Application of Space Pictures IKONOS for Agricultural Monitoring

Application of Space Pictures IKONOS for Agricultural Monitoring

Bakhtior Kurbanov
Deputy director and head of the department on science
The National Center of Geodesy and Cartography of the republic of Uzbekistan
Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent
bk1948@bk.ru

Development of mankind was always in close dependence with environment. First of all the basic problem during historical development of the mankind was the problem of well-being. At an early stage that was collection of nutriments. Further - the increase of agricultural crops mainly due to development of new lands. With industrial development - more intensive use of natural resources. Thus mankind did not worry about the condition of environment which resulted in thoughtless, at times barbarous use of natural resource to please its well-being. It resulted in the processes of desertification, soil salinity, degradation of soil and vegetation, pollution of superficial waters and etc. The nature and environment appeared rather vulnerable to excessive exploitation and anthropogenous pressure, application of inefficient systems of irrigation and water resources management, irrational methods of land tenure.

A vivid example is the Aral crisis - the largest ecological and humanitarian disaster in the newest history of the mankind, occurred during only one generation. It influenced about 35 million persons living in the pool of the Aral Sea. Mankind started to disturb about the condition of environment only when its negative consequences led to change of climate, decrease in agricultural productivity and started to render negative impact on living conditions and health of population.

The analysis of the world economy development testifies that from 1950 up to 1985 the grain yield was increasing almost on 3 % per year. For the same period the consumption of livestock products per capita increased on 40 %. In 90th situation started to vary to worse side. Sharp contradictions between quickly increasing population on the Earth and the opportunities of natural resources using were designated. The peak of annual growth of world economy fell on 60th and made 5,2 %. In 70th it decreased up to 3,4 % and in 80th fell on to 2,9 %. From 1990 to 1994 the world economy growth made about 0,5 % per year.

From 1950 to 1985 the grain yield was increasing almost on 3 % per year. For the same period the consumption of livestock products increased on 40 % per capita. From1985 the consumption of foodstuffs has been annually reducing on 1 % per capita.

Used traditional agrarian technologies have settled themselves. The area of arable lands, pastures remained practically the same. The quantity of produced grain, meat, and fishing mismatch the rates of population growth. The similar picture is observed in consumption of mineral raw.

Leading countries of the world came to understanding that the solution to the present situation should be searched in use of modern technologies. Alongside with modern technologies in extraction, processing of mineral raw resources, cultivation of agriculture products the rational use of natural resources demands attraction of modern informational resources and technologies. One of the types of the modern informational products is space shooting. Space pictures can be successfully used in various branches such as agriculture, ecology, search of minerals, defense and others [1,2,4,5]. During the last years the volume of remote sensing use for solution of various economic problems has essentially raised. Universal application of space information in separate directions is characterized by following parameters (in %):

Studying of bowels and exploration of minerals.......................................... 26
Ecological and geographical researches in general...................................... 18
Planning of using of territory and the land fund......................................... 12
Creation and updating of topographical maps............................................... 8
Designing, construction and operation of engineering constructions.............................. 6
Studying of shelf, water areas of the seas and oceans.................................... 5
Research of water resources.......................................................................... 4
State administration bodies............................................................................ 2
Other fields of remote sensing materials application…………………………....................... 8

Thus as follows from table 1, the share of materials using in satellite imagery grows more quickly in comparison with materials using in air photography [3]. It speaks about several factors. On resolution the satellite imagery comes closely to air photography. Thus the shot of satellite imagery covers bigger territory in comparison with air photography that simplifies the procedure of its processing. Unlike air photography the satellite imagery enables simultaneous survey in several zones of spectrum at once. The quantity of spectral zones can reach two hundreds (hyper spectral survey).

Application of polyzonal pictures in comparison with black-and-white, under the same conditions gives more reliable and detailed information about the state of natural resources, specific structure of vegetation, its distribution and the area they occupy. Color pictures on volume of information stand between polyzonal and black-and-white ones.

Table 1 THE WORLD SHARE RATIO OF VOLUMES OF SATELLITE IMAGERIES AND AERIAL PICTURES USE

Year	The share of aerial pictures, %	The share of satellite images, %
1995	78	22
2000	60	40
2005	36	64

For the Republic of Uzbekistan the sharpest problem became strengthening from year to year ecological and demographic load on the ground. Under the remaining high increase in population the area of arable lands per capita steadily decreases and makes for today 0.17 hectares. At the same time the potential of involving of new lands into agricultural production, suitable for running of agriculture, is close to exhaustion. Alongside with the abovementioned constant decrease in fertility and increase in pollution of arable lands is observed. In many respects a monoculture of cotton was the key problem contributed to violation of a crop rotation which in his turn led to an exhaustion of soils, as well as excessive consumption of mineral and poisonous fertilizers. The low standard of farming leads to the strengthening of processes of wind and water erosion and secondary salinity.

Realizing the necessity of solution of ecological, economic and social problems facing to Uzbekistan, the country leaders undertake a number of measures directed on their mitigation. The monopoly of cotton has been practically liquidated; the efforts of increasing the efficiency of irrigation systems and quality of agriculture running undertakes. However to speak about fast liquidation of the specified problems is too early. It is obviously that the solution of the problems will take tens of years.

Profound analysis of situation in agrarian sector of the republic of Uzbekistan, development the optimal administrative decisions is possible at presence of sufficient quality of actual and objective information about analyzed objects, whether it be condition of crops, crop predictions, borders of households or sowing areas, etc.

Aspiration to adjust effective, rational and planned management in agrarian sector encounters with many problems. First of all it is the absence of authentic and objective data both about locality, and character and mode of land tenure.

At a stage of transition to market economy the transfer of lands of agricultural purpose for rent to farmers are carried out in Uzbekistan. The land plots are transferred for rent for the period of 50 years with the right of succession. The rent and land tax are determined in view of land quality, its bonitet. It is necessary to define with accuracy the land bonitet of each farm. Thus farms at early stage can borrow the insignificant areas, sometimes it is only some hectares. The necessity of organization and monitoring of lands on the basis of modern information technologies and materials of space shooting of high resolution appears.

Now works on organization of monitoring of land resources are conducted in the republic. The works are conducted on the basis of GIS - technologies and with use of Ikonos satellite images. Zones of a spectrum such as red, green, blue and near infra-red are used. During the work such software products as Intergraph and Leica Geosystems are applied. Preliminary satellite images pass the procedure of orthophototransformation with use of digital models of terrain and the catalogue of basic and control points.

If necessary they are resulted to schedule of nomenclature sheets of topographical maps in the given scale, frame design is made up.

Works on creation of interpretation standards databank which is planned to use during the process of automated interpretation of satellite imagery are carried out.

On the basis of analysis of Ikonos satellite images materials the following problems find its solution:

Estimation of condition of crops, contamination, density, drowning, etc.;
Identification of various crops and definition of areas they occupy;
Estimation of influence of fertilizers on efficiency of crops and soils;
Inventory of meadows, haymakings, pastures with an estimation of their condition and efficiency;
Objective mapping of farmlands;
Account of land tenure types and ways of agricultural engineering running;
Drawing up of maps and borders of land tenure of the agricultural enterprises and cadastral maps;
Studying of soil structure and properties, soil mapping;
Soil and agricultural zoning of the territory of inspected region;
Performance of works on geobotanical inspection of pastures, etc.

Materials of satellite imagery are used as basis for conducting the State land cadastre. Demands of reliability, urgency, systemization and availability are required to objects of the State land cadastre.

These requirements are provided with organization of state account of territorial zones and land plots. The task of state account is fixation of legally significant and actual data about location, size, borders, shape and other physical characteristics of territorial zones and land plots in the state databank - the state land cadastre.

On the basis of satellite images maps of agricultural land in the scale 1:10000 are developed. Analyzing these maps, farmers have an opportunity to determine condition of agricultural lands and elaborate measures necessary for increasing of cotton, wheat and etc productivity. According to satellite images very salty or sandy soils which productivity is rather low are selected and deduced from agricultural production. The satellteimage of one of the rayons of Bayaut region of Syrdarya province is presented on fig. 1.

Fig. 1. An example of use of Ikonos satellite images for agricultural monitoring.
The territories with very salty soils which are necessary to deduce from agricultural production are shown on the right. By present time works in two rayons with total area of 2000 square kilometers were realized. by 2005 it is planned to lead similar works on all irrigated area of four provinces of the republic of Uzbekistan with total area over 30000 square kilometers.

Using of remote sensing materials (first of all the results of non-simultaneous polyzonal shooting of the same territories) will allow in the future to solve the following problems:

Dynamic estimation of condition of crops on phases of vegetation (a degree of maturing);
Forecasting of productivity and definition of terms of maturing of crops for greater areas;
Estimation and control of dynamics of course of seasonal agricultural works;
Control over influence of agricultural activity on an ecological condition of environment, etc.;

THE LIST OF THE LITERATURE:

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Vinogradov B.V. Space methods of studying of environment.-Moscow, the Science. 1976
Kiyenko JU.P. Bases of space natural study: the Textbook for high schools. - Moscow: "Mapgeocenter-Geodezizdat", 1999.285 p.
Kurbanov B.T., Salahutdinov R.Z. Estimation of environment condition: new approaches and solutions. // Geodeziya, kartografiya va kadastr. - 1998. - # 1. - p.42-46.
Smirnov L.E. Space methods of geographical researches.-Leningrad, the Science. 1975