INTERNATIONAL, Proceedings of HYDRO 2013 INTERNATIONAL 4-6System Dec 2013, IIT Madras, INDIA Towards An Integrated Land And Water Resources Governance In Lake Zrêbar Basin, Iran: A Community-Based Approach
ASSESSING SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL CHANGES USING REMOTE SENSING AND GIS IN HARIKE WETLAND, PUNJAB, INDIA Amit Kumar1, Puneeta Pandey2 Abstract: Harike wetland is one of the three Ramsar sites in Punjab and among twenty six in India which are declared by Ramsar convention (1971). It is situated at meeting point of Satluj and Beas river basin in Punjab. Furthermore it spreads in four districts of Punjab and covers 4200 hectares of area. Most of the wetlands are productive and very helpful in storage of water, groundwater recharge, regulation of nutrients through biogeochemical cycle, managing floods and providing habitat for diverse group of organisms. However, these natural resources are bearing the brunt of rapid industrial development and increasing human population. Therefore, for proper management and conservation of wetlands, it is important to generate inventory data such as change in geographic area, water level and water quality parameters. Ground based studies have their own limitations since they are not time and cost effective, and fail to give a bird’s eye-view for a large geographical area. Remote sensing has several advantages in monitoring of wetlands since it provides relatively cheap and rapid method for acquiring up to date information over an area with large geographical extent. This data can then be analysed in GIS (Geographical Information System) environment to generate more useful information. Further, satellite data can also be used to detect the changes in spatial extent as well as temporal dimensions over last several decades. Therefore, Remote sensing and GIS techniques are very useful in assessing the status of wetlands in present scenario using satellite data such as Landsat MSS, Landsat TM and SPOT. The present study focuses on assessing the current status of Harike wetland and the changes it might have undergone in the last few years using geospatial technology. Such change detection studies will be highly useful in creating baseline data for further monitoring and biodiversity conservation programmes in the state of Punjab. The images of 29.03.2010 and 16.08.2013 were downloaded from Google Earth as jpg images. These images were georeferenced in GIS environment using ArcGIS software where the images were converted to specific map projection using geometric correction. The base layers were generated. The required study area was subset from the image using Spatial Analyst tool of the ArcGIS software. After visual interpretation and ground truthing, the georeferenced images were digitized using ArcGIS software for the major land use/land cover classes such as river, lakes, settlement and vegetation. The map compositions were then prepared and statistics generated to compute the results.
1
Research scholar, Centre for Environmental Science & Technology, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda151001, India, Email:
[email protected] 2
Assistant Professor, Centre for Environmental Science & Technology, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda151001, India, Email:
[email protected]
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INTERNATIONAL, Proceedings of HYDRO 2013 INTERNATIONAL 4-6System Dec 2013, IIT Madras, INDIA Towards An Integrated Land And Water Resources Governance In Lake Zrêbar Basin, Iran: A Community-Based Approach
Table 1: Comparative study of land use/ land cover features for 2010 and 2013 Features River (km) 2
Settlement (km ) Vegetation(km2) Open water 2 bodies(km )
2010 64.401
2013 52.427
0.0211 0.0443
0.0119 0.0789
5.15
13.71
It is evident from the table that the area under open water bodies is higher in 2013 compared to 2010. This can be attributed to the fact that the image of 2013 is of monsoon season, hence, higher percentage of water bodies in 2013. However, the water in river is reduced in 2013 compared to 2010. This is in sharp contrast to open water bodies, suggesting that on the day of image procurement, the water may have been released downstream from the barrage; since, the water level would have risen during monsoon. Further studies are required to corroborate this fact. Also, a large area of Harike wetland is under vegetation indicating very high eutrophication in both the years. Ground truthing of the wetland revealed dense coverage of water hyacinth in both the years. Various mechanical, chemical and biological methods can be employed to control this problem of fast growing weed. Keywords: Harike wetland, Ramsar site, Ramsar convention, Remote sensing, GIS, Punjab
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INTERNATIONAL, Proceedings of HYDRO 2013 INTERNATIONAL 4-6System Dec 2013, IIT Madras, INDIA Towards An Integrated Land And Water Resource s Governance In Lake Zrêbar Basin, Iran: A Community-Based Approach
ASSESSING SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL CHANGES USING REMOTE SENSING AND GIS IN HARIKE WETLAND, PUNJAB, INDIA Amit Kumar1, Puneeta Pandey2 Abstract: Harike wetland is one of the three Ramsar sites in Punjab and among twenty six in India which are declared by Ramsar convention (1971). It is situated at meeting point of Satluj and Beas river basin in Punjab. These natural resources are bearing the brunt of rapid industrial development and increasing human population. Therefore, for proper management and conservation of wetlands, it is important to generate inventory data such as change in geographic area, water level and water quality parameters. Ground based studies have their own limitations since they are not time and cost effective, and fail to give a bird’s eye-view for a large geographical area. Remote sensing has several advantages in monitoring of wetlands since it provides relatively cheap and rapid method for acquiring up to date information over an area with large geographical extent. Therefore, Remote sensing and GIS techniques are very useful in assessing the status of wetlands in present scenario using satellite data such as Landsat MSS, Landsat TM and SPOT. The present study focuses on assessing the current status of Harike wetland 1
Research scholar, Centre for Environmental Science & Technology, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda-151001, India, Email:
[email protected] 2
Assistant Professor, Centre for Environmental Science & Technology, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda-151001, India, Email:
[email protected]
1
INTERNATIONAL, Proceedings of HYDRO 2013 INTERNATIONAL 4-6 Dec 2013, IIT Madras, INDIA
and the changes it might have undergone in the last two decades using geospatial technology. Such change detection studies will be highly useful in creating baseline data for further monitoring and biodiversity conservation programmes in the state of Punjab. Keywords: Harike wetland, Ramsar site, Ramsar convention, Remote sensing, GIS, Punjab INTRODUCTION Wetlands are areas that are periodically flooded or covered with water and are one of the crucial natural resources. Wetlands have a transitional nature and can be categorized into land or water resources depending on the hydrological nature, geographical location, sediment characteristics, soil type and dominant flora. Besides, wetlands also provide a variety of tangible (food, fiber and raw materials) and intangible (storm and flood control, clean water supply, scenic beauty and educational and recreational) benefits. Most of the wetlands are productive and very helpful in storage of water, groundwater recharge, regulation of nutrients through biogeochemical cycle, managing floods and providing habitat for diverse group of organisms. As per the estimates of Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, wetlands cover 7% of the earth’s surface and deliver 45% of the world’s natural productivity and ecosystem services per year (www.MAweb.org). In the state of Punjab, India, the total area under wetland is estimated to be 86283 ha accounting for about 1.71% of the geographic area of state. The river/stream is the major type, accounting for 69.38 per cent of the wetlands (59864 ha) while Reservoirs/Barrages rank second with 13.74 % share (11858 ha area). The other wetland types include Tanks/ponds (3526 ha), Waterlogged, Lake/pond, Ox-bow lake and Riverine wetlands. Some of the important wetlands are Harike Reservoir, Kanjli Wetland, Ropar Wetland, Dholbaha Reservoir, Januari Reservoir and Ranjit Sagar Reservoir. Harike, Ropar, Kanjali are notified 2
INTERNATIONAL, Proceedings of HYDRO 2013 INTERNATIONAL 4-6 Dec 2013, IIT Madras, INDIA
wetlands by Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India (National Wetland Atlas: Punjab, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India). Harike wetland is one of the three Ramsar sites in Punjab and among twenty six in India which are declared by Ramsar convention (1971). This wetland falls in three districts encompassing Amritsar, Kapurthala and Ferozpur. It is constructed at the confluence of Beas-Sutlej river and it has biggest watershed. It receives large amount of nutrients from the catchment; hence, siltation is one of the main problems associated with this wetland.
Figure 1: Harike Wetland, Punjab Although various benefits can be derived from wetlands, they are the first target of human interference and are among the most threatened of all natural resources. Around 50% of the earth’s wetland area is estimated to already have disappeared over the last hundred years through conversion to industrial, agricultural and residential developments. The degradation continues even in present scenario, since ecosystem functions are often ignored in policy-making, plans and corporate evaluations of development projects. The ecological characteristics of the above mentioned wetlands are at risk of particularly due to siltation, weed infestation, pollution and encroachment. This has not only 3
INTERNATIONAL, Proceedings of HYDRO 2013 INTERNATIONAL 4-6 Dec 2013, IIT Madras, INDIA
inflicted damage to the associated biological diversity but also is adversely affecting the sustainability of ecosystem. Therefore, for proper management and conservation of wetlands, it is important to generate inventory data such as change in catchment area, water level and water quality parameters. Maps are essential for monitoring and quantifying change over time scale, assist in decision making. The technique used in the preparation of map started with ground survey. The Survey of India (SOI) topographical maps are the earliest true maps of India showing various land use/cover classes including wetlands. Recent years have seen advances in mapping technique to prepare maps with much more information using remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) technique. Ground based studies have their own limitations since they are not time and cost effective, and fail to give a bird’s eye-view for a large geographical area. Remote sensing has several advantages in monitoring of wetlands since it provides relatively cheap and rapid method for acquiring up to date information over an area with large geographical extent. The data thus acquired through remote sensing can then be analysed in GIS (Geographical Information System) environment to generate more useful information. Further, satellite data can also be used to detect the changes in spatial extent as well as temporal dimensions over last several decades. The first scientific mapping of wetlands of India was carried out during1992-93 by Space Applications Centre (ISRO), Ahmedabad, at the behest of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Govt. of India using remote sensing data from Indian Remote Sensing satellites (IRS-Series). The mapping was done at 1:250,000 scale using IRS 1A LISSI/II data of 1992-93 timeframe under the Nation-wide Wetland Mapping Project. Further updating of wetland maps of India was carried out by SAC using IRS P6/Resourcesat AWiFS data of 2004-05 at 1:250000 scale. Parihar et al. (1986) used highresolution space photographs to derive information on vegetative cover in order to study the wildlife habit. Wetland mapping in 4
INTERNATIONAL, Proceedings of HYDRO 2013 INTERNATIONAL 4-6 Dec 2013, IIT Madras, INDIA
West Bengal, India, using remotely sensed data was done by Sharafat Ali et al. (1991). Wani et al. (1996) effectively used IRS LISS-II data to quantify suspended sediment concentration in the Dal lake (Srinagar, India) surface water. Therefore, Remote sensing and GIS techniques are very useful in assessing the status of wetlands in present scenario using satellite data such as Landsat MSS, Landsat TM and SPOT. The present study focuses on assessing the current status of Harike wetland and the changes it might have undergone in the last few years using geospatial technology. Such change detection studies will be highly useful in creating baseline data for further monitoring and biodiversity conservation programmes in the state of Punjab. OBJECTIVES 1. To study the current status of Harike wetland, Punjab. 2. To observe the changes in Harike wetland for the years 2010 and 2013. METHODOLOGY The images of 29.03.2010 and 16.08.2013 were downloaded from Google Earth as jpg images. The images were georeferenced in GIS environment using ArcGIS software where the images were converted to specific map projection using geometric correction. The base layers were generated. The required study area was subset from the image using Spatial Analyst tool of the ArcGIS software. After visual interpretation and ground truthing, the georeferenced images were digitized using ArcGIS software for the major land use/land cover classes such as river, lakes, settlement and vegetation. The map compositions were then prepared and statistics generated to compute the results.
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INTERNATIONAL, Proceedings of HYDRO 2013 INTERNATIONAL 4-6 Dec 2013, IIT Madras, INDIA
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The images of Harike wetland for March 29, 2010 and August 16, 2013 were georeferenced using Ground Control Points (GCPs) obtained through ground truthing. The georeferenced images have been depicted in Figure 2(a) and 2 (b).
Figure 2: Georeferenced image of Harike wetland for the year (a) 2010, (b) 2013 Based on visual interpretation, the georeferenced images of 2010 and 2013 were digitized to create vector layers for vegetation, river, open water bodies and settlement. The respective images have been depicted in figure 3(a) and 3(b).
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INTERNATIONAL, Proceedings of HYDRO 2013 INTERNATIONAL 4-6 Dec 2013, IIT Madras, INDIA
Figure 3: Digitized image of Harike wetland for the year (a) 2010 and (b) 2013 Besides, a comparative analysis of these features for 2010 and 2013 has been shown in Table 1. Table 1: Comparative study of land use/ land cover features for 2010 and 2013 Features River (km) 2
Settlement (km ) 2 Vegetation(km ) Open water 2 bodies(km )
7
2010 64.401
2013 52.427
0.0211 0.0443
0.0119 0.0789
5.15
13.71
INTERNATIONAL, Proceedings of HYDRO 2013 INTERNATIONAL 4-6 Dec 2013, IIT Madras, INDIA
It is evident from the table that the area under open water bodies is higher in 2013 compared to 2010. This can be attributed to the fact that the image of 2013 is of monsoon season, hence, higher percentage of water bodies in 2013. However, the water in river is reduced in 2013 compared to 2010. This is in sharp contrast to open water bodies, suggesting that on the day of image procurement, the water may have been released downstream from the barrage; since, the water level would have risen during monsoon. Further studies are required to corroborate this fact. Also, a large area of Harike wetland is under vegetation indicating very high eutrophication in both the years. Ground truthing of the wetland revealed dense coverage of water hyacinth in both the years. If we analyse the status of wetland in light of Chopra et. al. (2001), plantations cover 0.08 sq. km and open water bodies occupied 4.1 sq. km respectively in 1992. However, in the present study, vegetation occupied 0.0443 sq km and 0.0789 sq km area in 2010 and 2013. The increase in 2013 can be attributed to recent afforestation measures adopted in recent years. Further, a steady increase has been observed in open water bodies that includes lake, ponds and oxbow lakes, besides waterlogged areas. The Harike wetland is exposed to a variety of threats in the present time such as weed infestation due to water hyacinth, heavy siltation especially during monsoon, pollution due to agricultural runoff, effluent discharge, illegal fishing and poaching, and drifting of migratory birds during lean season due to fluctuations in water level. Although some of these problems such as illegal poaching and fishing can be averted by strict enforcement of regulatory measures; the problem of siltation at the barrage can be reduced by keeping the gates fully open so as not to retard the velocity of water flow. Regular monitoring of water resources can aid in preventing deterioration of water quality. Although water 8
INTERNATIONAL, Proceedings of HYDRO 2013 INTERNATIONAL 4-6 Dec 2013, IIT Madras, INDIA
hyacinth multiplies very rapidly, yet it can be controlled by biological, chemical and mechanical means. CONCLUSION Harike wetland is characterized by many open water bodies interspersed with vegetation. A few scattered settlements can also be observed. Although there are various environmental issues that plague the wetland, still various regulatory and monitoring measures can go a long way in preserving this Ramsar site. Geospatial technology such as remote sensing and GIS can play a crucial role in preserving the quality of wetlands by helping in regular monitoring of the wetland using multitemporal spatial data. Such baseline data will be highly beneficial for planning and policy formulation for biodiversity conservation programmes in the state of Punjab. REFERENCES Chopra, R., Verma, V. K., Sharma, P. K., 2001. Mapping, monitoring and conservation of Harike wetland ecosystem, Punjab, India, through remote sensing. Int.J. Remote Sensing, 2001, 22(1), 89–98. National Wetland Atlas: Punjab, 2001. Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India, As a part of the project on National Wetland Inventory and Assessment (NWIA), Space Applicatins Centre (ISRO), Ahmedabad and Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (Ludhiana), August, 2010. Parihar, J. S., Kotwal, P. C., Panigrahi, S., Chaturvedi, N., 1986. Study of wildlife habitat using high resolution space photographs. A case study of Kanha National Park. ISRO-SP-1786, Special Publication of Indian Space Research Organisation, Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, pp. 65–82. Sharafat Ali, Saha, Suraj Bhan, N. C., 1991, Wetland resources mapping in West Bengal using remotely sensed data. National 9
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Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment, Madras, 10–12 December 1991 (Dehradun: Indian Society of Remote Sensing). Wani, M. M., Choubey, V. K., Joshi, Himanshu, 1996, Quantification of suspended solids in Dal Lake, Srinagar using Remote Sensing Technology. Journal of Indian Society of Remote Sensing, 24, 25–32. www.MAweb.org
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