PRESENT AND ALTERNATE LANDUSE BASED ON 
NATURAL RESOURCES - ROLE OF REMOTE SENSING AND 
GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM 
M.L. Manchanda & M. Kudrat 
Regional Remote Sensing Service Centre 
ISRO, Dehradun, India 
ABSTRACT 
Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System are potential tools for soil resource inventory and landuse planning. In this 
paper, an attempt has been made to demonstrate the potential of these tools for natural resources mapping and landuse planning 
with special emphasis on land suitability evaluation, land irrigability and land capability classification. Based on the information of 
soil resource inventory, land characteristics and land qualities, landuse planning was formulated through a contextual decision (or 
querry shell). A few case studies from different parts of the country are presented in the context of soil mapping and landuse 
planning using remote sensing and GIS. 
INTRODUCTION 
Optimum landuse planning is essential to improve 
soil conditions, check soil degradation, conserve soil and 
water, which consequently increases soil productivity 
and better agricultural return (Smith et al., 1987; Reeves, 
1994). However, to a great extent this depends on the 
maintenance of land and soil properties within levels of 
variations that would allow their restoration. The 
feasibility of optimal landuse planning is based on the 
knowledge of the effect of management practices on 
water, land and soil properties (i.e. soil inventory data) 
and how they effect soil-crop relationship in order to 
make sound management decision (Francis and Clegg, 
1990; Power and Fallett, 1987). Hence there is call for 
optimum landuse planning. 
Landuse planning includes various activities 
depending on the local needs. The most common 
landuse planning activities are: 
• Land capability classification 
• Land irrigability classification 
• Land suitability evaluation for specific landuse. 
The first two are used for broad categorisation and 
latter one is site specific. This is accomplished by 
following the procedures detailed by AIS & LUS (1970) 
and FAO (1976). Landuse planning is inevitable and 
indispensable for alternate landuse and agrotechnology 
transfer (Sehgal, 1996). Soil inventory information and 
land characteristics/land qualities constitute the basic 
inputs for the landuse planning (Simakova, 1966). 
Remote sensing technique is operationally used for 
soil resource inventory, natural resource mapping at the 
scale of 1:50,000. It provides the realtime and accurate 
information related to land/soils. Remotely sensed 
satellite data in the form of false colour composite (hard 
copy) and digital data can be used to study and monitor 
land features, natural and dynamic aspects of 
anthropogenic activities towards preparation of thematic 
maps, depicting, various status of land and soils 
(Korolyuk and Scherbenko, 1994; Kudrat et al.. 1990; 
Singh and Dwivedi, 1986). Thus remotely sensed data 
become an important element for the development 
planning activity by providing the basic informations of 
a region. 
In the present presentation an attempt has been 
made to demonstrate the basic principles and steps of 
landuse planning using remote sensing and geographic 
information system. 
Table 1. Soil resource maps used for various purposes. 
SI. No. Information Required Scale 
1. 
National Level 1 
1000.000 
2. 
State Level 1 
250.000 
3. 
District Level 1 
50,000 
4. 
Tehsil / Subwatershed 1 
25,000 
5. 
Farm Level / Microwatershed 1 
4.000 
6. 
Soil Conservation Planning / 1 
Implementation 
4.000 
7. 
Reclamation of salt-affected soils 1 
8.000 
8. 
Command Area & Pre-irrigation Survey 1 
1 
50.000 
25.000 
9. 
Optimal landuse planning 1 
1 
50.000 
8.000 
Source: Peer Review Document. Department of Space. 1998.