Remote sensing approach for watershed based resources management in the Sikkim Himalaya: A case study

Integrated and environmentally sustainable development strategies have become inevitable for micro-level planning these days. The usefulness of remotely sensed data from earth resource satellites for watershed management is discussed for an eastern Himalayan watershed covering 39.09 km² area. The biophysical conditions were assessed based on field experience. The SPOT HRV-I MLA and PLA scenes were interpreted for land use/cover categories and associated characteristics. These parameters were found to be significant towards evolving the management priorities for development of agriculture, soil conservation, afforestation and rain water harvesting structures in ecologically fragile Himalayan region. The remote sensing inputs were important in deriving the relevant details faster and precisely.