Evaluation of Salinity Control and Reclamation Project (SCARP)

Impact on Bahawalpur Division using Google Earth Engine

Submitted By
Abdul Quddoos 2017-GCUF-07634
Suban Ans 2017-GCUF-05413
Zoia Fatima 2017-GCUF-05675
Muhammad Moazzam Abbas 2017-GCUF-05939

A project submitted in the partial fulfillment of the requirement

for the award of the degree of

BACHELOR OF REMOTE SENSING AND GEOGRAPHICAL

INFORMATION SYSTEM
2017-2021

DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY
GOVERNMENT COLLEGE UNIVERSITY, FAISALABAD

2021
 IN THE NAME OF

THE MOST BENEFICIENT & MERCIFUL

ii
 DEDICATION

Dedicated
To

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

Our Worthy Father

&

Loving Mother

Who taught us the first word we speak

The first alphabet we write

And

Supported us in all walks of our life

iii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to express deep and sincere gratitude to our honorable supervisor Miss
Syeda Areeba Gillani, Department of Geography, Government College University
Faisalabad (GCUF) for allowing us to do research and providing invaluable guidance
throughout this research. Her dynamism, vision, sincerity, and motivation have deeply
inspired us. It was a great privilege and honor to work and study under her guidance. We
are extremely grateful to our parents for their prayers and sacrifices to make us capable to
complete this project. We thank Brother Aamir Ilyas Haider for his help in report
formatting.

iv
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................... iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................................ iv
LIST OF FIGURES...................................................................................................................... vii
LIST OF TABLES....................................................................................................................... viii
LIST OF ACRONYMS ................................................................................................................. ix
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... xi
CHAPTER 1 ................................................................................................................................... 1
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 1
1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1
1.2 Objective ................................................................................................................................ 5
CHAPTER 2 ................................................................................................................................... 6
LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................................. 6
CHAPTER 3 ................................................................................................................................. 15
MATERIALS & METHODS ......................................................................................................... 15
3.1 Introduction to the Study Area ............................................................................................. 15
3.1.1 Location of the Study Area............................................................................................ 15
3.1.2 Weather and Climate ..................................................................................................... 16
3.1.3 Crops ............................................................................................................................. 16
3.1.4 Irrigation ........................................................................................................................ 16
3.2 Data Sets ............................................................................................................................... 16
3.3 Methodology ........................................................................................................................ 18
3.3.1 Import Datasets .............................................................................................................. 18
3.3.2 Land Cover Mapping..................................................................................................... 19
3.3.3 Accuracy Assessment .................................................................................................... 20
3.3.4 Calculate Area ............................................................................................................... 20
3.3.5 Export Maps .................................................................................................................. 21
3.3.6 Land Cover Change Assessment ................................................................................... 21
3.3.7 Calculate NDVI ............................................................................................................. 21
3.3 CART ................................................................................................................................... 22
3.4 Google Earth Engine (GEE) ................................................................................................. 22
3.4.1 Code Editor.................................................................................................................... 22
3.4.2 Explorer ......................................................................................................................... 23

v
 3.4.3 Client libraries ............................................................................................................... 24
3.5 Arc GIS................................................................................................................................. 24
3.6 Microsoft Excel .................................................................................................................... 25
3.7 Normalized Difference Vegetation Index............................................................................. 25
CHAPTER 4 ................................................................................................................................. 26
RESULTS & DISCUSSION .......................................................................................................... 26
4.1 Land Cover Status ................................................................................................................ 26
4.2 Vegetation status as per NDVI ............................................................................................. 27
CHAPTER 5 ................................................................................................................................. 33
CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................................ 33
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 34
APPENDIX 1 ................................................................................................................................ 40
APPENDIX 2 ................................................................................................................................ 42
APPENDIX 3 ................................................................................................................................ 44

vi
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 3.1 Study Area Map of Bahawalpur Division and Cholistan Error! Bookmark not
defined.
Figure 3.2 Flow Chart of Methodology ............................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 3.3 Import Datasets in GEE Code Editor ............... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 3.4 Land Cover Mapping in GEE ........................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 3.5 Accuracy Assessment Algorithm in GEE ........ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 3.6 Area Calculation Algorithm in GEE ................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 3.7 Export Maps from GEE .................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 3.8 Calculate NDVI in GEE ................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 3.9 Code Editor Interface ....................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 3.10 Explorer of GEE ............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 4.1: LandCover Map of Bahawalpur Division & Cholistan 1990Error! Bookmark
not defined.
Figure 4.2: LandCover Map of Bahawalpur Division & Cholistan 2000Error! Bookmark
not defined.
Figure 4.3: LandCover Map of Bahawalpur Division & Cholistan 2010Error! Bookmark
not defined.
Figure 4.4: LandCover Map of Bahawalpur Division & Cholistan 2020Error! Bookmark
not defined.
Figure 4. 5 NDVI based vegetation map of the Bahawalpur Division and the Cholistan
............................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 4.6 Percent change in landcover of Bahawalpur Division and Cholistan. ...... Error!
Bookmark not defined.
Figure 4.7 Correlation between Vegetation Cover and Barren Land. .... Error! Bookmark
not defined.
Figure 4.8 Vegetation change in Bahawalnagar District ... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 4.9 Vegetation change in Bahawalpur District ....... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 4.10 Vegetation change in Rahim Yar Khan District ............ Error! Bookmark not
defined.

vii
 LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1 Spectral resolution of each sensor band Landsat-8 ........Error! Bookmark not defined.
Table 3.2 Spectral resolution of each sensor band Landsat-5 ........Error! Bookmark not defined.
Table 4.1 The Land Cover Statistics ...............................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

viii
 LIST OF ACRONYMS

EC ………………………… Electric Conductivity

Ca ………………………… Calcium

Mg ………………………… Magnesium

K ………………………… Potassium

Se ………………………… Selenium

Sr ………………………… Stronium

Li ………………………… Lithium

Si ………………………… Silica

Rb ………………………… Rubidium

F ………………………… Fluorine

Mo ………………………… Molybdenum

Mn ………………………… Manganese

Ba ………………………… Barium

B ………………………… Boron

Al ………………………… Aluminum

Cl- ………………………… Chloride

SO2 -4 ………………………… Sulfate

HCO3- ………………………… Bicarbonate

NO3- ………………………… Nitrate

GCUF ………………………… Government College University Faisalabad

GIS ………………………… Geographic Information System

ix
RS ………………………… Remote Sensing

GEE ………………………… Google Earth Engine

ML ………………………… Machine Learning

SR ………………………… Surface Reflectance

TM ………………………… Thematic Mapper

ETM ………………………… Enhanced Thematic Mapper

MSS ………………………… Multispectral Scanner System

OLI ………………………… Operational Land Imager

SCARP ………………………… Salinity Control and Reclamation Project

NDVI ………………………… Normalized Difference Vegetation Index

FAO ………………………… Food and Agriculture Organization

LSU ………………………… Linear Spectral Unmixing

MODIS ………………………… Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer

LULC ………………………… Land Use Land Cover

x
 ABSTRACT

The present research attempted to determine the relationship between vegetation cover with
other land covers in Bahawalpur division, Punjab, Pakistan. Moreover, it aimed to examine
the Spatio-temporal trend of vegetation cover in the Bahawalpur division after the
implementation of the SCARP project. We utilize Google Earth Engine for this research
and we take the surface reflectance (SR) products from Landsat 5 ETM and 8 OLI sensors
to create NDVI composites and classification. In the Google Earth Engine, this data set is
accessible for 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020 at a spatial resolution of 30 m, and a temporal
resolution of 16 days. The outcomes show that vegetation has been increased by 12.8% in
Bahawalpur and Cholistan region from 1990 to 2020. Whereas the barren land including
the desert area has been decreased by almost 18% in the same time. A strong negative
correlation with the value of 0.94 was observed between these two landcover classes. There
is no doubt that the SCARP-projects have delivered some relief to the exaggerated lands.
The small capacity tube wells fitted in the SCARP areas helped in reducing the
waterlogging and salinity conditions. GEE and ML techniques provide a quick, effective,
spatially widespread, and multi-scalar technique for mapping land cover mainly the
vegetation in arid regions which is otherwise not possible to attempt through conservative
mapping.

xi
CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction
Soil is a non-renewable resource once lost, can’t be recuperated in a human lifetime, soil
ultimately directly affects economical change (Grieve, Dunford, et al. 1986). After soil erosion,
the second major cause of land degradation is soil salinity, which has been a cause of the decline
in agricultural societies for 10,000 years(McFarlane and Williamson 2002). Soil salinity causes
a decrease of 10-25% in crop yield and when it is severe and leads to desertification it may
prevent cropping altogether for achieving food security and to avoid desertification addressing
soil salinity through improved soil, water, and crop management practices is important(Shahid,
Zaman, et al. 2018). Soil salinity is a determination of the concentration of all the soluble salts
in soil water, and it is usually expressed as electrical conductivity (EC). The major soluble
mineral salts are the cations: sodium (Na+), calcium (Ca2+), magnesium (Mg2+), potassium
(K+), and the anions: chloride (Cl-), sulfate (SO2 -4), bicarbonate (HCO3-), and nitrate (NO3-).
Hyper-saline soil water may also contain boron (B), selenium (Se), strontium (Sr), lithium (Li),
silica (Si), rubidium (Rb), fluorine (F),molybdenum (Mo), manganese (Mn), barium (Ba), and
aluminum (Al), some of which can be toxic to plants and animals(Tanji and management 1990).
From the point of view of defining saline soils, when the electrical conductivity of soil extract
from a saturated paste (ECe) equals, or exceeds 4 deci Siemens parameter (dS/m) at 25˚C, the
soil is said to be saline(Staff 1954), and this definition remains in the latest glossary of soil
science in the USA.

Salinity and waterlogging are considered prevalent environmental hazards to the irrigated areas
of the world, especially in arid and semiarid regions. Soil salinity worsens the soil as well as
water quality(Zhu 2001). The salinity also plays important role in the plants' growth and
production as it has an inverse relation with the water availability to plants, the increase in the
salinity reduced the ability of the plants to extract water(Al-Khaier 2003). It majorly affects
plant growth, crop production, and sustainable utilization of land resources(Metternicht and
Zinck 2003, Zheng, Zhang, et al. 2009, Yang, Yang, et al. 2010); as an outcome, it causes of
reduction of farmlands by 1–2% per year(Rogers 2002, Ijaz, Ahmad, et al. 2020). FAO reported

1
that about half of the world irrigated land is affected by secondary salinity and waterlogging
(FAO, 1988),(Egamberdieva, Renella, et al. 2010), 3% of the world’s resources are salt-
affected, and of the fertile lands worldwide, 60% are evaluated to be seriously affected by
salinity. In these soils, 30–60% of the yield is lost and 20–30% of such lands have been deserted
as a result of salinization (FAO, 2011), (Dudal, Purnell, et al. 1986)reported that about 7% of
the global land is affected by salinity. A study reported that about 77 million ha are affected by
soil salinity and about 56% is from irrigated land (Dregne 1991).1.40 mha of all agricultural
lands and 25% irrigated lands of Pakistan are soil affected and now have been abandoned (Kijne
2006).

The condition in Pakistan is becoming worse due to the traditional practice of irrigation and
excessive use of groundwater. Pakistan is bestowed with abundant water resources in the form
of enormous rivers fed from worldly famous high snow- and ice-covered mountain peaks and
rainy water, their tributaries, hill torrents besides a vast underground water basin. The rivers
and their tributaries form the “Indus River System” - almost a century-old world’s largest canal
irrigation system which provides irrigation facilities (Azhar and Sciences 2010). Pakistan’s
total irrigated area is approximately 16.2 mha that lies in the Indus Basin Irrigation System. A
group of researchers evaluated that about 6.3 mha area of this land having the problem of
salinity and waterlogging(Qureshi, McCornick, et al. 2008). About 40% of irrigated land is
degraded which direct threat to economic and food security because land productivity may
reduce in salty areas(Qureshi, McCornick, et al. 2008). As more groundwater is being
abstracted to supplement limited surface supplies which are causing the situation even worse.
Now deep aquifer has been used to pump the groundwater that consists of saline water layers
that becoming the reason cause secondary salinization in the country. About 6 million ha area
of Pakistan is affected and 2.7 million ha of that lies in Punjab, 90% of country’s food
production lies in Punjab and 1 million ha of that land affected by waterlogging. Secondary
salinization associated with the usage of shallow groundwater and low-quality groundwater
caused worse salinity. (Aslam, Rashid, et al. 2015)

Cholistan desert consists of an area of about 26,000 sq is present in the southern Punjab province
of Pakistan. Around 4000 B.C. the Cholistan was a cradle of civilization which means it was a
location where civilization is understood to have independently appeared commonly it was

2
known as the Hakra valley civilization. At a time the river Hakra followed through the region.
About 1200 BC the river supplied permanent water. In 600 BC the river water flow became
non-uniform and thus dried up within a century(Akbar, Khan, et al. 1996). The Hakra
civilization is considered the earliest civilization of the Indian Subcontinent. In cultural
development, it can be compared with the Mesopotamian, Anatolian, Egyptian, and Babylonian
civilizations. The barren but engrossing landscape of the Cholistan desert which is also known
as “ROHI” in the local dialect is, considered as an extension of the Great Indian Desert which
includes the Thar Desert in Sindh province of Pakistan and the Rajhastan Desert in India
(Ahmad and Management 2011)

In hot deserted areas, the expansion and growth of vegetation are dependent on water
availability and water quality(Johnson 1971). Cholistan is highly fascinating if provided range-
land is managed properly, extracted benefits, and utilized fully according to agriculture
perspective (Anonymous, 1993)(Akbar, Khan, et al. 1996). Based on the Cholistan desert
landscape it is dispersed into two geomorphic regions. Lesser Cholistan spread over an area of
about 7,770 km2 in the northern part that is adjoining with the canal-irrigated regions while in
the southern part the Greater Cholistan has an area of about 18,130 km2. About 25% of
Pakistan’s land capacity for producing major crops may be depriving due to soil salinity (World
Bank, 1992). The factors in arid sub-tropical areas that cause waterlogging and soil salinity are
hot temperature, high evaporation, and low precipitation as well as sandy soil, plain geography,
and worst natural drainage for irrigation(Aslam, Rashid, et al. 2015). According to the 1960
series of Salinity Control and Reclamation Projects were started to reduce the waterlogging and
soil salinity. In the districts of Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalpur of Punjab province of Pakistan
SCARP -VI project was implemented because these cities were suffering from waterlogging
and salinity since the early1960s (NESPAK-ILACO, 1981(Khan 2005)). The main objective of
this project was to reduce soil salinity, waterlogging, and providing irrigation water so that
agriculture production can be improved because these factors have a major effect on the yield
of crops. The total area under this project is around 1.46 million acres (Mac) from this about
1.267 Mac are controlled by Punjnad and Abbasia Canals. (Waqasa, Niaza, et al.)

In 1989 to avoid water logging SCARP -VI (Javed, I, 200) started to install 514 deep drainage
tube wells. The 514 tube wells of Embankments for the operating purpose have been placed at

3
the saddle and in between the ridges to make ponds banks. By cutting the dunes to join the
neighboring ponds, which have modified them into adjacent series of ponds have been formed
the stream networks. The vegetation of the Cholistan desert includes xerophytic species,
adapted to extreme climatic conditions, the variability of moisture, and an extensive diversity
of edaphic conditions. The soil topography and chemical composition are the main factors on
which vegetation cover vary in the Cholistan area., Vegetation cover is comparatively better in
eastern Cholistan (200 mm rainfall zone) as compared to the hyper-arid southern region. Most
of the Cholistan area is covered by dunes. Fortunately, a vast range of nutritious and drought-
tolerant species of grasses, shrubs, and trees occupy the area. For the observation of the growth
pattern and conclusively do the successful measures to increase the vegetation the mapping of
vegetation cover is important which is possible by utilizing the resources proficiently. Field
survey by creating the quadrants over an area under observation is a traditional method of
vegetation mapping. In every single quadrant, the species can be surveyed by the number of
individuals, existence/nonexistence, or the percentage of species in each quadrant. (Khan 1987,
Ahmad and Chaudhry 1988)

This study is conducted on the Bahawalpur division located in southern Punjab Pakistan, where
the salinity problem is widespread, and on the other side vegetation is increasing over time due
to the SCARP project, the effects of this project are evaluated by using Google earth engine of
the years 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2020, where performed supervised classification for landcover
mapping. The Google Earth Engine (GEE) is a platform considered to store and process
enormous data sets (at petabyte-scale) for analysis and decisive decision making(Kumar and
Mutanga 2018). All the data sets are archived by Google and connected to the cloud computing
engine for open source use.

New evaluation possibilities in agricultural areas can be enabled by using the integration of
satellite imagery and ArcGIS tools. Since the 1960s remote sensing has been used from that
time when black-and-white and color aerial photographs were used to get information about the
different objects on the earth’s surface and to describe soil salinity (Dale, Hulsman, et al.
1986)Remote sensing is a technique for the scanning of the earth by satellite or high-flying
aircraft to obtain information in which electromagnetic energy of sun rays reflected from the
earth’s surface to obtain information about the different objects on earth with different levels

4
of detail. This concept is useful to recognize soil salinity. Normalized Differential Vegetation
Index (NDVI) can use to determine the soil salinity by indicators like vegetation health and
identification of halophytic plant (Aldakheel 2011, Iqbal 2011, Zhang, Zeng, et al. 2011).
Vegetation Indices such as normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), or other vegetation
indices are calculated using GEE. For vegetation cover, several studies have exposed the
practicality of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for detecting variations in
vegetation cover(Lunetta, Knight, et al. 2006, Lhermitte, Verbesselt, et al. 2011). Amongst
these techniques, NDVI image differencing has been one of the most general change detection
methods, and verified to be an appreciated approach for the detection of change in vegetation
cover (Kumar, Rao et al. 2013, Sinha and Sinha 2013, Mancino, Nolè, et al. 2014)Vegetation
index is one of the most useful and used index to rapidly classify vegetated areas by using
multispectral remote sensing data(Pirotti, Parraga et al. 2014).

1.2 Objective
1. To assess the Spatio-temporal trend of vegetation cover in the Bahawalpur division after
the implementation of the SCARP project.

2. To examine the relationship between vegetation, cover with other land covers in the
study area.

5
CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

To utilize remote sensing and GIS technologies to assess the Spatio-temporal trend of
vegetation cover in the Cholistan after the implementation of the SCARP project and to examine
the relationship between vegetation cover with other land cover using Landsat data (Landsat
5(TM) Landsat 7 (ETM) Landsat 8 (OLI)). The technique was used in this Maximum
Likelihood Classifier, ISODATA classifier, and NDVI. The outcome indicates that vegetation
increased, barren land and desert areas decreased in the same period (Mahboob, Atif, et al.
2016).

Reduction of water in the ground that increased the soil salinity during the time of 2015. The
technique was used in NDVI and soil classification and the data were used in this LANDSAT
data. Overuse of groundwater causes soil salinity in the irrigated area (Waqasa, Niaza, et al.).

Soil salinity and soil moisture in the coastal saline variable affect soil quality and agriculture
productivity. The spatial variability of soil moisture and salinity in china was detected by the
data acquired from the radar image and the proximal sensor EM38. The subtropical coastal
zones of China with frequent heavy cloud cover were detected by soil moisture and salinity
variability using the kriging method (Yan, Zhou, et al. 2013).

Remotely sensed techniques were used to investigate soil characteristics that allow the detection
of salt-affected soils in arid and semi-arid environments. The Linear Spectral Unmixing
technique (LSU) was applied in this study. Eighteen indices were extracted from the MODIS
Terra data (Bouaziz, Matschullat, et al. 2011).

Different aspects like salinity and waterlogging, which reduce the fertility of agricultural lands
adversely in Pakistan. The techniques were used in this Geospatial technology used to assess
the waterlogging and salinity conditions in the Nara canal command area. The outcomes from
this were due to an increase in waterlogging in the spatial distribution of water that affects the
shallow zone (Aslam, Rashid et al. 2015).

6
Correlate soil characteristics in saturation extract (ECe) and sodium absorption ratio (SAR)
with the spectral response of plant species. This Combined Spectral Response Index was
calculated for bare soils and vegetation by adjusting the normalized difference vegetation index
(NDVI) (Fernandez-Buces, Siebe, et al. 2006).

Due to soil salinization land degradation and desertification increased that threat to land
management and farming water quality. Using limited monitoring techniques on sentinel-2. The
outcome from this was that soil salinization changes quite significantly in different seasons
(Wang, Ding, et al. 2019).

Spectral reflectance of either salt features at the surface or of vegetation that was negatively
affected by salt varies with different salinity levels. A total of 149 composite soil samples from
the study area were collected. Total of 149 composite soil samples from the study area. NDVI
and NDSI were used to detected the thirteen indices from IKONOS satellite images (Allbed,
Kumar, et al. 2014).

Evaluate the thematic mapper (TM) and multispectral scanner (MSS) imagery for mapping land
cover types, and analyze the spectral features of sail crusts relative to bare soil, and detect the
soil salinity changes during the period 1975–2004 using Landsat data imagery in the Ardakan
area located in the central Iranian Deserts (Matinfar, Panah, et al. 2013).

Soil salinization is the most damaging problem in the environment in the coastal area that
included the Indus River Delta. Throughout the study area, 375 samples were collected from
125 different places. The oven-drying method was used to determine the dry density of the
samples. The outcomes are that Spatial analysis was revealed that more than 50% of the IRD
samples were affected by soil salinity (Solangi, Siyal, et al. 2019).

Methodologies for the digital soil mapping were the best for soil survey and enhance the quality.
By comparing the two soil digital maps they were divided into subgroups by qualitatively
approached. These soil digital mappings were predicted on the DEM data of 2000 (Roecker,
Howell, et al. 2010).

7
Vegetation indices were described as crop water derivatives. The four tools were used in this to
detect the soil salinity and drought water supply vegetation index (WSVI), the soil-adjusted
vegetation index (SAVI), the moisture stress index (MSI), and the normalized difference
infrared index (NDII) on Landsat 8 OLI data (Elhag and Bahrawi 2017).

Salinity increased due to worldwide because the use of excess use of low-quality groundwater
decreased vegetable growth and increased soil salinity. Cultivated land and irrigated land, were
salt-affected and degraded. The salinity threshold of the majority of vegetable crops was low
and vegetable salt tolerance decreased when saline water was used for irrigation (Machado and
Serralheiro 2017).

Analysis of the image was carried out using ArcGIS 10.2, ERDAS Imagine_ 11, ENVI 4.7, and
JMP statistical software Version 11. The different analysis was used to get the statistical
correlation between a field of electrical conductivity and soil salinity index were showed that
highest correlation between electric conductivity (Asfaw, Suryabhagavan et al. 2018).

Managing salinity in irrigated agriculture was crucial for minimizing its negative environmental
impacts. The study area is located in the Faisalabad district of the Central Punjab of Pakistan.
The techniques were used in this supervised classification and normalized differences index.
The relationship between salt-affected soils, waterlogged soils, and groundwater quality
revealed that 60–70% of the salt-affected soils occurred in shallow water table areas during
1992–1995 in the Indus Basin of Pakistan (Abbas, Khan et al. 2013).

Soil salinity of crop yield was estimated by using GIS and remote sensing. Soil surface sample
that was used to generate electrical conductivity (EC) map for the study area. The techniques
were used in this to generate EC map, Soil map, parcel map, land map. The outcomes from this
were that increasing EC value up to 13dS/m cause a decrease in cotton yield and wheat yield
(Cullu 2003).

The proper measurements were taken for sustainable agriculture and water management for soil
salinity. The primary data were used in this of soil salinity from 2000 to 2005 of the satellite
image of Pakistan. The techniques were used in sketching the bar graphs and taking indices.
The outcome from this was that Near-Infrared and Thermal IR spectral bands proved to be most

8
effective as this combination helped easy detection of cropping patterns (Iqba and Mastorakis
2015).

In Pakistan's irrigation system 90% of freshwater is consumed and 80% of water contributes to
nation production in district Gujranwala. The techniques were used in this using of RS and GIS
and different satellite indicators were used to examined and near-infrared and thermal IR
spectral bands. The outcomes showed that 19% of the riced area was affected by salinity in the
district of Gujranwala (Iqbal 2011).

Soil salinization causes most land resources degraded worldwide in the arid and semi-arid
regions also regional. Ground truthing, electrical conductivity, pH, reflectance spectra, and
mineral compositions were measured for topsoil salinization was used. The data were used in
this Landsat 8 OLI image and LST 2001. Five soil salinity classes were characterized by the
influencing factors of elevation, slope, LST, soil pH, top layer resistivity and thickness, and
depth to the groundwater table (Masoud, Koike et al. 2019).

A special spatial tool like RS and GIS were used to detect the proper measurements were taken
for sustainable agriculture and water management from the time of 2018 to 2019. The
techniques were used in this was NDVI, NDSI, NDVI, S.I. The outcome from this was that
temperature at the landscape level is significantly related to soil salinity. Statistical analysis
showed significant differences between salinity classes (Asfaw, Suryabhagavan et al. 2018).

Waterlogging and salinization are the twin evils of the irrigated agriculture in arid and semi-
arid areas, which reduce the productivity of agricultural lands adversely from 1992 to 1995 of
Faisalabad region. The techniques were used principal component analysis (PCA) and salinity
indices. The outcomes from images were categorized into three distinct classes of saline soils,
slightly saline, moderately saline, and strongly saline (Khan and Abbas 2007).

Negatively impact on land cause salinity, land production and plant growth cause signified
problem on arid and semi aid region of the world from 1990 to 2015. The techniques were used
in this applying salinity indices on primary data of soil. The outcome from this was that Soil
salinization was not as controversial as the other environmental issues like global warming,

9
climate change, water pollution and scarcity, air pollution, and deforestation (Gorji, Sertel et al.
2017).

Soil salinization causes a serious global threat to agriculture production and harmonized world
soil database covered the soil salinity data with several limitations. The data used in this thermal
infrared imagery from 1986 to 2016 of satellite data Landsat 5 and Landsat 8. The techniques
were used in this mosaicking and data modeling for soil salinity. outcomes were that combining
soil properties maps and thermal infrared imagery allows mapping of soil salinity (Ivushkin,
Bartholomeus et al. 2019).

Both classifications supervised and unsupervised were commonly used for the appropriate
identification of salinity, mostly at the regional level. MSS bands 3, 4, and 5 are proposed for
salt detection in the count to TM bands 3, 4, 5, and 7 (Naseri 1998).

Curious studies of using satellite images for salinity detection were conducted using microwave
brightness and thermal infrared temperature synergistically. The interpretation of the
microwave signal was done physically employing a two-layer model using fresh and saline
groundwater (Chaturvedi, Carver et al. 1983).

Soil salinity becomes the major environmental problem in an arid region. To identify the
potential of multispectral data to discern soil features and patterns of saline soil and predict soil
salinity by using the remotely sensed techniques on Landsat 8 data by the two indices SWIR
and EC (Fourati, Bouaziz et al. 2015).

To remove soil salinization from the soil by making the map of electrical conductivity for the
affected area in an arid and semi-arid region. The data was used in this Landsat 8 and newly
launched sentinel-2 satellite. The techniques were used in this mapping for the soil in electrical
conductivity (EC). The outcome indicated that electrical conductivity was the best for soil
mapping monitoring (Taghadosi, Hasanlou et al. 2019).

Northeast China was highly prone to land degradation due to its fragile physical settings
characterized by flat topography, a semi-arid climate, and a shallow groundwater table. The
aim was to determine the long-term for land cover change from 1992 to 2002. Due to over-
cultivation, overgrazing, and deforestation farming land was affected(Gao and Liu 2010).

10
Soil salinization was a form of topsoil degradation due to the formation of soluble salts at
deleterious levels using SPOT 5 imagery. the technique was used in this spectral analysis and
the Minimum Noise Fraction transformation and several indexes (Teggi, Costanzini et al.
2012).

Empirically investigated that parameters were used to detect the soil salinization land
degradation using both Landsat and Matic maps. The techniques were used in this were
vegetation cover and salinization detection and the Normalized Differential Salinity Index and
Salinity Index. The outcome was to expose the high soil salinization (Jabbar and Chen 2008).

Due to soil salinization, food and the environment were becomes the major issue in the world
right now. The techniques were used such as the cultivation of tolerant genotypes, suitable
irrigation, drainage, and land-use strategies, conservation agriculture, phytoremediation, and
bioremediation recovered the soil salinity issue (Mukhopadhyay, Sarkar et al. 2020).

Due to soil salinization, cotton production has been decreased during the investigation report
of 2013 and 2014. in soil salinity stress, trace amounts of BT proteins were observed in the BT
cotton GK19 rhizosphere soil, although the protein content increased with cotton growth and
increased soil salinity levels (LUO, ZHANG et al. 2017).

Soil salinization affects the soil microorganism on soil fertility which were described on the
basis total of 80 soil samples from 16 sites at four salinity levels. The outcome from this was
that soil salinity changed the abundances of soil bacterial, fungal, and arbuscular mycorrhizal
communities and, subsequently, affected their function in saline coastal ecosystems (Wang,
Ding et al. 2019).

Soil salinization affected geohazard in arid and semi-arid region landscape. The techniques
were used in this was remote sensing of soil salinity indexes and Landsat 8 OLI image data. the
index further outperformed other indices in its accuracy in mapping and identifying high saline
soils (67%) and excessively high saline soils (90%) (Abuelgasim and Ammad 2019).

Detecting soil salinity changes and their impact on vegetation cover are necessary to understand
the relationships between these changes on vegetation cover and to determine the changes in
soil salinity and vegetation cover in Al Hassa Oasis over the past 28 years and investigated that

11
the salinity change causing the change in vegetation cover from 1985 to 2013 using Landsat
data. The outcome indicates that using Landsat data it determines Normalized Difference
Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Soil Salinity Index (SI) images that cause no change from 1985
to 2000 either causing vegetation of 6.31% during the same period also found out that NDVI &
SI confirmed that for long period change in soil salinity and vegetation cover is highly negative
(p < 0.0001) (Allbed, Kumar et al. 2018).

In China, there was a huge problem of soil salinization that causes a huge problem in the
production of agriculture. Saline area detected by using the digital soil mapping by using on the
multispectral Quick Bird imagery data. The outcome that three maps were used to detect saline
area by using fuzzy k-mean and NDVI (Guo, Shi et al. 2013).

Salinization has been increased for the last 13th years which tells that more than 2 536.3 km2
were affected by the salinization which was detected by using geoinformation techniques such
as NDSI And SI on Landsat and Thematic map data (Jabbar and Zhou 2012).

All over the world crop production is affected by soil salinity. Climate change, extreme use of
groundwater, and the use of low-quality water in irrigation cause salinity. Excessive soil salinity
reduces crop production. The use of saline water causes a decrease in the salinity threshold of
vegetable crops. The objective of this review is to highlight the salinity effects on crop yield
and how can prevent soil and water salinization (Kamran, Malik et al. 2019).

Soil salinization has been a world problem since china also suffering from this problem.
Salinization has been detected by using 30 years of data 1985 to 2015 on Landsat data 4/5, 7-
ETM, and 8-OLI. The new perspective for use of multiple Landsat data in soil salinity retrieval,
and further the understanding of soil salinization development over (Fan, Weng et al. 2016).

Soil salinity has become the most dangerous problem in the world that reduced agriculture
production from 2009 to 2010 by dealing with soil salinity mapping on Landsat 7 data. By using
techniques such as NDSI, BI, SI, RVI, SAVI, and EVI. The outcome was described that soil
digital mapping has now become the best for soil salinity (Azabdaftari and Sunarb 2016).

12
Soil salinity has been increased in Oman by over-using of fresh groundwater. The techniques
were used to define the soil salinity were remotely sensed techniques and monitoring,
delineating, and mapping soil salinity (Al-Mulla, Ahmed et al. 2010).

By using the remotely sensed data soil salinity and water management were linked to getting
control of it. For soil salinization supervised classification was done and for crop area crisis
NDVI and unsupervised classification were taken. The results were that salinized and cropped
areas were found accurate results and drainage system to control salinization in China (Wu,
Vincent et al. 2008).

Remote sensing and GIS techniques were have been best detecting soil salinity using satellite
images. Salinity indices and field data were used to develop a regression file. A regression
model was best to describe the high value of R and low pH that tells 20% of data collected were
from field data and predict the EC model (Morshed, Islam et al. 2016).

A range of remote sensing data has been used for monitoring and detecting the salt-affected
areas, counting video images aerial photographs, infrared thermography, visible and infrared
microwave, and multispectral images (Metternicht and Zinck 2003).

We originate that TM data in bands 1 through 5 and seven are good for detecting salt minerals,
a minimum of once they are a prevailing soil component. Additionally, salt minerals affect the
thermal behavior of the soil surface (Menenti, Lorkeers et al. 1986).

The bands formed thematic maps representing gypsiferous calcareous, and clay surfaces
consuming TM bands 3, 4, and 5. They found that TM is a valuable aid for mapping soil in arid
areas when used in combination with airborne photographs (Mulders and Epema 1986).

Examined a collative approach including the use of LANDSAT2_MSS “FCC” (False Colour
Composite), a survey of topographic maps, and limited field checks for mapping saline soils
and wetlands. Their results showed that due to their distinctive coloration and unique pattern
on false-color composite imageries the separation of saline and waterlogged soil is feasible
(Sharma and Bhargava 1988).

13
Multiple regression analysis using the electrical conductivity values and therefore the spectral
observations to estimate the electrical conductivity for every pixel within the field supported
sampling sites. They produced a salinity image using the regression equation and the salinity
classifications. And their procedure was applied to a whole irrigation district in northern Mexico
(Coudert 1995).

The investigations in Pakistan are based on a classification-tree technique. In this technique,

the first handling is to mask vegetation from non-vegetation using NDVI. Then the brightness
index is calculated to spot the moisture and salinity status on bare land and reckless fields
(Vidal, Maurel et al. 1997).

Landsat time-series data used for Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and Soil Salinity
Index images, which were used to identify vegetation and salinity changes. During 2000-2013
soil salinity increased as compared to 1985-2000 while vegetation decreased to 6.31%. `Highly
negative relationships found between the NDVI and SI differencing images' (Machado and
Serralheiro 2017).

Soil salinization introduced a wide range of physiological and biochemical alterations of plants
which cause lowered water potential in the soil and a higher increase of reactive oxygen species
(ROS). One of the protectants, selenium (Se) considered effective against excessive soil
salinity. This review about plant growth can be improved by Se-mediated and also suggests
future perspectives (Allbed, Kumar et al. 2018).

14
CHAPTER 3

MATERIALS & METHODS

3.1 Introduction to the Study Area

3.1.1 Location of the Study Area

Bahawalpur division is an administrative division of Punjab Province, Pakistan. It is also

one of the largest divisions of the province and consists of three districts namely
Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, and Rahim Yar Khan. It lies between Latitude: 28° 29' 59.99"
North and Longitude: 71° 29' 59.99" East. Located in the south of the Punjab
province(Akbar, Khan, et al. 1996), the Bahawalpur division is bordered by India to its
south and southeast(Farooq, Samad, et al. 2010). The area of the Bahawalpur division is
45,588 km2 (17,602 sq mi). It spreads about 450 km in north-south length and 175 km in
east-west width. The total population according to census 2017 is 11,464,031 and with a
density of 250/ km2 (650/sq mi)(Ahad, ur Rehman, et al. 2004).

Figure 3.1 Study Area Map of Bahawalpur Division and Cholistan

15
3.1.2 Weather and Climate

The Bahawalpur lies at 117m above sea level. The climate here is "desert." During the year,
there is virtually no rain in Bahawalpur. The average annual temperature is 25.7 °C (78.3
°F) in Bahawalpur. The rainfall here is around 143 mm (5.6 inches) per year. The driest
month is November, with 1 mm | 0.0 inch of rain. Most precipitation falls in July, with an
average of 49 mm (1.9 inches). June is the warmest month of the year. The temperature in
June averages 35.6 °C (96.1 °F). In January, the average temperature is 13.4 °C (56.1 °F).
It is the lowest average temperature of the whole year(Akbar, Khan, et al. 1996).

3.1.3 Crops

The city of Bahawalpur is located favorably for commerce, lying at the junction of trade
routes from the east, south-east, and south. It is a center for trade in sugarcane, wheat,
cotton, millet, and rice grown in the surrounding region(Ijaz, Ahmad, et al. 2020). Dates
and mangoes are also grown here. The principal industries are cotton ginning, rice and flour
milling, and the hand weaving of textiles.

3.1.4 Irrigation

The groundwater irrigation coupled with high pumping cost and salinity hazards make it
more important that groundwater irrigation be used efficiently and judiciously,
agriculturists have increasingly sunk tube wells to keep their business afloat(Mahboob, Atif,
et al. 2016). It is chiefly desert irrigated by the Sutlej inundation canals and yields crops of
wheat, cotton, and sugarcane. Farther east, the Rohi, or the Cholistan, is a barren desert
tract, bounded on the north and west by the Hakra depression with mound ruins of old
settlements along its high banks. (Ahmad and Chaudhry 1988) Groundwater is mostly
salinized and deep in such regions so they are dependent mostly on canal irrigation and
pumping from it.

3.2 Data Sets

For this study, in Google Earth Engine, we use the surface reflectance (SR) products from
Landsat 5 ETM and 8 OLI sensors to create NDVI composites and classification. The Landsat

16
SR products correct for atmospheric and illumination/viewing geometry effects, and are the
highest levels of image processing available for Landsat data (Masek, Vermote, et al. 2006),
provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In the engine, this
data set is accessible for 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020 at a spatial resolution of 30 m, and a
temporal resolution of 16 days. Before computations, this data set was masked for water, clouds,
heavy aerosols, and cloud shadows.

Band Spectral Domain Wavelength

Band 1 Coastal Aerosol 0.435 - 0.451
Band 2 Blue 0.452 - 0.512
Band 3 Green 0.533 - 0.590
Band 4 Red 0.636 - 0.673
Band 5 Near Infrared (NIR) 0.851 - 0.879
Band 6 Short-wave Infrared (SWIR) 1 1.566 - 1.651
Band 7 - Short-wave Infrared (SWIR) 2 2.107 - 2.294
Band 8 Panchromatic 0.503 - 0.676
Band 9 Cirrus 1.363 - 1.384
Band 10 TIRS 1 10.60 – 11.19
Band 11 TIRS 2 11.50 - 12.51

Table 3.1 Spectral resolution of each sensor band Landsat-8

Band Spectral Domain Wavelength

Band 1 Blue 0.45 - 0.52
Band 2 Green 0.52 - 0.60
Band 3 Red 0.63 - 0.69
Band 4 Near Infrared 0.77 - 0.90
Band 5 Short-wave Infrared 1 1.55 - 1.75
Band 6 Thermal Infrared 10.40 - 12.50
Band 7 Short-wave Infrared 2 2.09 - 2.35

Table 3.2 Spectral resolution of each sensor band Landsat-5

17
3.3 Methodology

The methodology of this study mainly consists of land cover mapping, accuracy assessment
land-cover change assessment, and indices.

Figure 3.2 Flow Chart of Methodology

3.3.1 Import Datasets

Firstly, define an area of interest, for this task import shapefile of our study area in the code
editor. Then import surface reflectance (SR) products from Landsat 5 ETM and 8 OLI through
the data catalog. Set the zoom level and add a map layer in the map view.

18
 Figure 3.3 Import Datasets in GEE Code Editor

3.3.2 Land Cover Mapping

In this research, over the stacked 30 m spatial layers (optical spectral bands, NDVI), four
significant land cover classes, for example, 'vegetation', 'water', 'built-up' and ‘bare land’ were
recognized and planned through RF machine learning arrangement calculation in GEE. We
perform pixel-based classification with Classification and Regression Tree (CART)—a binary
decision tree classifier (Goldblatt, You et al. 2016).

For mapping of the defined four land cover classes, well-distributed random samples were taken
from the Landsat image. The visual image interpretation techniques (tone, surface, and pattern),
spectral signatures/responses, and mosaicked Google's high-resolution foundation satellite
image in GEE assisted with distinguishing and separate land cover classes.

Figure 3.4 Land Cover Mapping in GEE

19
3.3.3 Accuracy Assessment

In this study, utilizing the error matrix method (Foody 2002), generally, producer, and
consumer/user accuracies along with Cohen's Kappa coefficient value were created and
revealed for each produced land cover map (Gilani, Shrestha, et al. 2015). Overall precision
and Cohen's Kappa value exists somewhere in the range of 0 and 1, a value above 0.8 (80%) is
viewed as acceptable exactness, while a value equivalent to or underneath 0.4 (40%) is viewed
as poor (Foody 2010).

Figure 3.5 Accuracy Assessment Algorithm in GEE

3.3.4 Calculate Area

Figure 3.6 Area Calculation Algorithm in GEE

20
3.3.5 Export Maps

The final land cover maps were exported from GEE to desktops for further statistical
assessments, spatial analysis, and cartography.

Figure 3.7 Export Maps from GEE

3.3.6 Land Cover Change Assessment

In this study, for land cover change assessment, land cover maps for 1990, 2000, 2010, and
2020, were evaluated and compared in terms of area coverage. The annual rate of change and
cross-tabulated methods were used to identify land cover changes over the last three decades
i.e. 1990–2000, 2000–2010, and 2010–2020

3.3.7 Calculate NDVI

For this study, in Google Earth Engine, we have used NDVI data which was collected from
surface reflectance (SR) products of Landsat 5 ETM and 8 OLI sensors to create NDVI
composites. In the engine, this data set is available at a spatial resolution of 30 m, and a temporal
resolution of 16 days. The NDVI shows the variation of vegetation condition for a region
between the range of − 1 to + 1.

21
 Figure 3.8 Calculate NDVI in GEE

3.3 CART

(Classification and Regression Tree) is a binary decision tree. The classifier recursively
examines each example’s variables with logical if-then questions in a binary tree structure.
Questions are asked at each node of the tree, and each question typically looks at a single input
variable. (Elvidge, Safran, et al. 2004)

3.4 Google Earth Engine (GEE)

Google Earth Engine is a computing platform that allows users to run a geospatial analysis of
Google's infrastructure. There are a few different ways to interface with the platform. The Code
Editor is a web-based IDE for composing and running scripts. The Explorer is a lightweight
web application for exploring our data catalog and running basic analyses. The client libraries
provide Python and JavaScript wrappers around our web API. (Gorelick, Hancher, et al. 2017)

3.4.1 Code Editor

The Earth Engine Code Editor at code.earthengine.google.com is a web-based IDE for the Earth
Engine JavaScript API. It requires login with a Google Account that’s been enabled for Earth
Engine access. Code Editor Features are intended to make creating complex geospatial work

22
processes quick and simple. The Code Editor has the following elements (illustrated in figure
3.8).

Figure 3.9 Code Editor Interface

3.4.2 Explorer

The Explorer is a simple web interface to the Earth Engine API. It allows anyone to visualize
the data in the public data catalog. Signed in Earth Engine users can also import data, run simple
analyses, save, and export the results. (Gorelick, Hancher, et al. 2017)

23
 Figure 3.10 Explorer of GEE

3.4.3 Client libraries

The client libraries provide JavaScript and Python wrapper functions for the Earth Engine API.
You can utilize them to build custom applications and to develop Earth Engine code locally
utilizing a JavaScript or Python interpreter. The repository on GitHub includes several demos
illustrating how to utilize the client libraries. (Gorelick, Hancher, et al. 2017)

3.5 Arc GIS

ArcGIS is working with maps and geographic information maintained by the Environmental
Systems Research Institute (ESRI). It is used for compiling geographic data, analyzing mapped
information, sharing and discovering geographic information, using maps and geographic
information in a range of applications, and managing geographic information in a database. The
system provides an infrastructure for making maps and geographic information existing
throughout an organization, across a community, and openly on the Web. We use Arc GIS for
creating map layouts and find percentages of every class.

24
3.6 Microsoft Excel

MS Excel is a spreadsheet developed by Microsoft for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS.
Its graphing tools, pivot tables, structure calculation, and a macro programming language called
Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). It has been a very broadly applied spreadsheet for these
platforms, particularly since version 5 in 1993, and it has replaced Lotus 1-2-3 as the industry
standard for spreadsheets. We use this software for creating charts, graphs, and tables.

3.7 Normalized Difference Vegetation Index

Vegetation is an important module of the global ecosystem and acquaintance of the vegetation
cover of Earth is important to understand because it plays important role in land-atmosphere
interactions and their effects on climate. Surface water and energy budgets through plant
transpiration, surface albedo, emissivity, and roughness directly influence by Changes in
vegetation cover (Aman, Randriamanantena, et al. 1992). Vegetation coverage plays important
role in the maintenance of land conditions and ecosystem balance in the watershed area.
Vegetation dense detection can be used as a tool for the monitoring dynamics of the ecosystem
(Pirotti, Parraga, et al. 2014). Vegetation dense usually determine by calculating NDVI (natural
vegetation index). NDVI is the most common formula to calculate the value of vegetation index
(NDVI) which gives information related to the primary production of vegetation in any area
(Pettorelli, Ryan, et al. 2011). The vegetation index is one of the most useful and used indexes
to rapidly classify vegetated areas by using multispectral remote sensing data (Pirotti, Parraga,
et al. 2014). NDVI is defined as NDVI =N – R / N + R

Where R and N represent surface reflectance averaged over visible (λ ∼0.6 μm) and near-
infrared (NIR) (λ ∼0.8 μm) regions of the spectrum. The NDVI is allied with few biophysical
properties of the vegetation cover, such as leaf area index (LAI), vegetation condition, fractional
vegetation cover, and biomass (Huete 1988, Carlson and Ripley 1997). Values range for NDVI
from +1.0 to -1.0. Sand, areas of barren land, or snow usually show very low NDVI values like
0.1 or less. Thin vegetation such as grasslands and shrubs may result in moderate NDVI values
about 0.2 to 0.5. Dense vegetation such as that found in temperate and tropical forests or crops
at their peak growth stage usually show high NDVI values about 0.6 to 0.9 (USGS).

25
CHAPTER 4

RESULTS & DISCUSSION

4.1 Land Cover Status

The land cover maps (Figure 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4) shows the spatial distributional pattern of the
land cover of the Bahawalpur Division and the Cholistan for the year 1990, 2000, 2010, and
2020. The statistical graphs reveals that in 1990, about 24.39% (11093.34km2) area was under
vegetation, 3.59% (931.13km2) underwater, 2.49% (1430.90km2) under built-up land and
69.53% (31936.19km2) under barren land including desert. During 2000 the area under these
land categories was found about 34.42% (14341.71km2) under vegetation, 0.56% (454.11km2)
underwater. Beside that 3.52% (2062.14km2) under built-up and 61.94% (28533.60km2) under
barren land and desert.

Figure 4.1: LandCover Map of Figure 4.2: LandCover Map of

Bahawalpur Division & Cholistan 1990 Bahawalpur Division & Cholistan 2000

26
 Figure 4.3: LandCover Map of Figure 4.4: LandCover Map of
Bahawalpur Division & Cholistan 2010 Bahawalpur Division & Cholistan 2020

During 2010 the area under these land categories was found about 35.72% (14853.69km2) under
vegetation, 0.15% (248.61km2) under water, 6.30% (2444.36km2) under built-up and 57.83%
(27844.36km2) under barren land and desert. In year 2020 about 37.19% (16227.42km2) under
vegetation, 0.70 % (688.95km2) under water. Beside that 10.17% (3936.15km2) under built-up
and 51.94 % (24539.04km2) under barren land and desert. (Table 4.1)

Classes 1990 % 2000 % 2010 % 2020 %

Vegetation 11093.34 24.39 14341.71 34.42 14853.69 35.72 16227.42 37.19
Water 931.13 3.59 454.11 0.56 248.61 0.15 688.95 0.70
Built-up 1430.90 2.49 2062.14 3.52 2444.90 6.30 3936.15 10.17
Barren
31936.19 69.53 28533.60 61.94 27844.36 57.83 24539.04 51.94
Land
Total 45391.56 100 45391.56 100 45391.56 100 45391.56 100

Table 4.1 The Land Cover Statistics

4.2 Vegetation status as per NDVI

As per normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) the vegetation in 1990, 2000, 2010 and
2020 was 25.26%, 32.1%, 35.45% and 39.86% respectively. The temporal variation of NDVI

27
in Cholistan and Bahawalpur Division is shown in Figure 4.5. It is obvious from the map that
there is a major increase in vegetation in the study area.

Figure 4. 5 NDVI based vegetation map of the Bahawalpur Division and the Cholistan

The results from classification and NDVI indicate that vegetation has a significant increase in
the Bahawalpur division and the Cholistan since 1990. As per classification the increase in
vegetation cover is almost 13% and barren land and the desert area have been decreased by
almost 18% from 1990 to 2020. (Figure 4.6)

28
 Land Cover Change
80.00
70.34
70.00 62.21
58.84
PERCENTAGE 60.00 51.87
50.00
35.01 37.23
40.00 34.04
30.00 23.87
20.00
10.26
10.00 3.35 2.44 3.31 6.03
0.44 0.11 0.64
0.00
1990 2000 2010 2020
YEARS

Vegetation Water Builtup Barren Land

Figure 4.6 Percent change in landcover of Bahawalpur Division and Cholistan.

This can be directly related to the implementation of SCARP in Bahawalpur and Cholistan.
Also the statistical correlation value of r = -0.94 between the vegetation cover and barren land
discloses that vegetation is increasing and barren land is decreasing in the study area. There is
a strong negative correlation between the two landcover classes as shown in figure 4.7.

Vegetation & Barren Land Correlation

35000 31936
28534 27844
30000
24539
25000
AREA IN SQ. KM

20000 16227
14342 14854
15000 11093
10000

5000

0
1990 2000 2010 2020
YEARS

Vegetation Barren Land R² = 0.94

Figure 4.7 Correlation between Vegetation Cover and Barren Land.

29
The major change is observed in Bahawalnagar district (figure 4.8). Vegetation increase by
20.97% and barren land decreased by 25.05%. The spatial spreading of that change is mainly
in Mincihinabad tehsil, Haroonabad tehsil, and Fort Abbas tehsil by 32.62%, 21.63%, 14.41%
vegetation increase respectively and decrease barren land by 34.03%, 28.91%, and 19.38%
respectively (Appendix 1). In this area, the government has provided funding on the water
pumps fitting to the local farmers under SCARP.

Figure 4.8 Vegetation change in Bahawalnagar District

The Bahawalpur district has also observed an increase in vegetation cover as shown in figure
4.9. Vegetation increase by 11.26% and barren land decreased 14.79%. This can be associated
with the extension and expansion of three canals in the area named as Shāhiwāla Distributary,
Two R Distributary, and Dahri Minor. This canal system was established in Yazman under
Satluj Valley Project canal system. Near to Yazman in the Ahmadpur East region, vegetation
followed the same increasing trend and this region also share the same canal irrigation Satluj
Valley Project system. Mainly vegetation increase in Bahawalpur tehsil, Ahmadpur East tehsil,
and Yazman tehsil by 24.55%, 23.21%, 7.46% respectively and decrease barren land by
29.55%, 19.24%, and 11.83% respectively. (Appendix 2)

30
 Figure 4.9 Vegetation change in Bahawalpur District

Under the project of SCARP, the deepwater tube wells were established in the Rahim Yar Khan.
The spatial and temporal analysis reveals that in this region the vegetation has been increased
considerably as shown in figure 4.10. The government is also giving subsidies to the local
farmers on the installation of solar tube wells under the project Roshan Energy Solar
Bahawalpur and the Cholistan. Mainly vegetation increase in Rahim Yar Khan Tehsil and
Liaqatpur Tehsil by 17.67%, 7.12% respectively and decrease barren land by 17.74%, 13.72%
respectively. (Appendix 3)

31
Figure 4.10 Vegetation change in Rahim Yar Khan District

32
CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSIONS

The study was conducted in the Bahawalpur division and Cholistan desert to assess the impacts
of Salinity Control and Reclamation Projects, (SCARP). Using Google Earth Engine machine
learning algorithm was determined from 1990 to 2020. The major landcover in the study area
was barren land and desert which has been decreased by almost 18%. While vegetation cover
was found to be improved by 13% since 1990. The increase in vegetation can be connected
with the SCARP. There can be no doubt that the SCARP-projects have delivered some relief to
the exaggerated lands. The small capacity tube wells fitted in the SCARP areas helped in
reducing the waterlogging and salinity conditions. GEE and ML techniques provide a quick,
effective, spatially widespread, and multi-scalar technique for mapping land cover mainly the
vegetation in arid regions which is otherwise not possible to attempt through conventional
mapping.

33
 REFERENCES

Abbas, A., et al. (2013). "Characterizing soil salinity in irrigated agriculture using a remote sensing
approach." Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C 55: 43-52.

Abuelgasim, A. and R. Ammad (2019). "Mapping soil salinity in arid and semi-arid regions using
Landsat 8 OLI satellite data." Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment 13: 415-425.

Ahad, A., et al. (2004). "Measurement of radioactivity in the soil of Bahawalpur division, Pakistan."
112(3): 443-447.

Ahmad, F. J. J. o. S. S. and E. Management (2011). "Soil classification and micromorphology: A case

study of Cholistan Desert." 2(11): 321-328.

Ahmad, N. and G. R. Chaudhry (1988). Irrigated agriculture of Pakistan, S. Nazir.

Akbar, G., et al. (1996). "Cholistan desert, Pakistan."

Al-Khaier, F. J. T. N. (2003). "Soil Salinity Detection Using Satellite Remote Sensing (MS Thesis) ITC
(International Institute for Geo-information Science and Earth Observation)."

Al-Mulla, Y., et al. (2010). "Salinity mapping in Oman using remote sensing tools: status and trends."
Published in the Monograph on Management of Salt-Affected Soils and Water for Sustainable
Agriculture (Mushtaque A, Al-Rawahi SA, Hussain N (eds)). Sultan Qaboos University, Oman: 17-24.

Aldakheel, Y. Y. J. J. o. t. i. S. o. R. S. (2011). "Assessing NDVI spatial pattern as related to irrigation

and soil salinity management in Al-Hassa Oasis, Saudi Arabia." 39(2): 171-180.

Allbed, A., et al. (2014). "Assessing soil salinity using soil salinity and vegetation indices derived from
IKONOS high-spatial resolution imageries: Applications in a date palm dominated region." Geoderma
230: 1-8.

Allbed, A., et al. (2018). "Soil salinity and vegetation cover change detection from multi-temporal
remotely sensed imagery in Al Hassa Oasis in Saudi Arabia." Geocarto International 33(8): 830-846.

Allbed, A., et al. (2018). "Soil salinity and vegetation cover change detection from multi-temporal
remotely sensed imagery in Al Hassa Oasis in Saudi Arabia." 33(8): 830-846.

Aman, A., et al. (1992). "Upscale integration of normalized difference vegetation index: The problem
of spatial heterogeneity." 30(2): 326-338.

Asfaw, E., et al. (2018). "Soil salinity modeling and mapping using remote sensing and GIS: The case
of Wonji sugar cane irrigation farm, Ethiopia." Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences
17(3): 250-258.

Aslam, K., et al. (2015). "Use of geospatial technology for assessment of waterlogging & salinity
conditions in the Nara Canal Command area in Sindh, Pakistan." Journal of Geographic Information
System 7(04): 438.

34
Aslam, K., et al. (2015). "Use of geospatial technology for assessment of waterlogging & salinity
conditions in the Nara Canal Command area in Sindh, Pakistan." 7(04): 438.

Azabdaftari, A. and F. Sunarb (2016). "Soil salinity mapping using multitemporal landsat data." The
International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences 7: 3-
9.

Azhar, A. J. T. J. o. A. and P. Sciences (2010). "Impact of subsurface drainage on soil salinity in

Pakistan." 20(2): 94-98.

Bouaziz, M., et al. (2011). "Improved remote sensing detection of soil salinity from a semi-arid climate
in Northeast Brazil." Comptes Rendus Geoscience 343(11-12): 795-803.

Carlson, T. N. and D. A. J. R. s. o. E. Ripley (1997). "On the relation between NDVI, fractional
vegetation cover, and leaf area index." 62(3): 241-252.

Chaturvedi, L., et al. (1983). "Multispectral remote sensing of saline seeps." (3): 239-251.

Coudert, J. J. W. R. (1995). "Use of remote sensing techniques in irrigation and drainage."

Cullu, M. A. (2003). "Estimation of the effect of soil salinity on crop yield using remote sensing and
geographic information system." Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry 27(1): 23-28.

Dale, P., et al. (1986). "Classification of reflectance on colour infrared aerial photographs and sub-
tropical salt-marsh vegetation types." 7(12): 1783-1788.

Dregne, H. J. D. C. B. (1991). "A new assessment of the world status of desertification." 20: 6-29.

Dudal, R., et al. (1986). "Land resources: salt affected soils."

Egamberdieva, D., et al. (2010). "Secondary salinity effects on soil microbial biomass." 46(5): 445-
449.

Elhag, M. and J. A. Bahrawi (2017). "Soil salinity mapping and hydrological drought indices assessment
in arid environments based on remote sensing techniques." Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and
Data Systems 6(1): 149.

Elvidge, C. D., et al. (2004). "Area and positional accuracy of DMSP nighttime lights data." 281-292.

Fan, X., et al. (2016). "Towards decadal soil salinity mapping using Landsat time series data."
International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation 52: 32-41.

Farooq, U., et al. (2010). "Continuing Education Article Cholistan and Cholistani Breed of Cattle."
30(2): 2074-7764.

Fernandez-Buces, N., et al. (2006). "Mapping soil salinity using a combined spectral response index for
bare soil and vegetation: A case study in the former lake Texcoco, Mexico." Journal of Arid
Environments 65(4): 644-667.

Foody, G. M. J. R. s. o. e. (2002). "Status of land cover classification accuracy assessment." 80(1): 185-
201.

35
Foody, G. M. J. R. S. o. E. (2010). "Assessing the accuracy of land cover change with imperfect ground
reference data." 114(10): 2271-2285.

Fourati, H. T., et al. (2015). "Modeling of soil salinity within a semi-arid region using spectral analysis."
Arabian Journal of Geosciences 8(12): 11175-11182.

Gao, J. and Y. Liu (2010). "Determination of land degradation causes in Tongyu County, Northeast
China via land cover change detection." International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and
Geoinformation 12(1): 9-16.

Gilani, H., et al. (2015). "Decadal land cover change dynamics in Bhutan." 148: 91-100.

Goldblatt, R., et al. (2016). "Detecting the boundaries of urban areas in india: A dataset for pixel-based
image classification in google earth engine." 8(8): 634.

Gorelick, N., et al. (2017). "Google Earth Engine: Planetary-scale geospatial analysis for everyone."
202: 18-27.

Gorji, T., et al. (2017). "Monitoring soil salinity via remote sensing technology under data scarce
conditions: A case study from Turkey." Ecological Indicators 74: 384-391.

Grieve, A., et al. (1986). "Effects of waterlogging and soil salinity on irrigated agriculture in the Murray
Valley: a review." 26(6): 761-777.

Guo, Y., et al. (2013). "Application of digital soil mapping methods for identifying salinity management
classes based on a study on coastal central China." Soil Use and Management 29(3): 445-456.

Huete, A. J. R. s. o. e. (1988). "Huete, AR A soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI). Remote Sensing of

Environment." 25: 295-309.

Ijaz, M., et al. (2020). "Soil salinity detection and monitoring using Landsat data: a case study from Kot
Addu, Pakistan." 13(13): 1-9.

Iqba, S. and N. Mastorakis (2015). "Soil salinity mapping and monitoring using Remote sensing GIS."
Dubai Agriculture science biotechnology, food and animal sciences (ABIFA 15).

Iqbal, F. (2011). "Detection of salt affected soil in rice-wheat area using satellite image." African Journal
of Agricultural Research 6(21): 4973-4982.

Iqbal, F. J. A. J. o. A. R. (2011). "Detection of salt affected soil in rice-wheat area using satellite image."
6(21): 4973-4982.

Ivushkin, K., et al. (2019). "Global mapping of soil salinity change." Remote Sensing of Environment
231: 111260.

Jabbar, M. and X. Chen (2008). "Land degradation due to salinization in arid and semi-arid regions with
the aid of geo-information techniques." Geo-spatial Information Science 11(2): 112-120.

Jabbar, M. T. and J. Zhou (2012). "Assessment of soil salinity risk on the agricultural area in Basrah
Province, Iraq: Using remote sensing and GIS techniques." Journal of Earth Science 23(6): 881-891.

36
Johnson, H. A. (1971). Evenari, Michael, Leslie Shanan, and Naphtali Tadmor, The Negev: The
Challenge of a Desert Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1971, x+ 345 pp.($15.00), Oxford
University Press.

Kamran, M., et al. (2019). "Biochar alleviates Cd phytotoxicity by minimizing bioavailability and
oxidative stress in pak choi (Brassica chinensis L.) cultivated in Cd-polluted soil." 250: 109500.

Khan, S. and A. Abbas (2007). "Using remote sensing techniques for appraisal of irrigated soil salinity."
Int. Congr. Model. Simul.(MODSIM), Model. Simul. Soc. Aust. New Zealand, Bright(January): 2632-
2638.

Khan, S. J. A. J. o. W. R. (2005). "Rethinking rational solutions for irrigation salinity." 9(2): 129-140.

Khan, S. J. A. Z. R. I., Quetta (1987). "Desert Agriculture in Cholistan."

Kijne, J. J. W. P. (2006). "Salinisation in irrigated agriculture in Pakistan: mistaken predictions." 8(4):

325-338.

Kumar, L. and O. J. R. S. Mutanga (2018). "Google Earth Engine applications since inception: Usage,
trends, and potential." 10(10): 1509.

Kumar, S. D., et al. (2013). Radar Vegetation Index as an alternative to NDVI for monitoring of
soyabean and cotton. Proceedings of the XXXIII INCA International Congress (Indian Cartographer),
Jodhpur, India.

Lhermitte, S., et al. (2011). "A comparison of time series similarity measures for classification and
change detection of ecosystem dynamics." 115(12): 3129-3152.

Lunetta, R. S., et al. (2006). "Land-cover change detection using multi-temporal MODIS NDVI data."
105(2): 142-154.

LUO, J.-y., et al. (2017). "Effects of soil salinity on rhizosphere soil microbes in transgenic Bt cotton
fields." Journal of integrative agriculture 16(7): 1624-1633.

Machado, R. M. A. and R. P. Serralheiro (2017). "Soil salinity: effect on vegetable crop growth.
Management practices to prevent and mitigate soil salinization." Horticulturae 3(2): 30.

Machado, R. M. A. and R. P. J. H. Serralheiro (2017). "Soil salinity: effect on vegetable crop growth.
Management practices to prevent and mitigate soil salinization." 3(2): 30.

Mahboob, M. A., et al. (2016). "ASSESSMENT OF SALINITY CONTROL AND RECLAMATION

PROJECT (SCARP) IMPACT ON CHOLISTAN DESERT USING GEOINFORMATICS." Science
International 28(1).

Mahboob, M. A., et al. (2016). "ASSESSMENT OF SALINITY CONTROL AND RECLAMATION

PROJECT (SCARP) IMPACT ON CHOLISTAN DESERT USING GEOINFORMATICS." 28(1).

Mancino, G., et al. (2014). "Landsat TM imagery and NDVI differencing to detect vegetation change:
assessing natural forest expansion in Basilicata, southern Italy." 7(2): 75.

Masek, J. G., et al. (2006). "A Landsat surface reflectance dataset for North America, 1990-2000." 3(1):
68-72.

37
Masoud, A. A., et al. (2019). "Mapping soil salinity using spectral mixture analysis of landsat 8 OLI
images to identify factors influencing salinization in an arid region." International Journal of Applied
Earth Observation and Geoinformation 83: 101944.

Matinfar, H. R., et al. (2013). "Detection of soil salinity changes and mapping land cover types based
upon remotely sensed data." Arabian Journal of Geosciences 6(3): 913-919.

McFarlane, D. J. and D. R. J. A. W. M. Williamson (2002). "An overview of water logging and salinity
in southwestern Australia as related to the ‘Ucarro’experimental catchment." 53(1-3): 5-29.

Menenti, M., et al. (1986). "An application of thematic mapper data in Tunisia: estimation of daily
amplitude in near-surface soil temperature and discrimination of hypersaline soils." (1): 35-42.

Metternicht, G. and J. J. R. s. o. E. Zinck (2003). "Remote sensing of soil salinity: potentials and
constraints." 85(1): 1-20.

Morshed, M. M., et al. (2016). "Soil salinity detection from satellite image analysis: an integrated
approach of salinity indices and field data." Environmental monitoring and assessment 188(2): 119.

Mukhopadhyay, R., et al. (2020). "Soil salinity under climate change: Challenges for sustainable
agriculture and food security." Journal of Environmental Management: 111736.

Mulders, M. A. and G. F. J. I. Epema (1986). "The thematic mapper-A new tool for soil mapping in arid
areas." 1: 24-29.

Naseri, M. Y. (1998). Characterization of salt-affected soils for modelling sustainable land management
in semi-arid environment: a case study in Gorgon Region, Northeast Iran, Ghent University.

Pettorelli, N., et al. (2011). "The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI): unforeseen
successes in animal ecology." 46(1): 15-27.

Pirotti, F., et al. (2014). "NDVI FROM LANDSAT 8 VEGETATION INDICES TO STUDY
MOVEMENT DYNAMICS OF CAPRA IBEX IN MOUNTAIN AREAS."

Qureshi, A. S., et al. (2008). "Managing salinity and waterlogging in the Indus Basin of Pakistan." 95(1):
1-10.

Roecker, S., et al. (2010). A qualitative comparison of conventional soil survey and digital soil mapping
approaches. Digital soil mapping, Springer: 369-384.

Rogers, M. J. A. j. o. e. a. (2002). "Irrigating perennial pasture with saline water: effects on soil
chemistry, pasture production and composition." 42(3): 265-272.

Shahid, S. A., et al. (2018). Introduction to soil salinity, sodicity and diagnostics techniques. Guideline
for salinity assessment, mitigation and adaptation using nuclear and related techniques, Springer: 1-42.

Sharma, R. and G. J. I. J. o. R. S. Bhargava (1988). "Landsat imagery for mapping saline soils and wet
lands in north-west India." 9(1): 39-44.

Sinha, M. K. and D. J. G. J. B. A. H. S. Sinha (2013). "Composition of forest vegetation of Koria district,

Chhattisgarh (India)." 2(4): 160-168.

38
Solangi, G. S., et al. (2019). "Spatial Analysis of Soil Salinity in the Indus River Delta, Pakistan." Eng.
Technol. Appl. Sci. Res 9(3): 4271-4275.

Staff, U. S. L. J. A. H. (1954). "Diagnosis and improvement of saline and alkali soils." 60: 83-100.

Taghadosi, M. M., et al. (2019). "Retrieval of soil salinity from Sentinel-2 multispectral imagery."
European Journal of Remote Sensing 52(1): 138-154.

Tanji, K. K. J. A. s. a. and management (1990). "Nature and extent of agricultural salinity." 71-92.

Teggi, S., et al. (2012). SPOT5 imagery for soil salinity assessment in Iraq. Earth Resources and
Environmental Remote Sensing/GIS Applications III, International Society for Optics and Photonics.

Vidal, A., et al. (1997). Remote sensing applied to irrigation system management: Example of Pakistan.
EURISY Colloquium on Satellite Observation for Sustainable Development in the Mediterranean Area
ESA-ESRIN, Frascati, ITA, 2-3 October 1996.

Wang, J., et al. (2019). "Capability of Sentinel-2 MSI data for monitoring and mapping of soil salinity
in dry and wet seasons in the Ebinur Lake region, Xinjiang, China." Geoderma 353: 172-187.

Waqasa, M. M., et al. "SOIL SALINITY MAPPING USING SATELLITE REMOTE SENSING: A
CASE STUDY OF LOWER CHENAB CANAL SYSTEM, PUNJAB."

Wu, J., et al. (2008). "Remote sensing monitoring of changes in soil salinity: a case study in Inner
Mongolia, China." Sensors 8(11): 7035-7049.

Yan, G., et al. (2013). "Integrating remote sensing and proximal sensors for the detection of soil moisture
and salinity variability in coastal areas." Journal of integrative agriculture 12(4): 723-731.

Yang, Q., et al. (2010). "Comprehensive evaluation of soil fertility by GIS and improved grey relation
model." 26(4): 100-105.

Zhang, T.-T., et al. (2011). "Using hyperspectral vegetation indices as a proxy to monitor soil salinity."
11(6): 1552-1562.

Zheng, Z., et al. (2009). "Spatiotemporal changes in soil salinity in a drip-irrigated field." 149(3-4):
243-248.

Zhu, J.-K. J. T. i. p. s. (2001). "Plant salt tolerance." 6(2): 66-71.

39
 APPENDIX 1

Vegetation change in Minchinabad Tehsil

Vegetation change in Haroonabad Tehsil

40
Vegetation change in Fort Abbas Tehsil

41
 APPENDIX 2

Vegetation change in Bahawalpur Tehsil

Vegetation change in Ahmadpur East Tehsil

42
Vegetation change in Yazman Tehsil

43
 APPENDIX 3

Vegetation change in RYK Tehsil

Vegetation change in Liaqatpur Tehsil

44