APPLICATION OF REMOTE SENSING.

ANURAG KUMAR1RV13CV024CIVIL ENGINEERING

OVERVIEW Remote sensing has enabled mapping, studying, monitoring and management of various resources like agriculture, forestry, geology, water, ocean etc.

Monitoring of environment and thereby helping in conservation.

In the last four decades it has grown as a major tool for collecting information on almost every aspect on the earth.

With the availability of very high spatial resolution satellites in the recent years, the applications have multiplied.

In India remote sensing has been used for various applications during the last four decades and has contributed significantly towards development.

India has its own satellites like Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) series - Resourcesat, Cartosat, Oceansat etc which provide required data .

AREAS OF APPLICATION Groundwater Prospects and Recharge Zone Mapping National Wastelands Monitoring National Wetlands Inventory and Assessment Snow and Glaciers Studies Coastal Zone Studies Forecasting Agricultural output using Space, Agrometeorology and

Land based observations (FASAL) Assessment of Irrigation Potential under Accelerated Irrigation Benefit

Program (AIBP) National Agricultural Drought Assessment and Monitoring System Biodiversity Characterisation National Urban Information System (NUIS) Indian Forest Fire Response and Assessment System (INFFRAS) Water Resources Information System (WRIS) Space Based Information System for Decentralized Planning (SIS-DP) Natural Resources Census (NRC) Flood Mapping and Monitoring Watershed Monitoring and Development Potential Fishery Zone (PFZ) Forecasting

Groundwater Prospects and Recharge Zone Mapping

The occurrence and movement of groundwater is mainly controlled by many factors such as rock types, landforms, geological structures, soil, land use, rainfall etc. RGNDW Mission, funded by the Department of Drinking Water Supply of the Ministry of Rural Development, ground water prospects and recharge zone maps on 1:50,000 scale was taken up by ISRO in phases using IRS data. The feedback shows that about 275,800 wells have been drilled with more than 90% success rate and about 9000 recharge structures have been constructed.

National Wastelands Monitoring

•Department of Land Resources (DoLR) of Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) identification and inventorying of wastelands using satellite data on 1:50,000 scale was initiated in 1986 and completed in 2000 and the National Wastelands Atlas was brought out.•National Wasteland Monitoring Project was taken up using three seasons data (Resourcesat-1 LISS-III) for the year 2005-06.• The study has been completed and it reveals that the extent of wastelands in the country is reduced to 46.43 M ha (14.81% of the total geographical area).

FLOOD MARPPING AND MONITORINGSERVICES--Near Real Time Flood Mapping and Monitoring--Flood Damage Assessment--Flood Hazard Zone Mapping--River Bank Erosion Mapping--Mapping changes in the river course

The main components of near real time flood mapping and monitoring involves• Flood watch• Satellite data planning and acquisition• Satellite data analysis• Product generation & DisseminationEvery year the project is functional during April-December (Floods & Cyclones) During 2009, floods were monitored in nine states and more than 270 maps were prepared. During 2008, floods were monitored in nine states of the country and more than 400 flood inundation maps were prepared. The Kosi breach was one of the major flood events during recent times. During August-October 2008, more than 200 flood inundation maps in near real time mode were provided to Govt. of Bihar for carrying out relief and rescue operations.

Through a combination of SAR observation and ground sensors, We can monitor the water levels of rivers in real time.Through integration and analysis of various observation data, accurate evaluation of flood risk becomes possible.

Flood Inundation in Bihar (AUGUST 2014)

REMOTE SENSING APPLICATION IN AGRICULTURE

•Satellite data is analyzed with ground based information on agro-meteorology, market economics to estimate crop acreage and production for major crops in the country, much before the harvest.• The cropping patterns of kharif, Rabi and summer season are combined to generate crop rotation•The centre has been established to carry out the crop monitoring activities and Agricultural Drought Assessment, which were hitherto done at SAC and NRSC under the Forecasting Agricultural output using Space, Agro meteorology and Land based observations (FASAL) and National Agricultural Drought Assessment and Management System (NADAMS) projects respectively.

OCEAN BIOLOGY

•Potential Fishing Zone (PFZ) forecasts are operationally disseminated to all the maritime States including the two Union Territories since 1993. An integrated approach for Potential Fishing Zone based on Chlorophyll & Sea Surface Temperature have been developed, validated and transferred to Indian National Centre for Coastal and Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) for operational use

Water Monitoring and Development

Snow and Glacier Monitoring

•The Himalayas possess one of the largest resources of snow and ice, which act as a huge freshwater reservoir. •Monitoring of Himalayan glaciers is normally difficult using conventional methods due to the rugged and inaccessible terrain.•Significant information on glaciers (retreat/ advance) in the 13 sub-basins of Himalaya has been generated using satellite images of 1989-1990 to 1997-2008 time frames under the “Snow and Glacier Studies Phase-I”, at the behest of Ministry of Environment and Forest. Out of 2190 glaciers, about 76% glaciers have shown loss in area of ice cover and about 24% glaciers either did not show any change or show gain in area.• Snow cover areas are also monitored on every 10 day cycle using satellite imagery and seasonal snow melt runoff forecast is generated for five major Himalayan river basins, namely, Chenab, Beas, Yamuna, Ganga and Sutlej basin during the summer months.

Forestry,Ecosystem and Environment

•The natural (climatic, geological, topographical) and manmade factors have influenced the country’s bio-resources. The satellite data has helped in deriving the spatial distribution of different vegetation communities at landscape level especially at Eastern and Western Himalayas, Shivaliks, Vindhyans, Eastern and Western Ghats and Coastal areas, and studying the impact of human activities on these plants and vegetations.•Remote Sensing data has been of significant help in understanding the loss of forest cover, resource depletion, assessment of trees outside forest and planning for sustainable use of forest.•Forest Survey of India assesses the forest cover of the country on a two-year cycle, at National and State level, to plan for conservation measures and places the stage of forest report before Parliament.•As per ‘India State of Forest Report 2011’, the total forest and tree cover of the country is 78.29 million hectares, which is 23.81% of the geographical area.

Smart Governance

Reliable information on land & water resources and their optimal management is vital for developmental planning.

State level data repository comprising of natural resource database at 1:10000 scale coupled with field level information will help in strengthening decentralized planning and decision making at grass root level.

‘Space based Information Support for Decentralized Planning’ would play an important role in empowering the local bodies to prepare the action plans for development of their locality.

The NUIS Scheme comprises two major components as given under:

• Urban Spatial Information System (USIS) – includes development of GIS basedmulti-hierarchical database, with application tools, to support Master/Zonal plan preparation; Urban Local Bodies (ULB) administration and utilities management.• National Urban Databank and Indicators (NUDB&I) – includes designing andestablishing a comprehensive data bank and integration of these parameters to support planning and derive indicators for National Urban Observatory (NUO) for monitoring the health of urban settlements.

• Planning and Management of urban settlements will be based on updated andscientific database as a decision support system, employing modern planning methods using Geographic Information System (GIS) technology.•Data generation, storage and manipulation using spatial and attribute information base supporting development of urban indices for NUO.•Standardised GIS database, methodologies and procedures to enable easy integration and sharing of information and replicability of procedures.•Build capacity among town planning and allied departments and create a cadre of professionals for the use of modern automated methods.

Targeted Achievements

Watershed Dvelopment

Sujala Watershed Project Sujala a community driven watershed development project with a total budget of Rs.557 crores, is being implemented in seven districts of Karnataka.

The Government of Karnataka finances some portion of the budget and the Watershed Communities contribute some portion.

The key development objective is to improve the productive potential of selected watersheds and their associated natural resource base, and strengthen community and institutional arrangements for natural resource management.

It covers 4.29 lakhs hectare. of land spread over in 77 sub-watersheds and 1270 villages benefiting nearly 4.0 lakhs households including landless.

Conclusion

•The technologies discussed above are just a few of the many promising areas of remote sensing research .• Over the next two decades, we look forward for a revolutionary change in private industry, academia, other government organizations, and the general public to promote and advance this exciting and rapidly changing field. •Advances in remote sensing will enable quicker and more focused emergency response, more accurate map products, improved navigation, and better geospatial information and derived products for the general public and professionals in a wide variety of fields.