Geoinformatics represented by its most powerful technology - Geographic Information

Systems (GIS) has become an important part of many disciplines and cuts across all
areas of modern information society. Geoinformation industry has seen in the last few
years a huge boom.A geographic information system (GIS) is a computer system for
capturing, storing, checking, and displaying data related to positions on Earth’s
surface. GIS technology applies geographic science with tools for understanding and
collaboration. It helps people reach a common goal: to gain actionable intelligence
from all types of data.

1.WHAT IS GIS
A GIS is a computer system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage,
and present a variety of spatial and geographical data. This computer system is very
important especially when it comes to planning. It has been used in a variety of
industries to help in planning and monitoring.
1.1 Definition:
• A GIS is a computer based tool for mapping ,analyzing things that exist and events
that happen on earth.
Burrough,1986 (OR)
• A database system in which most of the data are spatially indexed, and upon a set
of procedures operated in order to answer queries about spatial entities in the
database.
Smith et al,1987
Geographic information systems are utilized in multiple technologies, processes,
techniques and methods. They are attached to various operations and numerous
applications, that relate to: engineering, planning, management,
transport/logistics,agriculture, insurance, telecommunications, and business. For this
reason, GIS and location intelligence applications are at the foundation of location-
enabled services, that rely on geographic analysis and visualization.

2.GIS IN HORTICULTURE.
GIS applications play an important role in the production of crops, both locally and
across the globe. Through assisting farmers in increasing production, reducing costs,
and providing an effective means of managing land resources, GIS has become an
increasingly invaluable resource. Its applications come in a variety of forms,
including precision farming, drone and satellite technologies and the capabilities of
Geographical Information Systems themselves.
2.1

2. Precision Farming
Sensors on satellites, tractors and in fields are constantly collecting data. GIS and
other technologies shape this data into information that is accessible and interpretable
by farmers and land managers to make efficient and informed decisions (Geospatial
World, 2018).
The use of precision GPS by farmers has become an essential tool in the agriculture
industry. The technology has many cost saving and productivity advantages for
farmers, as well as benefits for the community and the environment. A key example
being its use in fertilizing crops, where machine sensors gather information about the
crops, and the GPS records the exact position it is applied on the field. The
technology then aids the application of fertiliser only to the areas where it is needed,
and can vary the rate of application to target nutrient-deficient sites (GIS Geography,
2018). This saves money on fertiliser product, as well as the environment from over
application and runoff into local streams and rivers.

2 Real-Time Mapping
satellite technology can collect real-time data from the Earth’s surface to assess and
monitor the condition of the land. Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS), vegetation
growth using Landsat imagery, and applying the Normalised Difference Vegetation
Index (NDVI), as well as a variety of other factors, can all be used to help estimate
crop productivity and monitor drought and flooding on a global scale (GIS Geography,
2018).
Drone technology is useful in collecting more local field data such as; plant height and
biomass, flora counts, disease and weed presence, nutrient values, elevation and
volume calculations (GIS Geography, 2018). Drones can replace time-consuming
tasks, normally performed by scouring fields on foot, to assess qualities of the flora
and vegetation present. Farmers are thus able to cover more ground, inspecting the
health of the crops using aerial imagery and other data that the drone can record.
In the United States of America, the National Agricultural Statistics Services (NASS)
have developed an online mapping application called CropScape. This application
can provide area estimates of crops, estimate the type of crop growing and how
large the size of its yield could be. Not just for privatised use, government agencies
have used CropScape data to assess such national issues as; food security,
pesticide control and changes to land-use (NASS, 2018).
3 Meeting the Future Demand for Food
GIS is not only being used for real-time analyses, but also to compare historical data.
Landsat satellite imagery can be used to assess historical trends of agricultural land
use over time. This can help to predict and plan for the amount of arable land
needed to supply food to the future populations.
4 Raising Awareness
Web mapping tools like the Institute of the Environment and the University of
Minnesota’s Feeding the World map (Figure 3), and the Food and Agriculture
organisation of the United Nations (FAO)’s World Hunger Map provide a unique view
of global food production. Though establishing the underlying causes of food
insecurity, GIS data and technology are helping to safeguard the areas and
communities affected by food scarcity.
GIS allows us to visualise, analyse and understand that vast extent geographic data
that is being stored and collected on a daily basis. It can now be easily
communicated to us which crops are flourishing, the extent that pollution and natural
disasters hinder production and control the use of fertilisers.

2.2 Benefits of Remote Sensing & GIS in Agriculture.

1. Crop Sown Area Estimation.
Crop sown area estimation is one of the major sections in agriculture Remote
Sensing activities, which is done for entire country. Remote Sensing plays a crucial
role in mapping and monitoring of various crops sown area estimation. Satellite
data such as Sentinel-1, 2, Landsat-8, World View-3, LISS-IV and more provide
precise level crop sown area and helps in crop loss assessment due to various
catastrophic disasters. WRMS estimates the crops and vegetables sown area of
paddy, cotton, wheat, pulses, potato, peas and more.
2. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI).
This is primarily used for the assessment of vegetation dynamics, particularly
in determining the crop health status. With NDVI, the possibility of
understanding the crop phenology escalates as it explains the crop chronology
and their relationship with weather and climate (season). NDVI is measured
using mathematical calculation of spectral bands within the satellite image
which measures healthiness of vegetation, as it has a robust correlation with
green biomass indicating a healthy vegetation or crop.
3. Crop Diseases Identification
Remote Sensing technology provides spatially distribution of information of
diseases and pests over a large area with relatively low cost. With the help of
satellite imagery and spatial analysis techniques, crop infected areas are
identified like Mealybug, Plant Hopper, and White Fly to get an overview for
evaluating the potentially infected areas..
4. Soil Properties
Soil properties are crucial in farm management practices as it has direct
impact on the yield output. Change in farming system and land management
results in soil change which compromises the current and future capacity for
primary production and provision of crops and by micro-nutrition’s mapping as
soil is a very important aspect of agriculture with characteristics like soil pH,
soil organic matter, soil texture among many others. These characteristics
infer information about soil condition by observing what happens on the
surface in terms of vegetation growth. On the other hand, water content
 available within the soil is a very important factor that is taken into
consideration by soil moisture mapping.
5. 5. Flood Impact
Every year in Kharif season, majority of agriculture area is damaged due to
flash flood or excessive rainfall. Satellite Remote Sensing provides significant
information through the use of satellite imagery along with ground-based data
collected from ground surveying teams, to compute precise damage
assessment. In case of flood due to rainfall, the excess amount of water
caused by the precipitation affects the agricultural area where the water
drainage system is absent causing inundation. Flood due to overflow
ultimately forms small tributaries and joins the river, creating a situation of
flood in the vicinity of river banks and river plains. The damage assessment of
flood can significantly improve the role of land use planning in managing flood
risk.
6. NATCAT Modelling
Natural Catastrophe modelling is a system to estimate the real time or
possible forecast of risk assessment, using the probabilistic approach to
predict the outcome and behaviour of natural hazards. This includes risk
mapping and measuring hazard through computer simulated catastrophe
models where scientific studies and historical occurrences are linked with
advance information technology and geographic information system (using
Remote Sensing & GIS). Flood risk maps are prepared depending on the
estimated depth of inundation of flood. The estimation is commonly derived
from various hydrological and remotely sensed data where the process
ensures that areas having higher depth of inundation will be assigned a high
‘hazard denomination’.
7. Drone Image Analysis for Crop Damage Assessment
Drone image analysis is very useful in micro level-crop assessment for crop
loss due to hailstorm, horticulture tree counting, diseases and many more.
The accuracy of drone image data is directly related to the spatial resolution
of the input imagery as the spatial resolution is very high ranging from 50cm
and increase as per the requirement.

2.3 NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL CASE STUDIES.

1.Characterization of biophysical land using remote sensing and GIS.
RS and GIS approach helps to characterize biophysical units more effectively
to
understand their biophysical potentials, problems and stress environment.
also
helps to prepare and execute site specification plans for optimum utilization of
available resources to maximize the productivity as well as maintain ecological
balance.
3.HYDROPONICS GARDENING

Hydroponics is a form of gardening that uses no soil, but instead grows plants in a
solution of water and nutrients. A hydroponic system can grow plants and vegetables
faster than growing outdoors in soil, and hydroponic systems can be used year-round.
Plants grown hydroponically often yield more, require less space, and use less water
than with conventional gardening. A hydroponic system also can be an ideal solution
for apartment dwellers and urbanites who do not have an outdoor gardening plot.

3.1 APPLICATION OF GIS IN HYDROPONICS -CASE STUDIES

1.Hydroponic farming hotspot analysis using the Getis–Ord Gi* statistic and
high-resolution satellite data of Majuli Island, India.
Majuli is the world’s largest Riverine Island, formed by the headward erosion and
migration of the Brahmaputra River. It is a part of the floodplains, which causes loss
of arable lands, crops and farmers’ livelihood. To cope and adapt, farming
communality adopted hydroponics farming. In this study, high-resolution satellite
data (~3 m) were deployed to detect hotspots of hydroponics growing under flood
conditions. A Getis–Ord Gi* spatial statistics technique was employed along with
vegetation indices. The spatial maps exhibit that at several locations of Majuli Island,
hydroponics was detected during the monsoon season. In total, 14 major sites were
identified under hydroponics with a total area of 5.6 ha. The accuracy of hydroponics
was assessed using precision and recall with the F1 score of 0.94. Around six sites
of hydroponics were also validated with the independent high-resolution Google
Earth image. This study demonstrates the utility of spatial statistics technique and
high-resolution data for hotspot analysis of hydroponics farming. The method can be
adopted for making plans and policies to identify locations for the commercialization
of hydroponics farming, which could assist in food security, employment and farmer’s
livelihood and has the potential to meet the second sustainable development goal
(SDG).

2.HydroNet: An Intelligent Hydroponics Web Service

Environment.

3.Cost Effective Smart Hydroponic Monitoring and Controlling System Using

IoT.
Hydroponic System is a system in which farmers cultivate different plants without
utilizing the soil. The IoT system that monitors and controls all parameters of
hydroponic system like water level, pH, humidity and temperature through mobile
application. In proposed system, the authors have used an ESP32 micro-controller
that is controlled pump. The pump will draw water from a reservoir which is
connected to a regular water line. If the water level of the reservoir falls down to a
certain level, the system will send an SMS to the Farmer. The farmer can control the
water line and make the reservoir full by mobile application. An LDR and DHT11
humidity sensor is used to control the light and temperature of the farm. In system,
we also used pH sensor where pH sensor is a scientific instrument that measures
the hydrogen-ion activity in water-based solutions and indicating its acidity or
alkalinity expressed as pH. The proposed hydroponic system can work smoothly on
each environmental factor and system has been showed good performance under
the setting condition.
System architecture of proposed system.

4.ROOFTOP FARMING
Rooftop farming can be a viable option for urban agriculture on account of
decreasing agricultural land, especially in Indian cities. It can play a significant role in
urban environmental management and enhance the continuously deteriorating
quality of air while offering organic and fertilizer-free produce.

4.1 APPLICATION OF GIS IN ROOF TOP FARMING -CASE STUDIES.

1.GEOSPATIAL VALUATION OF URBAN FARMING IN IMPROVING CITIES RESILIENCE: A CASE OF

MALANG CITY, INDONESIA.

The study divided urban farming into five forms i.e. nursery, allotment, residential, institutional and
rooftop farming based on its characteristics. Land inventory has been done by estimating existing
and potential areas. Existing area was manually delineated by Field Area Measure App through field
visit and visualized by ArcGIS. Potential area was identified through geospatial assessment
considering land use and land cover map provided by the Government of Indonesia and parcel
zoning based on Guideline of Urban Farming development and literatures. The study employed
Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) and Market Price Method to estimate total values of urban
farming.
2 . A GIS Suitability Analysis of The Potential for Rooftop Agriculture in
New York City.
Study to understand how the potential for rooftop agriculture and to a greater extent green roof
infrastructure in New York City can be determined using a geographic information system (GIS). A
GIS approach to this question allows for the integration of spatial information into the analysis, such
as distance from a school or location within a designated boundary. Using geospatial data also allows
for analysis to be performed on data attributes not otherwise available, i.e. building footprint area.
The model will be created using ESRI ArcGIS 10.0 software and public datasets created by various
entities including the NYC Dept. of City Planning, NYC Economic Development Corporation and
CUNY. The results of the model will be able to be leveraged by building owners, planners, policy
makers, advocacy groups, entrepreneurs and the public to increase awareness about the potential
for rooftop agriculture.
5.SUPPORTING INSTITUTIONS AND DATA PROVIDERS.
NRSA facilitates several remote sensing & GIS application projects for
natural resources and environmental management catering to food
security, water security, energy security and sustainable development.
SAC has been engaged in the development and dissemination of remote
sensing and GIS technologies for national development.
IRS data is being used for a diverse range of applications such as crop
acreage and production.
6. Challenges.
Automation of land evaluation procedures for a variety of
applications using GIS techniques.
Extending precision farming database to smaller farm size and /
or diverse crops/cropping systems.
More accurate yield models, maps
Identifying ways and means of reducing the cost of RS, GIS and
precision farming technologies
Errors in GIS.
7. Conclusion.
GIS along with spatial technologies like GPS and
Remote sensing will be a key to improving farm
practices in the coming decades.It plays a potential role decision making and
monitor, analysis, control the production parameters with the
aim to optimize the expanse and ecological effects
and to increase the income.