|
|
|
Integrated Remote Sensing and GIS for Natural Resources Management
|
Natural resources data management system - A spatial approach to micro-level planning
Methodology
As a basic step towards developing a resource information system, a database is created by collation of data on the relevant sectors. The emphasis is on maximizing the use of the data available with the various agencies. Primary generation of data is limited tot filling of information gaps and a limited amount of validation. The database consists of the following data files :
- natural resources
- agro-economy
- demography
- sect oral
- socio-economy
- remote sensing
It may be observed from the above that remote sensing data are used as one of the layers which supplements the natural resources data available from the conventional sources, n particular for themes which are of temporal nature. The detailed list of parameters has been divided into a hard core set which is uniformly collated at all the places; the soft core set of parameters is specific to the area under study and often constitutes the sect oral files. It is thus endeavored that specificity of the area is captured in the database and the planning strategies are tailored to the local requirements.
The database has been created using a relational structure. natural resources data are collected on a gird basis 9raster structure0 which is tide to the universal latitude and longitude system. The topographic sheets of the Survey of India provide the reference cartographic base. On this basis a unique identification code is assigned to each grid which serves as the key for setting up the relations. The adoption of the grid system facilities spatial comparisons, aggregation and desegregation of data. Further, it preserves the intrinsic spatial relationship among the data elements. However, this also poses the limitations of an inflexible spatial resolution (Meyers, 1987). Under NRDMS, two grid sizes 2.5' x 2.5 ' and 30" x 30" have been tried. The grid of higher resolution is now preferred and is being adopted as the standard. To make the database comprehensive and application' oriented, the natural resources data are supplemented with the socio-economic and agro-economic parameters collected mainly from the various census reports. These data are stored on village-wise basis. A many-to-many link has been provided between the grid and the village codes so as to take care of a grid having many villages and a village having many grids. The system has been so designed that multifaceted retrievals are possible either with respect to spatial entities, administrative units or physical boundaries (Venkatachalam et al., 1985). The NRDMS concept is schematically represented in
fig. 1. A sample thematic output is shown in fig. 2.
NRDMS: A system for microlevel planning
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Implementation
Databases are being set up at the headquarters of the districts administration with the involvement and participation of the local officials and the people for whom the information system is meant. IBM compatible micro computers (PC/AT-386) equipped with hard disks and tape drives form the essential components of the hardware. In the initial stages systems based on Motorola 68010 have also been tried.
Software packages for data input, data overlay and retrieval have been developed. The outputs can be obtained either in the form of reports/tables or thematic maps. Commercially available GIS packages are also being tried on a limited scale. The high cost is an inhabiting factor. programs or calculation of indicators of development, backwardness and potentiality have been written. The villages can thus be ranked as per a defined set of criteria to study the spatial patterns and disparities in development (Govt. of Gujarat, 1984).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
