Evaluation of the Soil Geomorphological Properties of the Ajodhya Hill Area (India) and Their Impact on Land Use and Land Cover
Attributes of LULC are dependent on the soil and geomorphological character of the area. Objectives are to find out different attributes of soil and geomorphology and their interrelationship. Another objective is to find out the relationship between the character of soil geomorphology and attribute of land use and land cover. SRTM and ALOS data are used to prepare accurate DEM for analysis of morphology and topography of this region. LULC map is prepared from Landsat 8 satellite imagery through remote sensing software. Ajodhya Hill is situated in the Purulia district of the state of West Bengal. The maximum elevation of the hill is about 698 m from the MSL. Ajodhya hill is composed of older Archaean rock. Granite is the principal rock type. Ajodhyay hill is associated with five residual hills, with an undulating surface, having the maximum slope on the northern side but its southern side is experiencing a relatively gentle slope. The Foothill area of Ajodhya hill has a gentle slope varying between 0?-5? with a moderately thick soil layer. Much of the hill area is covered by healthy forests. Scattered vegetation, fallow land, and agricultural activity are found in the foothill pediment area. Sandy loam is the principal soil texture. Soil pH is neutral in character mostly. The majority of soil samples have a salinity level of 32-95 µ?/cm. Surface soils are dry in character having about .1-3 percent of soil moisture. The percentage of organic matter in the soil remains very low. The concentration of nitrate-nitrogen is very high, while ammoniacal nitrogen is about medium to low. The elevation of the foothill pediment region is less than 300 meters. This area is very dry and only fed by rainfall during the monsoon season. Local people stores water by creating an artificial reservoir for use in agriculture and household purpose. Sustainable management of resources is very useful for that region.
Mots clés : Agriculture|soil|geomorphology|Scattered|forest
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