Geoinformation analysis of agricultural landscape components for land management, cadastre and monitoring of irrigated lands

Abstract

Agro-landscape complexes of the Volgograd oblast are indispensable sources of production and form the food-safety policy of the region. Timely monitoring unstable natural zones is a necessary factor of maintaining the ecological stability of the region, which prevents withdrawing the land from the agricultural turnover. As a result of geoinformation monitoring, 1424 contour of irrigated and 931 ones of rainfed arable land were examined. 44 % of that is rainfed arable land having an area of 50 hectares, and 56 % of the irrigated one up to 10 ha; refined characteristics such as perimeter, angle, slope, maximum and minimum elevation values and their differences. Geoinformation modeling of the studied territory revealed discrepancies in the actual use of land and legally fixed borders that had passed cadastral registration by more than 30 %. The data lack on the location of existing forest stands and other elements of the agricultural landscape challenges the reliability and completeness of the state cadastral records. The resulting cartographic model of the irrigated agricultural landscapes enables assessing their spatial location, nature of use, etc. Making a register of irrigated lands arises the opportunity of considering them as a separate type of use that requires constant monitoring and accounting in order to prevent the destruction of the agricultural landscape.