Heliyon (Jan 2024)

Mapping soil suitability using phenological information derived from MODIS time series data in a semi-arid region: A case study of Khouribga, Morocco

  • Maryem Ismaili,
  • Samira Krimissa,
  • Mustapha Namous,
  • Kamal Abdelrahman,
  • Abdelghani Boudhar,
  • Mohamed Edahbi,
  • Youssef Lebrini,
  • Abdelaziz Htitiou,
  • Soufiane Maimouni,
  • Tarik Benabdelouhab

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 2
p. e24101

Abstract

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To address the increasing global demand for food, it is crucial to implement sustainable agricultural practices, which include effective soil management techniques for enhancing productivity and environmental conditions. In this regard, a study was conducted to assess the efficacy of utilizing phenological metrics derived from satellite data in order to map and identify suitable agricultural soil within a semi-arid region. Two distinct methodologies were compared: one based on physicochemical soil parameters and the other utilizing the phenological response of vegetation through the application of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) Modis-time series. The study findings indicated that the NDVI-based approach successfully identified a specific class of soil suitability for agriculture (referred to as S1) that could not be effectively mapped using the multi-criteria analysis (MCAD) method relying on soil physicochemical parameters. This S1 class of soil suitability accounted for approximately 5 % of the total study area. These outcomes suggest that phenological-based approaches offer greater potential for spatio-temporal monitoring of soil suitability status compared to MCAD, which heavily relies on discrete observations and necessitates frequent updates of soil parameters. The approach developed to map the soil-suitability is a valuable tool for sustainable agricultural development, and it can play an effective role in ensuring food security and conducting a land agriculture assessment.

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