to what depth the seed should be planted in order to
return maximum yields.
4. Determination of planting ratios: GPS can also be used in the determination of planting ratios of
seeds. Some seeds have specific spaces in between them while others may be planted together
with other seeds. GPS helps in determining the ratio of this type of planting.
5. Creation of yield maps: GPS plays an important role in the creation of yield maps for specific
types of crops. For instance, during harvests, GPS can be used to map out expected yields of a
given crop from one piece of land based on the land characteristics and the seed characteristics.
6. Harvesting: GPS plays an important role in the determination of what area of a farm is ready to
be harvested and how the harvesting will take place. The GPS will also give an estimate of the size
of the area being harvested and the expected returns from the area.
7. Locating a yield map: GPS can also be used to locate a yield map by mounting a GPS receiver on a
farm machinery and then collecting the data.
8. Environmental control: Applying herbicides or pesticides based on the capacity of each square
meter reduces the application amount of the pesticide being used. This allows the soil to absorb
all the pesticide hence reducing the chances of runoff.
9. Farm planning: GPS plays an important role in the planning of a farmland ready for planting. GPS
will give the overall size of the area and help in determining what crop will be planted on what
part of the farmland using various factors such as soil characteristics and crop characteristics.

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10.Field mapping: GPS gives an exact estimate of the field that is being prepared for farming.
Through this, experts can tell what part of the field will be used for farming activities and what
area will be used for other non-farming related activities.
11.Soil sampling: Soil sampling is one of the most important uses of GPS in agriculture. It is
important to know what type of soil is available on a given farmland as this will help in
determining the type of crop to be planted on that farm.
12.Crop scouting: GPS gives an exact mapping of an area helping when scouting for crops that are
grown in a particular area. Through this, experts are able to tell the nature and type of crops that
thrive within a given locality and help in improving the quality of that crop.
13.Yield mapping: After a crop has been planted and is ready for harvesting, GPS can be used to
make an estimation of the yield of a given farmland. This can be achieved through aerial mapping
where experts can tell the quantity of a yield based on the area covered by the crop.
14.Correlation of production techniques with crop yields: GPS can be used to make a correlation
of the production technique that was used over a given piece of land and the crop yields after a
given period of time. This information can then be used to determine the viability of a given
technique.
15.Soil property mapping: GPS plays an important role in determining the soil property of a given
soil to establish its variability and suitability for a given crop. It also helps researchers identify
which area of a farmland contains what type of soil and what area is suitable for a given crop.
16.Machinery location: It is easier to locate any farm machinery on a vast piece of land thanks to
GPS. The farmer does not need to physically go out and locate farm equipment especially in cases
where the number is high. GPS can pinpoint the exact location of these farm machineries.
17.Machinery direction: Technology has necessitated the use of autonomous farm machinery for use
in farming. GPS is used to direct these machineries into deciding what direction the seeds will be
placed and the spaces in between each seed.
18.Identification of areas suitable for cultivation: GPS plays an important role in deciding what
areas in a given farmland are suitable for cultivation. This is done through aerial mapping of the
area under cultivation and the analysis of the soil samples to determine the viability of the soil.
19.Classification of areas for cultivation based on various characteristics: GPS can be used to
classify different areas for cultivation based on various characteristics such as soil types and the
terrain maps. Areas that are not suitable for cultivation can be identified and alienated while
those that are suitable can then be developed.
20.Assessment for the availability of water in an area: GPS has been used in the assessment of the
availability of water or water sources within a given locality. Water sources such as rivers or
canals can easily be singled out using GPS.
21.Identification of irrigated crops: GPS can also be used to identify areas where there are crops
that have been irrigated and those that have not been irrigated. This helps in creating a profile
between irrigated crops and non-irrigated crops to help in making comparisons.
22.Identification of swamps and other water logged areas: GPS can be used to identify swampy
areas and waterlogged areas that may not be ideal for certain types of crops. This helps in
determining the suitability of these types of lands for certain crops and their non-suitability for
other types of crops.
23.Rivers mapping: GPS helps in creating a map of all rivers within a locality which builds a profile
of the area with regards to the water flow. Farmers and researchers can be able to tell the
presence of rivers and help in determining the crops that will be grown in that locality.
24.Land usage in the locality: GPS can also be used to monitor the land usage within a given
locality. Through GPS, it is easier to tell what area of the land has been put under cultivation and
what part of the land has been left bare.
25.Contour mapping: In cases where the land is irregular, GPS has been instrumental in determining
the contours within the specific locality. This is because some crops may not do well in contoured
lands while others may thrive in these lands.
26.Irrigation systems mapping such as dams or canals: In cases where the land needs to be
irrigated, GPS can help locate some irrigations systems such as dams and canals. This will make it
easy as it will avail the necessary water needed for irrigating the lands.
27.Meteorological mapping such as climatic patterns: GPS plays an important role in mapping out
some climatic conditions which may determine the type of crop that can grow in a given region.

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28.Personnel mapping: GPS may also play an important role in mapping out the number of
personnel in a given farmland at specific times of the day. This is important if a farmer wants to
measure the productivity of the personnel in a farm.
29.Plantation mapping: GPS can help in creating a map of a plantation and establishing the crop
yields in a given plantation.
30.Water bodies mapping: GPS can also be used to map out the existing water bodies within a given
area to assess the viability of crop growth and crop yields in a given area.