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Application of Remote Sensing data for Delineation of Ground Water potential zones in the Kalrayan Hills, Tamil Nadu Sakthivel, R, ManiveL,M and A. Alagappa Moses Department of Geology, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirapalli-24. Dept. of Environmental Sciences, Bishop Heber College, Tiruchirapalli - 17.
Introduction Water is an elixir of life and it does play vital role in biotic and a biotic environment. Due to the erratic behavior of monsoons together with unplanned exploitation of groundwater, caused mainly by the development in the living standards of mankind and the growing population which has been further compounded by unpredictable behavior of ground water in hard rock areas causes damage to the extent of depletion of groundwater table. So the assessment of quantity of groundwater is essential for optional utilization especially in hilly terrain. The interpretation of satellite data in conjunction with sufficient ground truth information makes it possible to identify and outline various ground features such as geological structures, geomorphic features and their hydraulic characters, that may serve as direct or indirect indicators of the presence of ground water ( Das et al.1997, Ravindran and Jeyaram(1997). Therefore, a detailed hydrogeomorphological mapping survey can give a clear picture of the groundwater resources and the associated problems. Vaidyanathan(1964; Bhattacharya et al., 1979; Prithvi Raju,1980; Millington et al,1986; Jones,1986; Kunte, 1988; Sinha et al,1990; Steven, 1991 and Thomas et al, 1995) have demonstrated in detail about the application of remote sensing data to demarcate the groundwater prospective zones by means of identifying hydrogeomorphological features. The present study is an attempt to evaluate groundwater conditions in the kalrayan hills, through hydrogeomorphological studies using remote sensing data. Study area The Kalrayans are a major hill range of Eastern Ghats situated to the north east of Salem district of Tamil Nadu. It lies between 110 20| - 120 05| N latitude and 780 28| - 790 05| E longitude ( Fig.1). It spreads over an area of 1095 Sq.kms. and is endowed with rich natural resources. The vegetation types of kalrayans are scrub jungles of altitude 400m, deciduous forests between 800 to 1300m and sholas at the sheltered pockets on the plateau. The Kalrayan measures 25.76 km (NS) and 37 km (EW) .The chinna kalrayans on the north and the east, pass into the Ariya Goundan and the Kurumba Goundan jaghirs of South Arcot district.( Matthew, 1981). 
Methodology In the present study, the IRS 1C LISS III data in the form of false colour composites(FCC'S) generated from bands 2,3,&4 on 1:50,000 scale was interpreted using visual interpretation keys such as tone, texture, association and so on. The knowledge of the area was taken into account at the time of interpretation. The interpreted features transferred to the base map on 1:50,000 scale. The geological, lineament maps and other collatoral data were also made use of for the preparation of hydrogeomorphological map.The ground water prospects of the delineated geomorphic units were evaluated using available hydrogeologic characteristics. The hydrogeomorphical map of the area was finalised after field checks at selected locations for verifying the doubtful units.
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