Application of remote sensing and GIS to assess land use changes in Jhunjhunun district of arid Rajasthan

Over the last four decades exploitation of natural resources to meet increasing societal demands for land based products has caused significant changes in land use and land cover not only in nature’s best gifted regions but also environmentally sensitive arid regions. Through digital interpretation of IRS LISS-III data of 2004 supported with field survey, the present land use map of Jhunjhunun district of arid Rajasthan has been prepared. Agriculture is the dominant land use constituting 84% (including 38% irrigated cropland) area. The land use changes over time and space are worked out by comparing with Landsat 2 MSS data of 1975 and Land use/land cover map of 1988–89. These changes are correlated by analyzing historical land use and cropping pattern data from 1957–58 to 2004–05. The region witnessed record increase in irrigated area but sharply depleted ground water and rendered hectares of irrigated double cropland into dry land agriculture. Strategies and technologies are suggested for sustainable use and management of different category of land.     

Remote sensing and gis applications in the identification of aquaculture hotspots at village level

Interpretation of IRS LISS II and LISS III imagery has revealed the various landforms as well as land use/land cover features in a part of the Godavari delta coastal belt. A comparative analysis of geomorphological vs. land use/land cover maps suggested that the landforms exert a certain degree of control over human land use activities even in this monotonously plain area. Further, an analysis of the sequential imagery pertaining to 1992 and 2001 aimed at detecting the land use/land cover change has indicated that the aquaculture has phenomenally increased by 9,293.5 ha during the 9-year period. At the same time, the cropland which occupied about 29,104 ha in 1992 has been reduced to 19,153.9 ha by 2001 mainly due to the encroachment of aquaculture. Village level data on temporal variation in land use/land cover extracted through GIS analysis revealed that in 14 out of the total 39 villages in the area, the conversion of cropland into aquaculture ponds was more than 30% with the highest conversion rate of 89.8% in Gondi village. These fourteen villages, which are designated as ‘aquaculture hotspots’ are grouped into 4 priority classes based on the intensity of conversion.     

Satellite based study of land transformation in Ludhiana District, Punjab

This study reveals the temporal changes in the land use/land cover of district Ludhiana from the years 1970 to 2001 and reports on the change that has occurred in land use/land cover as a result of change in cropping pattern. The changes were analysed through the data obtained from statistical abstract 1969–70, False Colour Composite (FCC) of IRS-IC LISS-III satellite data of March 2001 and ground truth. There has been a decrease in agricultural land by 2100 ha. but still it occupies 83.76% of the total geographical area (TGA). The wasteland shows a declining trend whereas forest cover has increased from 1.07 to 2.71% of TGA. Area under non-agricultural uses has increased from 10.13 to 12.50% of TGA. There has also been a great change in the cropping pattern of the district. Crops such as groundnut, gram and cotton have nearly disappeared and wheat and rice dominate the region. This change has substantially resulted in the decrease of area under wastelands.     

Use of geo-spatial information and technologies for analyzing morphological changes in the Greater Visakhapatnam coastal region,east coast of India

The objective of this study was to investigate the land use/land cover, landforms, shoreline and coastal regulation zone (CRZ) changes of Greater Visakhapatnam coastal region using Indian Remote Sensing-IRS P6 (Resourcesat-I) satellite data and collateral information. Prominent changes have been observed during the past 30 years through land use/land cover analyzes which clearly indicate that thecoastal regulatory zones have altered in respect of both natural and anthropogenic activities. Various geomorphic units were identified and confirmed with appropriate field work. Significant changes have been recognized in the shoreline map, which denote that the area of erosional shoreline is larger than the accretional and stable prone shoreline. The availability of high resolution data has helped to prepare large-scale maps for implementation of CRZ measures. The results were promising and suggest that the modern geo-spatial information and technological tools are extremely helpful for conducting coastal morphological studies.     

Land use/land cover dynamics in Umngot watershed of Meghalaya using geospatial tools

Meghalaya is a landlocked state where the progress of industrialization is very slow. Majority of the population (rural) depends on agriculture. Agriculture in the state is carried on in primitive ways with Jhumming prevailing in many parts. This practice is considered destructive as vast forest areas are cleared and burnt. Such areas are used for cultivation and left out. After a gap of few years (2–3 years as of now and 15–20 years in past) the area is revisited for cultivation without allowing to rejuvenate. The present work provides a status and trend of Land use land cover dynamics in parts (at watershed level) of Meghalaya. The geospatial tools have been used to assess (a) the changes in land use land cover since 1970s to 2005; (b) patch dynamics for understanding the degree of fragmentation; (c) changes along the terrain topography. Umngot watershed of Meghalaya is taken as experimental area, which is a representative of mid-altitudinal watershed particularly in the Jaintia hills district of Meghalaya.     

Application of remote sensing technology for Impact Assessment of Watershed Development Programme

The current study was taken up to investigate the utility of remote sensing and GIS tools for evaluation of Integrated Wasteland Development Programme (IWDP) implemented during 1997–2001 in Katangidda Nala watershed, Chincholi taluk, Gulbarga district, Karnataka. The study was carried out using IRS 1C, LISS III data of December 11, 1997 (pre-treatment) and November 15, 2002 (post-treatment) covering the watershed to assess the changes in land use / land cover and biomass that have changed over a period of five years (1997–2002). The images were classified into different land use/land cover categories using supervised classification by maximum likelihood algorithm. They were also classified into different biomass levels using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) approach. The results indicated that the area under agriculture crops and forest land were increased by 671 ha (5.7%) and 1,414 ha (11.94%) respectively. This is due to the fact that parts of wastelands and fallow lands were brought into cultivation. This increase in the area may be attributed to better utilization of surface and ground waters, adoption of soil and water conservation practices and changes in cropping pattern. The area under waste lands and fallow lands decreased by 1,667 ha (14.07%) and 467 ha (3.94%), respectively. The vegetation vigour of the area was classified into three classes using NDVI. Substantial increase in the area under high and low biomass levels was observed (502 ha and 19 ha respectively). The benefit-cost analysis indicates that the use of remote sensing and GIS was 2.2 times cheaper than the conventional methods. Thus, the repetitive coverage of the satellite data provides an excellent opportunity to monitor the land resources and evaluate the land cover changes through comparison of images for the watershed at different periods.     

海岸带地理环境遥感监测综述

海岸带作为连接海洋和陆地系统的特殊地理地带,与人类的生存与发展密切相关,但其自然和生态环境极其脆弱和敏感。气候变化和人类活动给海岸带环境带来了巨大压力,导致其生态环境不断恶化。随着技术的发展,近年来遥感技术已成为海岸带地理环境监测的重要手段之一,在海岸带规划、管理和保护中扮演着举足轻重的角色。本文对遥感技术在海岸带地理环境监测典型应用(土地利用/覆盖、土壤质量、植被、海岸线、水色、水深和水下地形及灾害)中的主要数据源、方法、结果和局限性进行归纳和总结,并对其未来发展提出展望。     

Monitoring coastal zone land use and land cover changes of Abu Dhabi using remote sensing

Coastal zones are most vulnerable for landuse changes in this rapid industrialization and urbanization epoch. It is necessary to evaluate land use — land cover (LULC) changes to develop efficient management strategies. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate and quantity Abu Dhabi coastal zone LULC changes from 1972 to 2000 using multi-temporal LANDSAT satellite data and digital change detection techniques. Supervised classification coupled with expert visual interpretation techniques were used to produce LULC classified images with an accuracy of 88%. Change detection process was achieved by applying post-classification comparison techniques in ENVI software. From this study it has been observed that the important coastal landuse types of Abu Dhabi coast .i.e. wetlands and woody Vegetation (Mangrove, represented by a single species,Avicennia marina) have been reduced drastically in their extent due to reclamation, dredging, tipping and other anthropogenic activities along the coastal zone. However, it has been observed that there is rapid increase in the man-made plantation and managed vegetation from 1990 to 2000 due to the Abu Dhabi government initiation. This study has given good insight into Abu Dhabi coastal zone changes during last 3 decades.     

A Research on the Monitoring of Coastal Land use with Aerial Photographs in the Example of Kadırga bay (Çanakkale)

In coastal areas, environmental monitoring is an important tool in acquiring data to achieve the goal of sustainable usage relating to the character of changes in quantity and quality of land cover / land use. Studies can reveal the diversity of species and the natural factors and human influence affecting this diversity, occurring as a result of habitat fragmentation or destruction. As well as comparing the past and current state of environmental resources, monitoring helps to determine trends in the use and changes of resources. It was in this context that Kad?rga Bay, located on the northwest coast of Canakkale province, Turkey was studied. Also situated in this location is Assos, a significant site in ancient history with great tourism potential. This study determined changes in land cover / land use by means of photogrammetrical interpretation of data from 1957 to 2002. The research further aimed to determine pressure on the components of the ecological structure of the area. Based on the data obtained, projections can be made to protect the future, and will provide an important source for management of the area. Within the 45-year study period, it was determined that agriculture and secondary housing construction exerted the most pressure on the habitat of the area. In the main, an increase in agricultural activities and secondary house construction emerged as the cause of a decrease in wetlands and forest areas.     

Environmental aspects in Dalli-Rajhara iron ore mine area,M.P. using digital image processing techniques

Landsat MSS (1982) and IRS LISS-II (1989) data have been used to study the land use/land cover changes in Dalli-Rajhara iron ore mine area. Supervised classification has been performed on the temporal data to generate land use/land cover maps. Land use/land cover categories generated from IRS LISS-II data of 36 m resolution has been resampled to 80 m and areal statistics have been computed for 2, 4, 8 and 10 km wide strips around Dalli-Rajhara iron ore mine. The environmental impact due to on-going mining activities in the area has been analysed. The results of this study indicate that due to increase in mine-related and agricultural activities, forests have been degraded and also forest areas have been reduced considerably.     

An integrated study of geospatial information technologies for surface runoff estimation in an agricultural watershed,India

Runoff is one of the important hydrologic variables used in most of the water resources applications. The Soil Conservation Service-Curve Number (SCS-CN) method is adopted for the estimation of surface runoff in the Mehadrigedda watershed area, Visakhapatnam district, India using multispectral remote sensing data, curve number approach and normal rainfall data. The main source of water in the Mehadrigedda watershed area is by rain, most of it drains off and only a little percolates into ground. The weighted curve number is determined based on antecedent moisture condition (AMC)-II with an integration of hydrologic soil groups (HSGs) and land use/land cover LULC categories. An integrated approach is applied to delineate the land use/land cover information as adopted from NRSA classification. The recording of daily rainfall data during the years 1997–2006 is collected from Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) rainguage center at Kottavalasa. It is observed that the annual rainfall-runoff relationship during 1997–2006, which is indicating that the overall increase in runoff with the rainfall of the watershed area. Integration of remote sensing (RS) and geographical infomation system (GIS) techniques provide reliable, accurate and up-to-date information on land and water resources.     

Temporal studies of land use/land cover in varaha river basin, andhra pradesh, india

Land use/land cover investigation have been carried out in Varaha river basia (VRB) using remote sensing data of 1986 and 1992 and the changes in land use/land cover during the period are estimated Visual interpretation techniques have been followed to delineate various land use/laad cover categories It is inferred that the land use/land cover pattern of the area is controlled by local topography, climate and resourees, The tesults revealed significant changes in the area of built-up land irrigated land, plantation degraded forest and upland over a period of six years.     

基于遥感技术的土地利用／覆被变化研究

遥感技术是研究土地利用/覆被变化状况的重要手段之一,目前该技术已有一套较成熟的研究方法,本文从遥感数据选择、图像预处理方法、土地利用/覆被变化遥感分类、土地利用/覆被变化动态信息提取等方面对土地利用/覆被变化遥感动态监测技术进行了系统的论述,最后指出多信息源、综合的信息处理机制将是土地利用/覆被变化遥感动态监测技术发展的必然方向。     

Shoreline Change Analysis along the Coast of South Gujarat,India, Using Digital Shoreline Analysis System

Shoreline changes along the south Gujarat coast has been analyzed by using USGS Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) version 4.3. Multi-temporal satellite images pertaining to 1972, 1990, 2001 and 2011 were used to extract the shoreline. The High water line (HTL) is considered as shoreline and visual interpretation of satellite imageries has been carried out to demarcate the HTL based on various geomorphology and land use & land cover features. The present study used the Linear Regression Method (LRR) to calculate shoreline change rate. Based on the rate of shoreline changes, the coastal stretches of study area has been classified in to high erosion, low erosion, stable, low accretion and high accretion coast. The study found that about 69.31 % of the South Gujarat coast is eroding, about 18.40 % of coast is stable and remaining 12.28 % of the coast is accreting in nature. Field investigation was carried out which confirmed the coastal erosion/accretion derived from the analysis. The high erosion area are mostly found along the Umergaon (near Fansa, Maroli, Nargol, Varili river mouth, Umergaon light house) and Pardi (Kolak, Udwara)Taluka in Valsad district. Stable coastal length of the study area is 21.59 km and mostly found in Nani Dandi and near Onjal. High accretion (3.70 %) was only found near Hajira and low accretion (8.58 %) are distributed the study area. The main causes of coastal erosion of the study area were the strong tidal currents accompanied by wave action and reduced the sediment load of the river.     

Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System for canopy cover mapping

Availability of remote sensing data from earth observation satellites has made it convenient to map and monitor land use/land cover at regional to local scales. A land cover map is very critical for a various planning activities including watershed planning. The spectral and spatial resolutions are major constraints for mapping the crop resources at microlevel. The cropping pattern zones have been mapped using the false color composite, physiography, irrigation and toposheets. The IRS LISS-III data is classified into various categories depending on spectral reflectance from crop canopy and are overlaid on cropping zones map. The re-classified resultant map provides land use/land cover information including dominant cropping systems. The canopy cover is estimated monthly considering the crop calendar for the area.     

Land-Cover change analysis of garur Ganga watershed using GIS/Remote Sensing technique

Land-use change and Land-cover classes in Garur Ganga watershed of Bageshwar district in Uttranchal State during the periods 1963–1996 and 1986–1996 were analyzed through Survey of India Topographical Sheet and visual interpretation of LANDSAT 5 TM image bands 2, 3 and 4 using Geographical Information System (GIS). The detailed analysis have revealed that the area under agriculture and settlement increased from 34.98 to 42.34%. whereas the forest and barren land show a declining trend. Expansion of agriculture land and builtup areas have been found to be maximum in the 1200–1600 m elevation zone with 7–14° slope class. The loss of vegetation cover has been estimated to be 5.07% between 1963-1996 and 0.81% between 1986–1996.     

Prioritization of Sub-watersheds in Khanapara–Bornihat Area of Assam–Meghalaya (India) Based on Land Use and Slope Analysis Using Remote Sensing and GIS

Improper utilization of natural resources without any conservation work is the prime cause of the watershed deterioration. Fast developmental activities and population pressure in the hills of Khanapara?CBornihat area near Guwahati city (about 10?km east of Guwahati) results rapid alteration of the land use/land cover in the recent times. This also causes the growth of land use over the unsuitable topography. As a result, there is a general degradation of the natural resources within the area. So, urgent measures have to be adopted to take up the conservation measure for the management of natural resources. Watershed wise conservation is considered to be the most acceptable and convenient approach. In the context of watershed management, watershed prioritization gained importance in natural resource management. The present study makes an attempt to prioritize the sub-watersheds for adopting the conservation measure. The prioritization is based on land use and slope analysis using Remote Sensing and GIS techniques in Khanapara?CBornihat area of Assam and Meghalaya state (India). The study area of 323.17?sq. km is divided into three 5th order, four 4th order and two 3rd order sub-watersheds. Land use/Land cover change analysis of the sub-watersheds has been carried out using multi temporal data of SOI toposheets of 1972 and IRS LISS III imagery of 2006. The study shows the significance changes in land use pattern especially in settlement and forest lands from 1972 to 2006. Slope map of the sub-watersheds prepared from the contour values in the toposheets show the wide variation of slope in the area ranging from 0° to 87°. Based on the extent/nature of land use/land cover changes over time and land use/land cover??slope relationship analysis, the sub-watersheds are classified into three categories as high, medium and low in terms of priority for conservation and management of natural resources.     

Land use change analysis of Bharatpur district using GIS

Knowledge on area and distribution of land uses plays an important role in district planning. An attempt has been made here to study existing land use pattern and changes in the land use pattern of Bharatpur district. Multi-date remote sensing data (1986 and 1989) has been used for the purpose. Seventeen land use maps on 1∶50,000 scale were prepared. ARC/INFO GIS package has been employed for the land use analysis. GIS package has also been used to relate the land use information to the villages and arrive at tentative comparison of land use as is reported in Census and as obtained from the remote sensing. Major findings in land use pattern of Bharatpur district are a) that the land use pattern in Bharatpur district is not similar to that of general land use pattern prevalent in Rajasthan State as a whole, b) Agriculture is the predominant user of land occupying about 75 percent of the reporting area, c) Forest cover in the district is not very significant and it has been depleted from 5.6 percent to 3.1 percent, d) the area under pastures and tree crops is also negligible and e) Area under waste land (eroded land, undulating terrain with or without scrub and rock out crops has been increased from 6.34 percent to 7.89 percent. The area under salt affected land, sandy area and water logged area has been decreased from 6.83 percent to 2.09 percent.     

Assessment of groundwater potential zones using GIS technique

A case study was conducted to find out the groundwater potential zones in Kattakulathur block, Tamil Nadu, India with an aerial extent of 360.60 km². The thematic maps such as geology, geomorphology, soil hydrological group, land use / land cover and drainage map were prepared for the study area. The Digital Elevation Model (DEM) has been generated from the 10 m interval contour lines (which is derived from SOI, Toposheet 1:25000 scale) and obtained the slope (%) of the study area. The groundwater potential zones were obtained by overlaying all the thematic maps in terms of weighted overlay methods using the spatial analysis tool in ArcGIS 9.2. During weighted overlay analysis, the ranking has been given for each individual parameter of each thematic map and weights were assigned according to the influence such as soil −25%, geomorphology − 25%, land use/land cover −25%, slope − 15%, lineament − 5% and drainage / streams − 5% and find out the potential zones in terms of good, moderate and poor zones with the area of 49.70 km², 261.61 km² and 46.04 km² respectively. The potential zone wise study area was overlaid with village boundary map and the village wise groundwater potential zones with three categories such as good, moderate and poor zones were obtained. This GIS based output result was validated by conducting field survey by randomly selecting wells in different villages using GPS instruments. The coordinates of each well location were obtained by GPS and plotted in the GIS platform and it was clearly shown that the well coordinates were exactly seated with the classified zones.     

Comparison of MODIS vegetation continuous field — based forest density maps with IRS-LISS III derived maps

The study compared forest cover maps derived using coarse resolution vegetation continuous fields (MODIS VCF; 500m resolution) with the maps derived from medium resolution (24m; IRS LISS-III) data. The comparison of VCF, per cent tree cover product, for the years 2000 to 2004 with LISS III forest density class maps of 2001 and 2003 was carried out for two sites representing hilly (Uttarakhand) and undulating terrains (Madhya Pradesh). Slicing VCF to corresponding forest crown cover, i.e., 0–10%, 10–40%, 40–70% and >70% produced considerable difference in forest area estimates when compared to original LISS III derived crown cover area. The corresponding value range in VCF for 0–10% of actual forest cover were 0–31% and 0–25% in 2 sites respectively, and the respective limit was consistent at 1–20% when VCF range were sliced with respect to upscaled LISS III at 500m resolution. Similarly, all other class limits were also found through iterative process. These limits were similar, within a site, across five years. Spatial Kappa match between these two data indicated higher match in 40–70% class, and also in undulating site. When compared at same resolution, similar forest area cover estimated with weighted area upscaling gave closest match. The study is useful in knowing the usability and limits of VCF product, and utility of spatial Kappa.