This document discusses soil quality and monitoring in India. It covers topics like soil pollution, soil quality monitoring using soil health cards, remote sensing and GIS techniques to map soils, and the quality of irrigation water. It describes how soil surveys are conducted to study and map soils. Soil pollution from excessive fertilizer and pesticide use, waste disposal, mining, and other sources is also discussed. The document emphasizes the importance of sustainable agriculture practices like organic farming for controlling soil pollution.

1. HEALTHY SOILS FOR A HEALTHY LIFE
Sudhis Kumar. K
Assistant Director –SS-NC
Department of Soil Survey & Soil Conservation

3. Topics
• Soil pollution
• soil quality monitoring
• soil health card
• Remote sensing and GIS
• Soil Based Plant Nutrient Information System
• Quality of irrigation water

4. Soil
The unconsolidated mineral or organic
material on the immediate surface of
the Earth that serves as a natural
medium for the growth of plants.

6. Soil Formation

7. Young soil Developed soil

8. Soil Survey
• Soil survey is the study and mapping of soils in
their natural environment
• It is the systematic examination, description,
classification and mapping of soils in an area

9. SOIL SURVEY
A soil survey describes the characteristics of the soils,
classifies them, plots the boundaries of the soils on an
appropriate base map, and makes predictions about the
behavior of soils.
Thus soil survey provide basic information on soils for
planning developmental programmes.

10. KINDS OF SOIL SURVEYS
1. Detailed soil survey
Low intensity detailed soil survey
High intensity detailed soil survey
2. Reconnaissance soil survey
3. Detailed-Reconnaissance soil survey

11. Field survey and mapping (Detailed soil survey)
Identification and location of survey area on soil and cadastral
maps,
Traverse the area and identify correctly the field plots
and subplots by starting from a known point present both on
map and field,
Selection and location of transects,
Study and classification of profiles,
Preparation of preliminary soil mapping legend,

12. Topography has a major role in soil
development

13. Survey and mapping
Identification of soil series –have same differentiating characters and horizons
Identification of dominant phases for each series,
surface texture,
gravelly/stony/rocky,
slope,
depth,
erosion,
calcareousness,
salinity,
Surface crusting, etc.,

14. Entisols
Mollisols
Alfisols Spodosols
Ultisols
Inceptisols
Histosols Vertisols
Soil variability

15. Oxisols Aridisols Gelisols Andisols

16. Soil Pollution

17. Soil, and pollution
POLLUTION-
An undesirable change in the physical chemical or biological
characteristics of air, water or soil.
SOIL POLLUTION-
The undesirable change in physical, chemical and biological
characteristics of soil, which are harmful for all living beings.

18. KINDS OF SOIL POLLUTION-
1) Agricultural pesticides
2) Disposal of solid wastes on land
3) Mining activities
4) Biological agents
5) Radioactive pollutants
6) Heavy metal pollutants

19. Agricultural practices-
 The use of indiscriminate use of inorganic nutrients
for a long time gradually declines the soil fertility.
 The intensive inappropriate tillage practices lowers
the capability of soil.

20. Disposal of solids wastes on land
 The solid wastes are mostly generated from industrial,
domestic and urban and agricultural sources.
 The solid wastes generated in indian cities mainly contains
sludge, glass materials, metallic cans, fibres, waste paper,
packing materials, leather.

21. Mining activities-
 The top layer of soil is generally damaged or
destroyed during both shaft and strip mining
practices.
 The uncontrolled mine fires may also destroy the
productivity of the areas near mines.

22. Biological agents-
 The major sources of biological agents causing soil
pollution are human excreta, animal and bird excreta,
muncipal wastes, faulty sanitation.
 The industrial parasites are among the most
threatening biological agents.

23. Radioactive pollutants-
 Huge amounts of radio-active substances result
from nuclear device explosion, nuclear testing
laborateries, nuclear power plants and weapons.
 All these are responsible for enhancing soil
pollution.

24. Heavy metal pollutants
• Heavy metals in soil are basically due to industrial discharges.
• Certain heavy metals eg. Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd and Pb are also
present in significant levels in sewage sludge and reach the soil
where they become part of life cycle and affects adversely.

25. DON’T USE EXCESS CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS

26. DON’T USE EXCESS CHEMICAL PESTICIDE

27. Effects of soil pollution
1. Soil fertility is adversely affected if pesticide remain in
soil for longer period.
2. Excessive use of fertilizers and pesticide chemicals does
not allow microbial flora and fauna in soil to flourish.
3. Excessive use of nitrogen and phosphatic fertilizer makes
the soil deficient in other micronutrients like Zn, Cu etc.
and causes nutrition imbalance.
4. Pesticides like DDT, dieldrin etc. are known to seep
gradually through soil into ground water and thus
contaminate public drinking water supplies.

28. 5. People in contact with pesticides are extremely prone
to get poisoned.
6. Some of the industrial wastes are extremely toxic for
organisms.
7. Solid urban wastes and industrial wastes produce foul
and offensive odour.
8. Heavy metals and other toxic substances can destroy
benefecial microorganisms of the soil.
9. Radioactive pollutants can cause a number of
undesirable disease of digestive system if they enter
our body through food chain.

29. Control of soil pollution-
1. Adoption of sustainable agriculture having organic
farming and use of biofertilizers, biointegrated pest
management and proper water management,
composting etc.
2. Adoption of suitable and proper industrial and
urban wastes management.
3. Adequate controlled use of heavy metal and toxic
substances.
4. Non-biodegradable wastes can be recycled and
used again
5. Biomedical wastes should be carefully disposed off
so that it does not create any health hazard.

39. Soil Mapping Using
Remote Sensing Techniques

40. • Remote Sensing:
– The art and science of obtaining information
about an object without physically contact
between the object and sensor
– The processes of collecting information about
Earth surfaces and phenomena using sensors
not in physical contact with the surfaces and
phenomena of interest.
– There is a medium of transmission involved i.e.
Earth’s Atmosphere.
Remote Sensing

41. Energy Source or Illumination (A)
Radiation and the Atmosphere (B)
Interaction with the Target (C)
Recording of Energy by the Sensor (D)
Transmission, Reception, and
Processing (E)
Interpretation and Analysis (F)
Application (G)
Source: Canadian Centre for Remote Sensing
Remote Sensing Process Components

42. Types of REMOTE SENSING
Active Remote Sensing
Passive Remote Sensing

46. • Agriculture
• Forestry
• Geology
• Hydrology
• Sea Ice
• Land Cover & Land Use
• Mapping
• Oceans & Coastal Monitoring
Area:
APPLICATION:

47. Source: Jensen (2000)
Application Domain

48.  Urbanization & Transportation
◦ Updating road maps
◦ Asphalt conditions
◦ Wetland delineation
 Agriculture
◦ Crop health analysis
◦ Precision agriculture
◦ Compliance mapping
◦ Yield estimation
 Natural Resource Management
◦ Habitat analysis
◦ Environmental assessment
◦ Pest/disease outbreaks
◦ Impervious surface mapping
◦ Lake monitoring
◦ Hydrology
◦ Landuse - Landcover monitoring
◦ Mineral province
◦ Geomorphology
Applications of remote sensing and GIS

49. Agriculture
• Crop acreage estimation
• Crop modeling for yield &
production forecast / estimation
• Crop & Orchard monitoring
Scope
• Timely availability of crop
statistics for decision making &
planning
• Crop growth monitoring
• Soil status monitoring
• Regular reports regarding total
area under cultivation
Benefits
Banana Plantation – Muhammad Pur (Ghotki)
FFC Goth Macchi
Mar 05, 2006, RecoveryJan 12, 2006, DamageDec 16, 2005, Pre-Frost

50. Forestry
• Satellite image based forest
resource mapping and updation
• Forest change detection
• Forest resource inventory
• GIS database development
Scope
• Availability of baseline information
• Planning for aforestation strategies
• Futuristic resource planning
• Sustainability of environment
• Wild life conservation & development
for recreation purpose
Benefits Sarhad Reserve Forest (Ghotki)
Nausharo
Firoz

51. Landuse / Landcover Mapping
• Monitoring dynamic changes
• Urban/Rural infrastructure
• Waterlogging & salinity
Scope
• Assessment of spatial distribution of
land resources
• Infrastructure monitoring
• Availability of usable land
• Future planning for better land
management for socio-economic
development
Benefits

52. • Use of Remote Sensing and GIS technology in these areas of
sustainable agricultural management.
•
Cropping System Analysis
Cropping system map generated through integrated use of temporal digital satellite data and GIS

53. Urban & Regional Planning
• Mapping & updation of
city/town maps
• Urban sprawl monitoring
• Town planning
• Facility management
• GIS database development
Scope
• Better decision support, planning
& management
• Rapid information updation
• Infrastructure development
monitoring
• Spatial information analysis
Benefits

54. What is GIS?
• GIS = Geographic Information System
– Links databases and maps
– Manages information about places
– Helps answer questions such as:
• Where is it?
• What else is nearby?
• Where is the highest concentration of ‘X’?
• Where can I find things with characteristic ‘Y’?
• Where is the closest ‘Z’ to my location?

55. • Geographic Information System
• A GIS is a computer system capable of capturing,
storing, analyzing, and displaying geographically
referenced information; that is, data identified
according to location.
• Practitioners also define a GIS as including the
procedures, operating personnel, and spatial data that
go into the system.
What is a GIS?

56. • A GIS makes it possible to link, or integrate,
information that is difficult to associate through any
other means.
• Thus, a GIS can use combinations of mapped
variables to build and analyze new variables.
• GIS is most useful when used to perform data
analysis

57. Why Does GIS Matter?
“Almost everything that happens, happens
somewhere. Knowing where something
happens is critically important.”
Longley et al. (2001, 6)
Because location is so important, it is an issue in
many of the problems

58. • the real world has a lot of spatial data
– manipulation, analysis and modeling can be effective
and efficiently carried out with a GIS
• the neighborhood of the intended purchase of house
• the route for fire-fighting vehicles to the fire area
• location of historical sites to visit
• the earth surface for purposes of army
• the earth surface is a limited resource
• rational decisions on space utilization
• fast and quality information in decision making
THE NEED FOR GIS

59.  complexity of management
– due to the need to combine and process many
sets of data, in addition to judge as many as
possible, situation that might happen.
 intense competition
– the need to use technology in making decisions
and strategy in the world of intense
competition.
... THE NEED FOR GIS

60. GIS
USES
VARIOUS DATA
SOURCES
VARIOUS DATA
FORMATS
AND
MAPS IMAGE
DIGITAL
PRODUCTS
GPS
TEXT
DATA
TABULAR
DATA
MAPS
DATABASE
REPORTS
1
2
4 43

61. Basic functions of GIS
•Data Acquisition and prepossessing
•Database Management and Retrieval
•Spatial Measurement and Analysis
•Graphic output and Visualization

62. • Maximize the efficiency of planning and decision
making
• Provide efficient means for data distribution and
handling
• Elimination of redundant data base - minimize
duplication
• Capacity to integrate information from many sources
• Complex analysis/query involving geographical
referenced data to generate
GIS OBJECTIVES

63. Geospatial data are better maintained in a standard
format.
Revision and updating are easier.
Geospatial data and information are easier to search,
analysis and represent.
More value added product.
Geospatial data can be shared and exchanged freely.
Productivity of the staff improved and more efficient.
Time and money are saved.
Better decision can be made.

64.  Facilities Management:
 Locating underground pipes & cables, planning facility
maintenance, telecommunication network services
 Environmental and Natural Resources Management:
Environmental impact analysis, disaster management and
mitigation
 Street Network:
 Locating houses and streets, car navigation, transportation planning
 Planning and Engineering:
 Urban planning, regional planning, development of public facilities
 Land Information:
 Taxation, zoning of land use, land acquisition
Area:
GIS Application:

65. Courses conducted at the
Directorate of Soil Survey and Soil Conservation
• Basics of Remote sensing and GIS & Global Navigation System
• Applications of RS & GIS for Natural Resources
• Applications of Microwave Remote Sensing for Natural Resource
Management
• Contact Number 0471 2339800

66. Irrigation water quality

67. Water Uses
Use Typical quality parameters
Public Water Supply Turbidity, TDS, inorganic and
organic compounds, microbes
Water contact recreation Turbidity, bacteria, toxic
compounds
Fish propagation and wildlife DO, chlorinated organic
compounds
Industrial water supply Suspended and dissolved
constituents
Agricultural water supply Sodium, TDS
Shellfish harvesting DO, bacteria

68. Basic Water Quality Parameters
• pH
• Specific conductance (EC)
• Salinity
• Total dissolved solids (TDS)
• Turbidity
• Dissolved oxygen (DO)
• Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)
• Temperature

69. pH
• Measures hydrogen ion
concentration
• Negative log of hydrogen ion
concentration
• Ranges from 0 to 14 std. units
• pH
– 7 neutral
– 0 - 7 acidic
– 7 - 14 alkaline
Thanks to Phil Brown

70. Solubility of Specific Ions
Based on Water pH
Toxic metals less available in water at pH 6 to 8.

71. Conductivity
• Measures electric
conductivity (EC) of water
• Higher value means water
is a better electrical
conductor
• Increases when more salt
(e.g., sodium chloride) is
dissolved in water
• Indirect measure of salinity
• Units are μmhos/cm at 25o
C or μsiemens/cm
Thanks to Phil Brown

72. Salinity
• Classification of Ground Water
• Composition Based on Total Dissolved
Solids Content
Salts in Sea Water
Type of Water Dissolved salt content (mg/l)
Fresh water < 1,000 mg/l
Brackish water 1,000 - 3,000 mg/l
Moderatly saline
water
3,000 - 10,000 mg/l
Highly saline water 10,000 - 35,000 mg/l
Sea water > 35,000 mg/l

73. Salinity and irrigation
• Low salinity water
– used for most crops
• Medium salinity water
– used with moderate amount of leaching (potatoes,
corn, wheat, oats, and alfalfa)
• High salinity water
– Cannot be used on soils having restricted drainage.
• Very high salinity water
– Can be used only on certain crops only if special
practices are followed

74. Designated-Best-Use Class of water Criteria
Drinking Water Source without
conventional treatment but after
disinfection
A
 Total Coliforms Organism MPN/100ml shall be 50 or less
 pH between 6.5 and 8.5
 Dissolved Oxygen 6mg/l or more
 Biochemical Oxygen Demand 5 days 20°C 2mg/l or less
Outdoor bathing (Organised) B
 Total Coliforms Organism MPN/100ml shall be 500 or less pH
between 6.5 and 8.5 Dissolved Oxygen 5mg/l or more
 Biochemical Oxygen Demand 5 days 20°C 3mg/l or less
Drinking water source after
conventional treatment and disinfection C
 Total Coliforms Organism MPN/100ml shall be 5000 or less
pH between 6 to 9 Dissolved Oxygen 4mg/l or more
 Biochemical Oxygen Demand 5 days 20°C 3mg/l or less
Propagation of Wild life and Fisheries D
 pH between 6.5 to 8.5 Dissolved Oxygen 4mg/l or more
 Free Ammonia (as N) 1.2 mg/l or less
Irrigation, Industrial Cooling, Controlled
Waste disposal E
 pH betwwn 6.0 to 8.5
 Electrical Conductivity at 25°C micro mhos/cm Max.2250
 Sodium absorption Ratio Max. 26
 Boron Max. 2mg/l
Below-E Not Meeting A, B, C, D & E Criteria
Standards fixed by Central Pollution Control Board

75. • Soil Based Plant Nutrient Information System

95. ksudhiskumar@gmail.com
94957 79388