The use of Radar Remote Sensing Imageries
for Developments in
Southern Coastal Belt of Sri-Lanka
Coastal erosion Erosion endangers Southern beaches and adjoining coastal land. Wind, waves and currents constantly pounding the coasts, diminishing beaches and eroding bluffs. Specially in the Coastal belt from Bentota to Hikkaduwa facing this problem. This area mainly depends on tourism, and hundreds of hoteliers were affected due to erosion. The Coast Conservation Department (CCD) is working on coast protection. There many problems came out due to rubble dumping as a coast protection solution. With careful study or wave spectrum of this area optimum solutions can be seek.
Sand mining Mining of Sand from beaches and specially river months are causing increasingly serious coastal erosion and salt water intrusion, despite permit controls exercised by the Coast Conservation Department. CCD found that nearly 200,000 cubes of sand mined in the coastal stretch from the Southern coastal stretch. This could me monitored easily by the satellite imageries.
Habitat degradation and over exploitation of resources Coastal habitats are under enormous pressure because many are small specially vulnerable to degradation. The mangroves, that exist have become severely reduced by overuse, abuse and conversion to other uses. Still there are major projection to monitor, to digress Mangroves and other coastal habitats. Here radarsat imageries could use in several ways, to monitor, to identify location and its densities etc.
Coastal pollution Major source are oil pollution from shipping and fishing craft, discharge of industrial effluents, sewage and domestic waste. Five miles off the Southern and South-western coasts a major international shipping route carries estimated annual traffic of over 5,000 tankers, posing risks of an accidental oil spill. Some time its makes a risk and inestimable damages. The country has been suffering for many years due to lack of sources to get information about the oil spills. Here radarsat imageries could play a significant role to get information within a shorter period.
Conclusions and discussion
The discussed actives are on going in the Southern coastal belt of Sri-Lanka. These are tragically very significant sectors must be improved with other developments. It is possible to solve some research problems as well improve social conditions of the fisherman (By improving fishing industry) by using radarsat imageries. In the other hand natural and human made problems are burning their life style (erosion, natural hazards etc). Radarsat resolutions from 10x9m (Fine beam) to 100x50m (Scan sar beam) having vast capabilities to use in these critical situations.
In addition to the speechified puzles of southern coastal belt, there are some important aspect could monitor through Radsat resolutions. Land use, degradation of palpations, irrigation schemes, floods, mapping, geology are some to work with simultaneously. In this situation Radarsat imageries will certainly performed excellent job of development in Southern providence.
Reference
- Radar sat illuminated, Guide to products and services (Preliminary version 07195)
- Alan T. White, Wijeyrathne M. Are Coastal Zone Management and economic development complementary in Sri-Lanka. 1993.
- Bernad Swan An introduction to the Coastal Geomorphology of Sri-Lanka, 1983.
- Coorary P.G. An Introduction to the Coastal Geomorphology of Sri-Lanka,
- Wickramarathne S, the Oceans in our future December 1984.
- Natural Resources of Sri-Lanka, Report prepared by the Nature Resources Energy Science Authority 1991.
- Materials, Radarsat International workshop, 12-19 May, 1996, Malaysia.
Basin Estuaries and Lagoons
