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Nationwide Soil Erosion Assessment in India Using Radioisotope Tracers 137Cs and 210Pb:The Need for Fallout Mapping


Affiliations
1 ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Dehradun - 248 195, India
2 College of Life and Environmental Science, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4RJ, United Kingdom
3 ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Nagpur - 440 033, India
4 ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Nabibagh, Bhopal - 462 038, India
5 ICAR- Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Research Centre, Vasad, Anand - 388 306, India
6 ISRO-Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun - 248 001, India
7 ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Research Centre, Udhagamandalam - 643 004, India
 

Soil degradation induced by erosion represents a major threat to food production and ecosystem service globally, and in India more than 80 Mha have been impacted. In the light of the serious threat, there is a pressing need for a systematic nationwide assessment of land degradation due to erosion. We discuss the potential for using caesium-137 and lead-210 tracers to address this need and the next steps to realizing nationwide implementation.
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  • Nationwide Soil Erosion Assessment in India Using Radioisotope Tracers 137Cs and 210Pb:The Need for Fallout Mapping

Abstract Views: 265  |  PDF Views: 126

Authors

M. Sankar
ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Dehradun - 248 195, India
S. M. Green
College of Life and Environmental Science, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4RJ, United Kingdom
P. K. Mishra
ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Dehradun - 248 195, India
J. T. C. Snoalv
College of Life and Environmental Science, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4RJ, United Kingdom
N. K. Sharma
ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Dehradun - 248 195, India
K. Karthikeyan
ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Nagpur - 440 033, India
J. Somasundaram
ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Nabibagh, Bhopal - 462 038, India
D. M. Kadam
ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Dehradun - 248 195, India
D. Dinesh
ICAR- Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Research Centre, Vasad, Anand - 388 306, India
Suresh Kumar
ISRO-Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun - 248 001, India
V. Kasthuri Thilagam
ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Research Centre, Udhagamandalam - 643 004, India

Abstract


Soil degradation induced by erosion represents a major threat to food production and ecosystem service globally, and in India more than 80 Mha have been impacted. In the light of the serious threat, there is a pressing need for a systematic nationwide assessment of land degradation due to erosion. We discuss the potential for using caesium-137 and lead-210 tracers to address this need and the next steps to realizing nationwide implementation.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv115%2Fi3%2F388-390