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.
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Acknowledgements
The first author is sincerely thankful to the University Grants Commission (UGC), Govt. of India for providing financial support under BSR project scheme [No. F. 20-7 (19)/2012 (BSR)] to carry out the research work.
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Santra, A., Santra Mitra, S. Space-Time Drought Dynamics and Soil Erosion in Puruliya District of West Bengal, India: A Conceptual Design. J Indian Soc Remote Sens 48, 1191–1205 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12524-020-01147-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12524-020-01147-y