Research Paper
Assessing the Impact of Soil Erosion on the Zehanpore Buddhist Archaeological Site in Baramulla (Kashmir, India): A Remote Sensing and GIS Analysis
Authors: Bilal Hassan, Mohammad Ajmal Shah & Mumtaz A Yatoo
Year: 2026, Volume: 17, Page/Article: 87-101, DOI: https://doi.org/10.47509/AA.2026.v17i.06
Abstract
This study investigates soil erosion at Buddhist archaeological site on the Jhelum River bank in Baramulla, using Remote Sensing (RS) and GIS. Analysing Landsat and Google Earth imagery (1976–2022), we quantified cumulative spatial changes relative to the 1976 baseline channel area. The reach experienced significant lateral land erosion (32.5%) alongside massive fluvial deposition (71.6%), culminating in a net channel expansion of 39.1% driven by aggressive meander migration. The highest erosion recorded was between 1989-2000 (3,616 m²/year). Predicting future erosion possibilities, this study estimates an additional 10,122m² could be lost by 2050 without undertaking any preventive interventions. The research highlights a methodology for assessing riverbank erosion in archaeological sites using open-source data and emphasizes the importance of GIS and remote sensing in cultural heritage protection.
Keywords: Cultural Heritage, GIS, Remote Sensing, Fluvial Erosion, Site Conservation, Baramulla, Jhelum River.