Monitoring the Effects of Biological Control of Water Hyacinths Using Remotely Sensed Data: A Case Study of Bangalore, India

Native to South America, water hyacinths were brought to India as ornamental plants and are now considered as one of the most dreaded aquatic weeds in the country. This plant has infested more than 200,000 ha of fresh water bodies in the country. The Indian Institute of Horticultural Research resorted to biological methods to control these weeds and received favorable results, however, these weeds tend to reinfest the fresh water bodies. For an effective weed control, the infestation needs to be monitored and remotely sensed data have been recommended for this purpose. In this research, SPOT multitemporal data have been used to monitor the infestation of water hyacinths in Bangalore, India. Using Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), this study delineated areas of clearing and new infestation in the fresh water tanks in the study area. This study concluded that host specific weevils can eradicate water hyacinths in large areas but that reinfestation remains an ongoing problem.