Space-Time Drought Dynamics and Soil Erosion in Puruliya District of West Bengal, India: A Conceptual Design
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Space-Time Drought Dynamics and Soil Erosion in Puruliya District of West Bengal, India: A Conceptual Design Abhisek Santra1
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Shreyashi Santra Mitra2
Received: 11 February 2020 / Accepted: 17 August 2020 Ó Indian Society of Remote Sensing 2020
Abstract This paper integrates drought and soil erosion problems of Puruliya district of West Bengal. The space-time dynamics of vegetative drought is assessed based on the mean monthly time-series MODIS data for the period of 2000–2013. The drought recurrence ranges from 0 to 29 months, and the mean frequency was assessed to be 7.09 months for the entire period under deliberation. The potential soil disintegration of the district was estimated using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation in the geo-spatial environment. The locale has been arranged into six potential soil erosion classes ranging from low-to-severe risk depending upon the computed soil erosion amount. The mean soil erosion rate of the district was anticipated as 76.29 t ha-1 year-1. The erosion amount is high in gently sloping grounds covering mainly harvested agricultural fields and open fields. These areas contribute mostly the soil erosion in this district. It is found that in this area the slope length-steepness factor is the major erosion-controlling factor. About one-fourth of the total area comes under the threat of a very high-to-severe erosion zone. Also, it was observed that the drought condition of the district is strongly correlated with the soil moisture condition in the drought-affected months and the precipitation amount. The study likewise distinguished the conceivable interrelationship between the soil erosion problem and drought frequency for better monitoring and policy decision making. A considerable increasing trend is observed in mean soil erosion with increasing frequency of drought-affected months for the study period. Keywords VHI Drought frequency Aridisol RUSLE
Introduction Drought is an intermittent natural hazard affecting almost every climatic zone and having a critical socio-economic and environmental effect (Asadi Zarch et al. 2015; Haroon et al. 2016). The savagery of drought relies upon the extent of the affected area, and related impacts of anthropogenic exercises, agriculture and the milieu. Its monitoring alludes to the concurrent assessment of every single imaginable & Abhisek Santra [email protected] Shreyashi Santra Mitra [email protected] 1
Department of Remote Sensing, Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, Jharkhand 835215, India
2
Department of Civil Engineering, Haldia Institute of Technology, Hatiberia, East Midnapore, Haldia, West Bengal 721657, India
reasons and outcomes on the soil-vegetation system (Caparrini and Manzella 2009). Contrasted with other natural hazards, drought is more difficult to scrutinize as the commencement and conclusion of a specific dry spell is hard to resolve. Hence, assessing drought is of great concern as it is viewed as the sternest problem in most countries in terms of food security a
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