SOIL DEGRADATION ASSESSMENT USING GEOINFORMATICS TECHNOLOGY IN UPPER LAMCHIENGKRAI WATERSHED, NAKHON RATCHASIMA PROVINCE, THAILAND
Keywords:
Soil degradation assessment, RMMF model, soil salinity index, soil color index, Upper Lamchiengkrai watershed, Nakhon Ratchasima, ThailandAbstract
Soil erosion and soil salinity are major environmental problems in Thailand because they create seriously negative impacts on agricultural and environmental sustainability. In addition, soil erosion leads to the depletion of organic matter in soil. In the meantime, soil erosion, salinity, and organic matter depletion are significant indicators for a soil degradation assessment. The main objectives of the study were (1) to classify land use and land cover, (2) to assess soil loss and its severity, (3) to assess soil salinity and its severity,(4) to assess soil organic matter and its depletion, and (5) to assess soil degradation and its severity. In this study, the LULC classification using the decision tree classifier, soil erosion with the RMMF model, soil salinity and depletion of organic matter content with linear and non-linear regression analysis were firstly analyzed separately and their results then were combined to evaluate soil degradation using the multiplication method. For the results, an optimum CART model, which applied blue, green, red, NIR, SWIR-1, SWIR-2bands, wetness index, and elevation to construct a decision tree for LULC classification from Landsat 8 images and DEM, provided an overall accuracy at 87.50% and a Kappa hat coefficient at 80.10%. Meanwhile, the average erosion rate in the study area was 3.37ton/ha/year. The most dominant soil erosion severity class was very slightly eroded (<6.25ton/ha/year) and it covered an area of 437.70 km2 or about 94.14% of the total study area.In the meantime, the most dominant soil salinity severity class was very low and covered an area of 415.55 km2 or about 89.37% of the total study area. At the same time, the dominant soil biological degradation class was moderate and covered an area of 296.05 km2or 63.67% of the total study area. According to the soil degradation assessment using the multiplicative method, the most dominant soil degradation class was very low and covered
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