Geospatial analysis of land degradation by fuzzy membership algorithm in reference to Satna river basin in northern foreland of Peninsular India

Geo-climatic conditions of the Satna river basin situated in the Vindhyan region create a fragile and conducive environment for land degradation (LD). The rate of degradation became exacerbated primarily due to limestone mining activity surrounding the city and in remote areas. Since LD is related to physical/chemical deterioration of land, hence the degraded land became less favorable for agricultural activity. Therefore, in the present study, LD is analyzed at a spatial scale by considering several parameters viz., solar radiation, LST, vegetative indices, slope, tectonic control, SPI, STI, rainfall erosivity, pedological environment, LULC, and mining influence. All the parameters were derived from remote sensing data and further standardized and rescaled using the fuzzy method. An approximate 0.95 R 2 was achieved on the linear regression between LDI and other predictors. A high correlation of LDI with BI ( R = 0.407) and HI ( R = 0.741) also validates the model at ground level. The low value of information criterion (−147.040) in linear modeling of regression by standard method suggests 87.5% accuracy of model prediction of LD in the Satna river basin. Thus, the findings of this study convince us that the LDI model is significant in the Vindhyan region, demarking the influence of anthropogenic activity on the accelerated LD process.