scholarly journals Optimized Land Use through Integrated Land Suitability and GIS Approach in West El-Minia Governorate, Upper Egypt

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 12236
Author(s):  
Yasser M. Zakarya ◽  
Mohamed M. Metwaly ◽  
Mohamed A. E. AbdelRahman ◽  
Mohamed R. Metwalli ◽  
Georgios Koubouris

Land evaluation is imperative for its efficient use in agriculture. Therefore, this study aimed at assessing the suitability of a region in West El-Minia for cultivating some of the major crops using the geographical information system (GIS). The results focus on allocating space for cultivating sugar beet and utilizing the free period of sugar beet in other crops. This exploitation helps to maintain the quality of the land and increase its fertility by using crop rotation with integrated agricultural management. A machine learning technique was implemented using the random forest algorithm (RF) to predict soil suitability classes for sugar beet using geomorphology, terrain attribute and remote sensing data. Fifteen major crops were evaluated using a suitability multicriteria approach in GIS environment for crop rotation decisions. Soil parameters were determined (soil depth, pH, texture, CaCO3, drainage, ECe, and slope) to characterize the land units for soil suitability. Soils of the area were found to be Entisols; Typic Torrifluvents, Typic Torripsamments and Typic Torriorthents and Aridsols; Typic Haplocacids, Calcic Haplosalids and Sodic Haplocalcids. Overall, the studied area was classified into four suitability classes: high “S1”, moderate “S2”, marginal “S3”, and not suitable “N”. The area of each suitability class changed depending on the crop tested. The highest two crops that occupied S1 class were barley with 471.5 ha (representing 6.8% of the total study area) and alfalfa with 157.4 ha (2.3%). In addition, barley, sugar beet, and sorghum occupied the highest areas in S2 class with 6415.3 ha (92.5%), 6111.3 ha (88.11%) and 6111.3 ha (88.1%), respectively. Regarding the S3 class, three different crops (sesame, green pepper, and maize) were the most highly represented by 6151.8 ha (88.7%), 6126.3 ha (88.3%), and 6116.7 ha (88.2%), respectively. In the end, potato and beans occupied the highest areas in N class with 6916.9 ha (99.7%) and 6853.5 ha (98.8%), respectively. The results revealed that the integration of GIS and soil suitability system consists of an appropriate approach for the evaluation of suitable crop rotations for optimized land use planning and to prevent soil degradation. The study recommends using crop rotation, as it contributes to soil sustainability and the control of plant pests and diseases, where the succession of agricultural crops on a scientific basis aims at maintaining the balance of nutrients and fertilizers in the soil.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6976
Author(s):  
Dimitrios E. Alexakis ◽  
George D. Bathrellos ◽  
Hariklia D. Skilodimou ◽  
Dimitra E. Gamvroula

Karst features such as polje are highly vulnerable to natural and anthropogenic pollution. The main objectives of this study were to investigate the soil quality in the Ioannina polje (north-west Greece) concerning arsenic (As) and zinc (Zn), and delineate their origin as well as compare the As and Zn content in soil with criteria recorded in the literature. For this purpose, the geomorphological settings, the land use, and the soil physicochemical properties were mapped and evaluated, including soil texture and concentrations of aqua-regia extractable As and Zn. The concentration of elements was spatially correlated with the land use and the geology of the study area, while screening values were applied to assess land suitability. The results reveal that 72% of the total study area has a very gentle slope. This relief favors urban and agricultural activity. Thus, the urban and agricultural land used cover 92% of the total area. The spatial distribution for As and Zn in the soil of the study area is located on very gentle slopes and is strongly correlated with the geological parent materials and human-induced contamination sources. Arsenic and Zn can be considered enriched in the soil of the area studied. The median topsoil contents (in mg kg−1) for As (agricultural soil 16.0; urban soil 17.8) and Zn (agricultural soil 92.0; urban soil 95.0) are higher compared to the corresponding median values of European topsoils. Land evaluation suitability concerning criteria given from the literature is discussed. The proposed work may be helpful in the project of land use planning and the protection of the natural environment.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dao Huy Giap

Abstract This study was conducted in the Daitu district of Thainguyen, Vietnam during November 2001 to January 2003 to identify and estimate potential areas for aquaculture development in a watershed area by integrating socio-economic and environmental data into a geographical information system (GIS) database. Fourteen base layers were used for land evaluation and grouped into four main land use requirements for aquaculture namely: (1) potential for pond construction (slope, land use type, soil thickness and elevation); (2) soil quality (soil type, texture and pH); (3) water availability (distance to water, water sources and precipitation); and (4) geographical and socio-economic factors (population density, distances to roads, local markets and hatcheries). The study demonstrated the usefulness of GIS modelling to select suitable sites for the development of watershed ponds, and the importance of using the data as a tool for planners to develop strategic plans for aquaculture development. The study indicated that about 4.7% (2,725 ha) of the total land area of 57,618 ha in Daitu district was suitable for watershed pond aquaculture, compared to the existing 404 ha of watershed ponds.


Author(s):  
Edward Calys-Tagoe ◽  
Adams Sadick ◽  
Gideon Asamoah ◽  
Mandela Alema

A study was carried out to assess local knowledge about soil suitability in four villages in the Ejisu- Juabeng District in the Ashanti region of Ghana. This study described two approaches in soil mapping using geopedologic approach promoted by Zinck (1988) and the farmer approach using their spatial knowledge and experience. Both maps were assessed for their suitability for cocoa, oil palm and citrus. First, farmers created their soil map and then assessed the soil suitability for a selected number of tree crops which are important for them economically. Secondly, on the other side which is the side of the expert, the approach for soil suitability classification was performed using the Automated Land Evaluation System (ALES) which uses the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) framework for land evaluation that defines suitability by employing matching (comparison) between land quality/land characteristics and land use requirement. The expert and farmer suitability maps were then compared using spatial analysis within the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) environment to determine levels of spatial correlation and the level of agreement among the maps. Farmers’ suitability maps for cocoa accounted for 81% of the study area, citrus and oil palm accounted for 71% and 26% respectively. In the expert suitability map 66% of the study area was suitable for cocoa, citrus and oil palm accounted for 41%and 39% respectively. The overall accuracy from the map comparison was 67% for cocoa, 43% for citrus and 14% for oil palm. The results of spatial correlation between expert and local soil suitability map units reflect differences and similarities in the ways both systems classify soils. Critical is the evaluation of topsoil characteristics, as the understanding and monitoring of topsoil dynamics are fundamental for land use decision-making by farmers. Merging technical and local thinking is indispensable to formulate sustainable land management schemes for agricultural production


Author(s):  
Anja Wijffels ◽  
Jos Van Orshoven ◽  
Bart Muys ◽  
Dirk Cattrysse

To deal with the complexity of land use allocation in a spatio-temporally variable context, a generic framework for automated support to multi-objective land use planning is proposed. The framework is rooted in the discipline of land evaluation which is considered a go-between between land resources survey and land use planning. It draws on own experiences and on lessons learnt from literature. It consists of five integrated and interoperable components. The core three ones, the spatio-temporal database, the engine for data query, transformation and analysis and the user interface are adopted from geographical information systems (GIS). A ‘knowledge and model base’ component adds capability for assessing land performance over time. Finally, a multicriteria decision analysis component allows for identifying optimal land units and optimal land use options. The framework’s applicability and the limitations of geographical information technology (GI-Technology) to generate spatio-temporal decision support systems (stDSS) are illustrated with two cases: one in data rich and one in data poor conditions.


2001 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Tóth

Land productivity evaluation systems are developed to predict the crop growing potential of lands on the basis of their attributes. The Hungarian land evaluation system presently in use, known as the gold crown system, was developed in the 19 th century and its rating is based on profitability. This system does not give an exact description of the productivity potential of the land and includes no information on the environmental characteristics of the soils. In recent decades most European countries have adopted land evaluation methods based on land and soil parameters. In the 1980s a quantitative land evaluation method of this type was introduced in Hungary as well. In this system the effect of soil attributes on the level of fertility was expressed in numerical terms by soil mapping units. This system was again replaced by the gold crown system during the political changes in the early 90s. However, using a soil evaluation system (where the relative production potential of the land is expressed in a quantitative manner) together with measurements of soil degradation or amelioration an integrated method could be developed to express various land quality/land productivity relationships. This approach could help decision makers – along with land users and environmental scientists – to choose profitable and sustainable land use types and methods at local and regional levels. In this context, sustainable land use means biomass production with the highest efficiency without harmful environmental side effects. This paper introduces a soil evaluation methodology based on the Hungarian genetic soil classification. The productivity evaluation system was worked out on the basis of long-term (6 years) yield data collected from 1019 fields in the Balaton Upland region (Central Western Hungary) and large-scale genetic soil maps of the study region.


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 8253-8268 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Muñoz-Rojas ◽  
A. Jordán ◽  
L. M. Zavala ◽  
F. A. González-Peñaloza ◽  
D. De la Rosa ◽  
...  

Abstract. Global climate change, as a consequence of the increasing levels of atmospheric CO2 concentration, may significantly affect both soil organic C storage and soil capacity for C sequestration. CarboSOIL is an empirical model based on regression techniques and developed as a geographical information system tool to predict soil organic carbon (SOC) contents at different depths. This model is a new component of the agro-ecological decision support system for land evaluation MicroLEIS, which assists decision-makers in facing specific agro-ecological problems, particularly in Mediterranean regions. In this study, the CarboSOIL model was used to study the effects of climate change on SOC dynamics in a Mediterranean region (Andalusia, S Spain). Different downscaled climate models were applied based on BCCR-BCM2, CNRMCM3, and ECHAM5 and driven by SRES scenarios (A1B, A2 and B2). Output data were linked to spatial data sets (soil and land use) to quantify SOC stocks. The CarboSOIL model has proved its ability to predict the short-, medium- and long-term trends (2040s, 2070s and 2100s) of SOC dynamics and sequestration under projected future scenarios of climate change. Results have shown an overall trend towards decreasing of SOC stocks in the upper soil sections (0–25 cm and 25–50 cm) for most soil types and land uses, but predicted SOC stocks tend to increase in the deeper soil section (0–75 cm). Soil types as Arenosols, Planosols and Solonchaks and land uses as "permanent crops" and "open spaces with little or no vegetation" would be severely affected by climate change with large decreases of SOC stocks, in particular under the medium–high emission scenario A2 by 2100. The information developed in this study might support decision-making in land management and climate adaptation strategies in Mediterranean regions, and the methodology could be applied to other Mediterranean areas with available soil, land use and climate data.


Author(s):  
G. Tsoumakas ◽  
I. Vlahavas

A major environmental concern of today’s scientists is the inefficient exploitation of natural resources. The land is the ultimate source of wealth and the foundation on which civilization is constructed. Inappropriate land use, leads to destruction of the land resource, poverty and other social problems, and even to the destruction of civilization. To avoid such phenomena, land evaluation is employed, for rational land use planning and appropriate and sustainable use of natural and human resources (Rossiter, 1994). The management of land use is an interdisciplinary activity that relies on large amounts of information from different sources. Land evaluators need to collect information from soil surveyors, climatologists and census takers on land resource. They also need the expert knowledge of soil scientists, agronomists and economists on land use. In addition, land evaluators must select and apply the most appropriate analytical methods to evaluate land qualities and to combine these into overall physical and/or economic suitability. This evaluation is then calibrated against expert judgement and related experience. Finally they must present the results of the evaluation with reports and maps. This output has to be dynamic, considering the continuous refinement of the whole land evaluation process. The above characteristics of land evaluation denote that the management of such a process definitely requires the support of computer systems, especially expert systems, remote sensing and image processing systems, and geographical information systems (GIS). Such systems exist, but they are usually stand-alone units, hence human intervention (land evaluators) for the flow of information from one system towards the other is indispensable. Therefore, integrated systems are highly desirable. The latest research and development trends in this area progressively encompass Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques to a greater extent, in order to achieve an optimal performance in the analysis of the vast geographical data. Expert systems were included early on, in an effort to model the domain knowledge of land evaluation from experts. Now, such systems introduce fuzzy logic to cope with uncertainty within the data sources and the inference procedure. Machine learning techniques are also included to model the land evaluation procedures when expert knowledge is insufficient or even absent. In general, there exists an amount of both symbolic and non-symbolic AI techniques, which scientists are keen on combining and integrating with traditional land information systems. This chapter is structured as follows. An overview of three of the most used AI techniques in land evaluation problems is given. Following that, the next section introduces ISLE (Tsoumakas and Vlahavas, 1999), an Intelligent System for Land Evaluation that is designed as a framework for the integration of AI techniques with a geographical information system. The final section discusses conclusions and future trends in this field.


GEOgraphia ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 103
Author(s):  
Claudio Belmonte de Athayde Bohrer

Resumo O levantamento e mapeamento da vegetação vem tendo uma importância crescente no plane-jamento do uso da terra em regiões florestais tropicais. Os mapas de vegetação podem ser utilizados indi-vidualmente ou de forma integrada com outros mapas temáticos, para a caracterização e análise da paisa-gem, a qual serve de orientação no processo de planejamento do uso da terra. O uso de mapas ecológicos ou da paisagem contendo informações combinadas de diferentes atributos da paisagem, é um avanço sig-nificativo na avaliação das terras. O enfoque holístico possibilita uma melhor compreensão das inter-rela-ções entre a vegetação e os outros atributos, melhorando significativamente as análises e avaliações resul-tantes . O enfoque paisagístico pode auxiliar ainda no próprio levantamento da vegetação, como o mapea-mento dos diversos tipos de comunidades ou formações florestais de acordo com as características domi-nantes da ambiente físico, como o relevo. Sistemas de Informações Geográficas (SIG) vêm sendo cada vez mais utilizados como banco de dados ambientais, onde dados relevantes podem ser armazenados, manipu-lados, atualizados e combinados em diversas análises e avaliações de diferentes cenários de evolução dinâ-mica natural e antrópica da paisagem florestal tropical. Palavras-Chave: Planejamento do Uso da Terra, Floresta Tropical, Análise da Paisagem, SIG.Abstract The vegetation survey and mapping has an increasingly important role in the land use planning in tropical forest regions. Vegetation maps can be used individually or integrated with other the-matic maps for the characterisation and analysis of the landscape, which will direct the land use planning process. The use of landscape ecological maps, which combine information from different land attributes is a significant advance on land evaluation and appraisal. The holistic approach allows a better understan-ding of the relationships between vegetation and other land attributes, which can improve considerably the results of the analyses and evaluation. The landscape approach can also improve the vegetation or forest survey, helping to map the different forest types according to the dominant aspects of the physical environment, such as relief. Geographical information systems (GIS) are increasingly used as a spatial environmental data base, where relevant data can be stored, handled, updated and combined in the analy-sis and evaluation of alternative scenarios of the natural and anthropogenic tropical forest landscape dynamics. Keywords: Land Use Planning, Tropical Forest, Landscape Analysis, GIS.The vegetation survey and mapping has an increasingly important role in the land use planning in tropical forest regions. Vegetation maps can be used individually or integrated with other the-matic maps for the characterisation and analysis of the landscape, which will direct the land use planning process. The use of landscape ecological maps, which combine information from different land attributes is a significant advance on land evaluation and appraisal. The holistic approach allows a better understan-ding of the relationships between vegetation and other land attributes, which can improve considerably the results of the analyses and evaluation. The landscape approach can also improve the vegetation or forest survey, helping to map the different forest types according to the dominant aspects of the physical environment, such as relief. Geographical information systems (GIS) are increasingly used as a spatial environmental data base, where relevant data can be stored, handled, updated and combined in the analy-sis and evaluation of alternative scenarios of the natural and anthropogenic tropical forest landscape dynamics. Keywords: Land Use Planning, Tropical Forest, Landscape Analysis, GIS.


GEOgraphia ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 103
Author(s):  
Claudio Belmonte de Athayde Bohrer

Resumo O levantamento e mapeamento da vegetação vem tendo uma importância crescente no plane-jamento do uso da terra em regiões florestais tropicais. Os mapas de vegetação podem ser utilizados indi-vidualmente ou de forma integrada com outros mapas temáticos, para a caracterização e análise da paisa-gem, a qual serve de orientação no processo de planejamento do uso da terra. O uso de mapas ecológicos ou da paisagem contendo informações combinadas de diferentes atributos da paisagem, é um avanço sig-nificativo na avaliação das terras. O enfoque holístico possibilita uma melhor compreensão das inter-rela-ções entre a vegetação e os outros atributos, melhorando significativamente as análises e avaliações resul-tantes . O enfoque paisagístico pode auxiliar ainda no próprio levantamento da vegetação, como o mapea-mento dos diversos tipos de comunidades ou formações florestais de acordo com as características domi-nantes da ambiente físico, como o relevo. Sistemas de Informações Geográficas (SIG) vêm sendo cada vez mais utilizados como banco de dados ambientais, onde dados relevantes podem ser armazenados, manipu-lados, atualizados e combinados em diversas análises e avaliações de diferentes cenários de evolução dinâ-mica natural e antrópica da paisagem florestal tropical. Palavras-Chave: Planejamento do Uso da Terra, Floresta Tropical, Análise da Paisagem, SIG.Abstract The vegetation survey and mapping has an increasingly important role in the land use planning in tropical forest regions. Vegetation maps can be used individually or integrated with other the-matic maps for the characterisation and analysis of the landscape, which will direct the land use planning process. The use of landscape ecological maps, which combine information from different land attributes is a significant advance on land evaluation and appraisal. The holistic approach allows a better understan-ding of the relationships between vegetation and other land attributes, which can improve considerably the results of the analyses and evaluation. The landscape approach can also improve the vegetation or forest survey, helping to map the different forest types according to the dominant aspects of the physical environment, such as relief. Geographical information systems (GIS) are increasingly used as a spatial environmental data base, where relevant data can be stored, handled, updated and combined in the analy-sis and evaluation of alternative scenarios of the natural and anthropogenic tropical forest landscape dynamics. Keywords: Land Use Planning, Tropical Forest, Landscape Analysis, GIS.The vegetation survey and mapping has an increasingly important role in the land use planning in tropical forest regions. Vegetation maps can be used individually or integrated with other the-matic maps for the characterisation and analysis of the landscape, which will direct the land use planning process. The use of landscape ecological maps, which combine information from different land attributes is a significant advance on land evaluation and appraisal. The holistic approach allows a better understan-ding of the relationships between vegetation and other land attributes, which can improve considerably the results of the analyses and evaluation. The landscape approach can also improve the vegetation or forest survey, helping to map the different forest types according to the dominant aspects of the physical environment, such as relief. Geographical information systems (GIS) are increasingly used as a spatial environmental data base, where relevant data can be stored, handled, updated and combined in the analy-sis and evaluation of alternative scenarios of the natural and anthropogenic tropical forest landscape dynamics. Keywords: Land Use Planning, Tropical Forest, Landscape Analysis, GIS.


2018 ◽  
Vol 64 ◽  
Author(s):  
I.S. Smaga

It is indicated on the role of crop rotation in increasing the productive potential of arable land. The output of products by feed and grain units from 1 ha of arable land in crop rotation with different ratios of grains and technical crops on the basis of the achieved level of yield of field crops in the conditions of a particular agrarian enterprise was established. For the conditions of Kitsman-Kelmentsy land evaluation area of Chernivtsi region, the effect of maize (corn, 1 or 2 fields) and sugar beet (1 or 2 fields) on the productivity of 7 fields rotation of cereals and row crops was studied. Humus balance is calculated and the main ways of improving humus conditions in rotation of cereals and row crops are given. The schemes of crop rotation have been established, providing the highest degree of realization of productive potential of arable land.


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