37 Applications of Remote Sensing and GIS in Conservation of Resources

Dr. Bal Krishan Choudhary

 

CONTENTS

 

1.  Learning Objectives

2.  Introduction

3.  Need of assessment of resources

4.  Materials required

5.  Resource related issues in India

6.  Applications of RS/GIS in Resource Management

7.  Conservation of resources

8.  Resource mapping

9.  Conclusions

10.  References

 

1. Learning Objectives

 

The objective of this module is to understand the basic principle of remote sensing for mapping and monitoring of natural resources for their conservation.

 

2. Introduction

 

The Remote sensing program was started in the year 1970. Till the year 1988, India had to use exclusively the data obtained from Land Remote-Sensing Satellite (LANDSAT) satellite of the United States of America (USA). India successfully launched its own first IRS (Indian Remote Sensing) series of satellite IRS-1A in the year 1988; and this was followed by launching and operationalisation of a series of satellites IRS-1B, 1C, 1D and recently RESOURCESAT, CARTOSAT, OCEANSAT satellite. These satellites have higher and higher resolutions, repeativities and more applicability in diversified fields. The easy availability of repetitive data in the temporal domain from remote sensing techniques provides a new dimension for spatial information processing and monitoring the features of the Earth and generates a large volume of information.

 

3. Need of assessment of resources

 

Natural resource management is a discipline in the management of natural resource with particular focus on how management affects the quality of life for both present and future generations. There is a need for assessment of resources due to the following reasons:

 

A.Assessment of the availability and condition of the natural resources is the first step for the sustainable resources development plan.

 

B.Natural resources play a critical role in the welfare of developing countries.

 

C.Expansions in technology, population and economic activities have led to accelerated and unsustainable exploitation and depletion of natural resources.

 

D.The degradation, especially forest cover, has led to diminishing soil fertility, soil erosion, increase severity of the impact of drought, and a further reduction in the ability to produce food and other biological resources demanded by the human and animal population.

 

The induction of modern technologies of geospatial tools like Remote Sensing (RS), Geographic Information System (GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) has provided very powerful methods of surveying, identifying, classifying, mapping, monitoring, characterization, and to track changes in the composition, extent, and distribution of several forms of earth resources; both renewable and non-renewable, living or non-living in nature. RS plays a significant role in providing geoinformation in a spatial format.

 

 

3.1 Assessment method: The following processes are needed to assess the quantum of resources:

 

3.1.1 Mapping: Collection of thematic and quantitative baseline data (contemporary or historical) in geographic format.

 

3.1.2 Measuring: Rigorous mapping process by quantifying and documenting the attributes of phenomena.

 

3.1.3 Modeling: Process of describing a system under study through precise and typically mathematical relations of inputs and outputs, and to simulate the present, past or future behavior.

 

3.1.4 Monitoring: Regular assessment of the conditions by recording the shifts or changes in natural phenomena and human activities.

 

4. Materials required

 

There are two major components of studying resource management- RS and GIS. India has launched INSAT satellites series (INSAT-1B, INSAT-1C, INSAT-2D, INSAT-2E and INSAT-3E etc.) in geostationary orbits. A GIS consists of two major elements, namely the hardware (processing unit, plotter/printer and graphic display system) and software (ARC GIS, ILWIS, IDRISI, MAPINFO & GRASS etc.). A fully functional GIS can be used to analyze the characteristics between layers to develop application maps or other management options. Following are the basic requirements of resource mapping:

 

 

4.1 Toposheet: Toposheet are topographical maps that are obtained from Survey of India (SoI), commonly on a scale of 1:50,000. Toposheet are considered as base maps.

 

4.2 Thematic maps: These include georeferenced topomaps such as, Vegetation, Forest cover, Lithology, Soil types, Land use/land cover and Wasteland map derived from IRS 1D, PAN+LISS-III, Google Earth or some other sources.

 

Sources of data: Geological Survey of India (GSI), Calcutta, National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning (NBSS & LUP), Bangalore.

 

4.3 RS Satellite data: Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) -1C & 1D, LISS-III (like year: 2010-11, Resolution: 23.5m), PAN+LISS III (year: 2005-06, Resolution: 5.8m), Google Earth with >5 meter resolution. Some of the websites, where spatial data is freely available, are Soil Data Mart, Data gateway, Centre for Geographic Information in Michigan, Geographical Management Systems) GIMS, Indiana Geological Survey (A GIS Atlas), United States Geological Survey (USGS), and Great Lakes Information Network (GLIN).

 

4.4 Software analysis: Once the data is downloaded, it is easy to evaluate with the help of software like ESRI’s Arc GIS, Map Info and Erdas Imagine 2011 etc.

 

5. Resource related issues in India

 

5.1 Deforestation: Deforestation of tropical lands has become an issue of global importance. GIS helps in getting factual information on the rate, extent and location of deforestation. By using GIS and Remote sensing, one could be able to map deforestation, determine the causal factors and may also forecast the future risk. Such information is vital to provide guidance or regulation against inappropriate use of forest resources.

 

5.2 Soil degradation: Soil degradation is one of the most important challenges facing mankind. It affects soil quality and quantity of soil resources. The soil becomes less able to support plant and animal growth as there is a decline in the levels of available moisture, and nutrient reduces biological activity. Development of effective land degradation control program requires the identification of areas vulnerable to soil degradation process and quantification of volume of soil loss. GIS and remote sensing data can be used to identify areas that are at potential risk to extensive soil erosion, loss of vegetation cover etc.

 

5.3 Pollution: When a pollution (water) incident occurs, it is imperative to quickly identify sensitive downstream environments that may be adversely affected by the exposure to toxic substances and to prioritize the various components of the response. Determination of downstream movement of a pollutant within a river network is also an important component of water resource management. Information on measurement of the distance from a pollution source upstream to a drinking water intake downstream and associated flow data would assist to manage pollution.

 

5.4 Loss of Biodiversity: The most significant beginning in satellite-based remote sensing was made in 1972, with the launch of the first civilian remote sensing satellite, Landsat-1 by NASA, which paved the way for the modern remote sensing applications in many fields. Data collected by Landsat-1 provided new hope especially to developing countries to monitor and manage their natural resources. As a result, an improved understanding of forest, crop, soil, urban growth, land degradation, and many other features and processes could easily be identified.

 

For the last couple of decades, the application of remote sensing is not only revolutionized the way data have been collected but also significantly improved the quality and accessibility of important spatial information for conservation and management of natural resources.

 

6. Applications of RS/GIS in Resource Management

 

Over the last few decades, remote sensing technology has been used increasingly by the scientific community to describe and monitor a variety of systems both on local and global scales. This technology has evolved from pure visual images (aerial photographs) to multi-spectral imagery (thematic mapper). With the advent of satellite Remote Sensing in the early 70s after launching of Landsat series of satellites by NASA, USA; SPOT satellite by France and Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Department of Space (DoS), Government of India, there has been an increasing utilisation of satellite imagery for inventory and monitoring of natural resources in India and abroad. The National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) Data Reception Station at Shadnagar near Hyderabad receives data from IRS Satellites in operation, viz. IRS-1C, IRS-1D, IRS-P3, IRS-P4 (OCEANSAT), IRS-P6, (RESOURCESAT-1) and TES (Technology Experiment Satellite) apart from foreign satellites. Earth Observation (EO) data from different Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) Satellites have been used for mapping and making inventories of various types of natural resources viz. drainage, wastelands, land use, surface water bodies, wetlands, infrastructure, etc. These data can be used in many sectors like government, academia, planning and societal. IRS data viz. IRS-P6 LISS III, LISS IV and CARTOSAT satellite data were extensively used in conservation and management of resources.

 

Some major areas of application of GIS within in natural resource management are as follows:

 

 

6.1 Resource inventory: It is simply the recording and assessment of the availability and condition of resources. It is useful in providing relevant information for formulating policies, law, conservation plan, distribution etc.

 

6.2 Hazard and Risk Assessment: Natural hazards such as floods, droughts, cyclones, earthquakes, landslides and forest fires are unavoidable. However, it is possible to minimize the potential risk associated with them by developing early warning strategies, preparing and implementing plans.

 

6.3 Change detection: information regarding decrease or increase in the rate of a particular resource like a forest or agricultural land would be helpful in managing them.

 

6.4 Suitableness: it is the process of determining the fitness of a specific landscape condition to support well-define activity.

 

6.5 Resource monitoring: It is the process of observing and determining quantitative and quantitative transformations that may be occurring and to predict their future trends. GIS provides the opportunity of undertaking effective graphical and numerical monitoring of resources like land degradation, soil loss, forest covers loss, etc.

 

6.6 Environmental Impact Assessment: it is a decision process which aims both to identify and anticipate the impacts on the natural environment, human health and quality of life.

 

7. Conservation of Resources

 

Remote sensing data is being used to manage various types of natural resources and monitoring the dynamics of land-use/land-cover; which is a basic pre-requisite for planning and implementing various developmental activities. Remote sensing in natural resource mapping covers a vast area; few of them being phenology and vegetation dynamics, habitat condition, suitability, conservation planning, ecosystem functions and services, biology and biochemistry of ecosystems, water and energy cycle, climate variability and prediction, ecological security, sustainable development, coastal management, monitoring land-use change, mapping and management of natural hazards etc.

 

 

In order to achieve an environmental friendly development and optimal utilization of natural resources, it was felt that there is need of National (Natural) Resources Management System (NNRMS) be supported by a comprehensive information system for decision makers. To achieve this, the DoS launched an ambitious program called National (Natural) Resources Information System (NRIS), which is oriented towards providing information on natural resources related to land, water, forests, minerals, soils and socioeconomic information such as demographic data, amenities, infrastructure etc. to the policy making bodies. The integration of these sets of data aids the decision making process and help in achieving sustainable development goals of the Integrated Mission for Sustainable Development (IMSD). NRIS is being implemented on a nationwide scale by the DoS in collaboration with a number of agencies, like centres of ISRO, DoS, State Remote Sensing Centres and private entrepreneurs which are geographically spread all over India.

 

 

8. Resource mapping

 

The mapping of resources can be carried out in the following domains:

 

8.1Built-up Land: Built up land is composed of areas of intensive with much of the land covered by structures. Included in this category are cities, towns, villages, industrial and commercial complexes and institutions.

 

 

8.2 Cultivated land: All the cultivated land with or without crops orchards and plantations are considered in this class. This land use class is further subdivided into two sub-classes they are wetland (crop land) and dry land (fallow land). Crop lands are the agricultural lands under crop. In the study area the crop lands have wet cultivation and dry cultivation. Wet cultivation includes food crops such as paddy, wheat, etc.

 

Figure: Characterization of land use, land cover, slope, physiography, soil and soil fertility (Adopted from Das et al., 2014).

 

8.3 Forest Land: Forest, comprises of thick and dense canopy of trees. These lands are identified by their red to dark red tone and varying in size. They are irregular in shape with smooth texture. The forests are found in the southeastern part of the study area. The study area covers mostly the dense and scrub forest. The relative concentration of scrubs, bushes and smaller trees are predominant in this category. In the satellite image such forest is identified by yellow tone with smooth texture.

 

8.4 Water Resources: The water bodies include both natural and man-made water features, namely rivers / streams / lakes / tanks and reservoirs. The water features appear black in tone in the satellite image. The shallow water and deep water features appear in light blue to dark blue in color. Tanks with plantation are identified by the square/rectangle shape and red color tone. Tanks without plantation are recognized by the shape and light blue to dark blue tone.

 

8.5 Uncultivated Land: Land, which does not support any vegetation are known as uncultivated lands or waste lands. Barren rocky, salt affected land, land with and without scrub, sandy area, sheet rocks and stony regions include in this category. Such lands are formed due to the chemical and physical properties of soil, temperature, rainfall and local environmental conditions.

 

8.6 Land with scrub: These lands are subject to degradation, erosion or thorny bushes. Such areas are identified from their yellowish tone and their association with uplands, and their irregular shapes.

 

 

9. Conclusions

 

The content of this chapter explain that remotely sensed data (imageries) are important and extremely useful in mapping and monitoring the availability and possible threat to resources. Accurate and timely information is necessary to evolve strategies for achieving long term management of natural resources. Satellite technology provides a multi-disciplinary and multi-organizational approach to resource management. The Indian IRS data, image processing coupled with GIS techniques is frequently used to identify the land use categories such as built-up lands, cultivated lands, forest lands, water bodies and uncultivated lands. Satellite images in combination with pre-dated topographic sheets of SoI are used for analyzing land use and land cover (LULC) change detection. It is helpful for further macro- and micro-level planning. With the help of GIS the various land use and land cover zones are mapped, which in turn helps for decision makers for planning purpose. With the increasing pressure on natural resources due to the rising human population, RS and GIS can be used to manage these limited resources in an effective and efficient manner. Geospatial data are effective in the analysis and determination of factors that affect the utilization of these resources. Thus, with the understanding of these factors, sound decisions can be arrived at that will ensure the sustainable use of natural resources to meet the needs of the present as well as future generations.

  1. References
  • Nupoor Prasad, Manoj Semwal and Parth Sarathi Roy (2015) Remote Sensing and GIS for Biodiversity Conservation. Springer, India 2015.
  • John Rogan and DongMei Chen (2004)Remote sensing technology for mapping and monitoring land-cover and land-use change. Progress in Planning 61 (2004) 301–325.
  • P.S. Roy, Remote sensing for natural resource assessment and management. Tropical Ecology 43(1): 1-2, 2002.
  • Das, Pratibha T, H. Suchitra Devi1, S. Sudhakar, Mammi Rently. Characterization and Evaluation of Natural Resources for Land Use Diversification Planning: A Case Study in a Block of Meghalaya Using RS & GIS Technique. International Journal of Geosciences, 2014, 5, 170-177.