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Abstract
GIS BASED “Prototype Environment Assessment and Reporting Landscape
Anit ghose
Technical Head
Limtex Infotech Limited,
Email: ikonanit@gmail.com
Ms. Parama Roy
Sr.GIS Developer
The objective of PEARL (Prototype Environmental Assessment and Reporting Landscape) is to provide governments and the international community with a comprehensive overview from both a thematic and geographic perspective of the various environmental assessments completed or being undertaken globally. This web-based system serves as a tool to provide timely, relevant, reliable and targeted information on what is being done by various institutions to keep the global environmental situation under continuous review.
The “Environmental Information” that must be taken into account by the decision maker includes the Environmental Statement and all the comments and representations made by any organisation or member of the public as a result of the consultations and publicity that must be undertaken in every case. It also includes any further environmental or other information already held by the decision maker which is relevant to the decision.
Conceptual Approach:
The landscapes program uses landscape ecology, i.e., the study of the distribution patterns of communities and ecosystems, the ecological processes that effect those patterns and changes in both pattern and process over time, as its foundation. Research is focused on the interaction between landscape patterns and ecological processes, especially as they affect the natural lows of water, energy, nutrients, and biota in the environment. Landscape pattern metrics related to size, shape, and connectivity are used as indicators of ecological processes and stressors. These indicators are related to conditions in specific ecological resources through application of models and empirical studies, and therefore provide the basis for assessments of watershed condition (water quality, quantity, and vulnerability to flooding), landscape resilience (ability to sustain ecological goods and services when subjected to combinations of anthropogenic and natural stress), and biodiversity (wildlife habitat). The latest in available technology relative to remote sensing, geographic information systems, and spatial statistics is being used. Remotely placed scanners, such as the Land sat satellites, provide data with:
(1) Broad temporal frequency,
(2) Complete spatial coverage,
(3) Ease and economy of acquisition,
(4) Capability to integrate measurements of ecosystem condition that are derived from site and remote sensing methods
(5) An ability to assess ecological conditions at multiple scales. Landscape pattern metrics and indicators are derived from these data by using commercial and custom-designed spatial statistics software.
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