Land use/land cover
Land use/land cover was derived from coarse resolution IRS WiFS satellite
data. Ground truth was collected through integrated use of previous year IRS
LISS III hard copy (1:250,000 scale) satellite data, Survey of India (SOI)
toposheets and handheld Global Positioning System (GPS). Combination of
satellite data acquired during kharif (September and October, 2001) and rabi
(January and March, 2002) seasons were digitally classified to land use/land
cover information classes for kharif and rabi, respectively using MXL classifier.
Agricultural land use classes in rabi season were refined with respect to land
use information in kharif season and crop calendar of major crops cultivated
in the region. Finally, classified land use /land cover information of kharif and
rabi seasons were logically integrated on a pixel by pixel basis in raster GIS
for deriving cropping system or composite land use/land cover (Fig. 3).