Achievements in Remote Sensing Applications in India
Integrated Mission for Sustainable Development
Sustainable development of natural resources relies on maintaining the fragile balance between productivity functions and conservation practices through precise identification and systematic monitoring of problem area in various resources and developmental sectors. It also calls for application of alternate agricultural practices, crop rotations use bio-fertilisers, energy-efficient farming methods and reclamation of under utilised and wastelands, planned exploitation of mineral and ground water resources etc. There fore optimal and exploitation of the resources (both renewable and non-renewable resources) calls for an holistic approach. The synoptic view provide by satellite remote sensing offers technologically the appropriate method for studying land and water resources, characterizing the coherent agricultural zones and identifying the constraints/ecological problems at microlevel. Effective use of space based remote sensing data suitably merged with collateral, socio economic and meteorological data through the use of geographic information system helps arriving at locale specific prescriptions to achieve sustainable development of natural resources of the region. The process of sustainable development packages evolving from such an integrated effort will be economically acceptable and environmentally friendly. Towards this, Department of space in 1988had initiated pilot studies in 21 perennially drought affected districts of the country to generate locale specific action plans. These pilot studies carried out has demonstrated the efficacy of using remote sensing based approach for optimal utilization of land and water resources towards combating drought on a long term basis.
Based on the results obtained form these pilot studies, Department of Space has launched a major, unique programme on Integrated Mission for Sustainable Development. This mission, as of now, covers a total of 157 problem districts of the country, covering nearly 45% of India's geographical area which are perennially affected and tribal areas.
The methodology of study involves generation of thematic maps showing current landuse/landcover, types of wasteland, forest cover/types, surface water resources. Drainage pattern, potential ground water zones, land forms (geomorphology, geology (rock types, structural features, mineral occurence0, soil types etc using data from Indian Remote Sensing Satellite. The map showing slope/aspect is prepared using topographic contour information and the meteorological data (rainfall intensity distribution etc0. are collected form existing database. The integration of the various thematic maps and attributes data, and further analysis for identified alternatives for development are carried out using geographic information system to identify set of coherent micro-level land units which are unique in terms of their resources potential and problems. Specific developmental plans for these units are arrived at in consultation with and close coordination between space scientists, experts from various central/state developmental departments, agricultural universities/research institutions, district level officials and local farmers, so as to ensure the technical feasibility and cultural acceptability of such action plans. Further, methodology has been developed to overlay the land capability map over the cadastral maps to provide information at the field levels. Various elements of such action plans are prioritized and categorised as those relating to land and water resources and others. Sensitivity of each element of the action plan would also be studied to see visible regress over the coming years, once they are implemented. The parameters such as, vegetation index, forest cover, land use, agricultural production, ground water table, soil erosion, etc., would be identified for bench marking the impact of such an implementation.
So far, action plans have been generated for one watershed each in 7 districts. The action plans are being implemented by the district authorities for these watersheds. The initial feedback on the implementation of action plans in the watersheds of Anantapur has been encouraging as shown by increased ground water levels through water harvesting structures and consequem agncumetna activities. The supports for implementation is derived from ongoing developmental programmes such as Drought Prone Area Development Programme (DPAP), Desert Development Programme (DDP), Integrated Wasteland Development Programme (IWDP), National Watersheds Development Project for Rain-fed Areas (NWDPRA), Hill Area Development Programme (HADP), etc. It is also proposed to use satellite data for monitoring of the impact of these action plans.
Further, in view of the advantages of the integrated approach wherein local specific action plans will be generated with cadastral overlays, Ministry of Rural Development has suggested taking up of 92 selected blocks from among the IMSD districts, on an urgent basis in a timeframe of 18 months. Ministry of Rural Development will provide funds for implementation of these action plans through pooling of resources from the various ongoing schemes for rural development.
National (Natural) Resources Information System (NRIS)
A National (Natural Resources Information System (NRIS) for the country has been evolved to aid decision makers at national/regiona/state/district/taluk levels. A numbe of pilot scale studies on various themes viz., wasteland development, land capability classes, district level planning, regional mineral targeting, etc., were carried out towards implementation of NRIS. Several geographic information packages have also been developed indigenously to cater to computer based decision support systems.
Infrastructure/Facilities Development
Fuller utilisation of this technology by uses has been ensured through establishing appropriate remote sensing facilities at central and state level user departments/agencies. As many as 22 States have established Remote Sensing Application Centres, which are carrying out several application projects of relevance to their region, besides participating in national level projects. They have established a strong interaction with all the concerned users. The DOS Centres such as NRSA, Hyderabad; SAC, Ahmedabad and RRSSCs located at Bangalore, Dehradun, Jodhpur, Kharagpur and Nagpur continued to execute various national level missions/projects, user projects, application validation projects, technology and software development activities and conduct of regular training programmes for users.
Training and Education in Remote Sensing
With the increased awareness and utilisation of remote sensing in India, need for adequate number of trained manpower for harnessing the benefits of remote sensing technology has steeply gone up. Adequate efforts are being made to increase the present throughput of trained manpower (of about 800) in various themes in collaboration with central/state/academic institution by way of augmenting the existing training infrastructure. Regular training courses are being conducted by several training institutions such as Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS, Dehradun), Centre of Studies for Resources Engineering (IIT, Bombay), Institute of Remote Sensing (Anna University, Madras), Survey of India, ecological Survey of India Training Institute, Forest Survey of India and Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI, Delhi). Besides these regular courses, on the job training is being provided by National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA, Hyderabad) and Space Applications Centre (SAC, Ahmedabad) for specific themes and training in digital analysis and GIS by RRSSCs. So far as many as 6300 scientists have been trained in remote sensing. Efforts are also on to introduce remote sensing evening school and college curriculum. Many universities have introduced remote sensing in their post-graduate courses as a full-fledged degree course or a part of a core subject.
International Collaboration
India has many collaborative programmes with several countries in promoting active cooperation in remote sensing. For example, the ESCAP/UNDP Regional Remote Sensing Programme (RRSP), under the execution of the ESCAP, is playing a crucial rle in promoting active cooperation in remote sensing among member counties of Asia-Pacific region, by bringing together experts from different areas who can share their experiences, disseminating information on available expertise, disseminating information on available expertise, disseminating information on available experts where needed. The SHARES (Sharing of Experience) program initiated by India is also continuing to provide assistance to candidates from developing countries for participation in remote sensing training courses in India. The data reception/processing courses in India. The data reception/processing facility at Norman, USA has been recently established, to receive data from India Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) as part of arrangements between EOSAT, USA and Department of Space/Antrix/NRSA, India, IRS-IC data is also planned to be acquired at this station once the satellite is launched. The DLR of Germany is providing a payload called Modular Opto-electronic Scanner (MOS) proposed to be flown in IRS-P3.
Conclusion
India was achieved a viable, self-reliant remote sensing programme with the establishment of expertise and self sufficiency in operationalisation of the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite series, establishment of a well kuit infrastructure for reception, processing, dissemination, analysis and interpretation of remote sensing data, operatonalisation of remote sensing data, operationalation of remote sensing applications in a wide range of resource sensing applications in a wide range of resource themes and developmental sectors and development of a resource information system using Geographic Information techniques. With the launching of a unique planning system of intergrated mission for sustainable development using space remote sensing inputs coupled with GIS to provide a holistic approach and to meet the growing demand of the increasing population, the remote sensing is pinsed to play a key role in the overall development of the nation. The availability of data from second generation satellites will further enhance the effectiveness of the mission for national development at microleved.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the valuable inputs provided by the NNRMS user community. Thanks are also due to Ms S vanaja for secretarial help and Ms M Sameena for cartography work.
References
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Rao, U.R., 1991. Remote Sensing for National Development, Current Science, 61 (3&4): 121-128.
- Jayaraman, V., and Chandrasekhar, M.G., 1992. Second Generation Indian Remote Sensing Satellites - IRS-IC &ID, Presented at 43rd Congress of the IAF, Aug. 28-Sep. 5. 1992, Washington. D.C.
- Jayaraman, V., Chandrasekhar, M.G., and Rao, U.R., 1993. Remote Sensing for National Development : Implementing results achieved is th4 National Indian Satellite Programme. Presented at the UN/IAF Workshop on "Organising Space Activities in Developing Countries: Resources and Mechanics on 16/3/193 during 44th IAF Congress at Graz, Austria.
- Annual Report, 1993-94, Department of Space, Government of India, pp. 1-99.
