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IAPRS & SIS, Vol.34, Part 7, "Resource and Environmental Monitoring”, Hyderabad, India,2002 
THE MONITORING OF SUSPENDED SEDIMENT DISTRIBUTION PATTERN AND 
MAPPING OF COASTAL FEATURES ALONG KARNATAKA THROUGH AEROSPACE 
DATA 
P. K. Gupta^, A. P. Singh? 
"Hydrology Discipline, Central Mining Research Institute, Barwa Road, Dhanbad 826001. 
apsingh_3@rediffmail.com 
KEYWORDS: Coastal Feature, Sediment Dispersion, Marine Erosion, Spit, and Submergence. 
ABSTRACT 
The distribution and transport of suspended sediment for marine environment of Karnataka has been qualitatively studied through 
temporal aerospace data. The monitoring of suspended sediment in offshore area at regional scale has its unique role in deciphering 
marine erosion. The temporal aerospace data have been used namely aerial photograph (1955 & 1979), Landsat MSS (September, 
November and December of 1972), Bhaskara II (January 1982) and Salyut (April 1984). The available sequential coverage by aerospace 
data enabled us to correlate suspended sediment pattern with seasonal changes in wind and current direction as short term and littoral 
drift as a long term. The study clearly demonstrates the utility of Remote Sensing data in visible range for effective monitoring of 
sedimentation process and related coastal features like orientation of spit, double spit, offshore bar and beach deposit. The pri mary 
estimate of suspended sediment along near shore region has potential tool for appraisal of coastal dynamic process and marine erosion in 
conjunction with relevant ground truth data. : 
INTRODUCTION 
The application of sequential aerospace data is an effective tool 
for authentic documentation of coastal resources and monitoring 
of landforms associated with dynamic process (Kumar et al, 
1986). Karnataka coast has length of 320 km distributed between 
South Kanara and North Kanara district and selected for 
application of sequential aerospace data analysis. The coastal 
zone of Karnataka has Iron and Laterite as mineral resource; 
evergreen deciduous forest as vegetation resource; paddy field 
cum sugarcane as agriculture source over land portion besides 
marine fisheries over shelf/offshore area. The Karnataka coast has 
been classified as Malabar type and is characterized by following 
aspects (Ahmad, 1972): 
irregular terrain with composition of ancient gneiss 
and crystalline rocks 
4 eiTectonic disturbances 
4 &Narrow coastal plain 
The average rainfall for Karnataka coast is 4300 mm of reliable 
category due to rich vegetation cover. The majority of rainfall 
occurs during July — September months and belongs to SW 
monsoon. The major rivers are Netravati, Gurpur, Kali and 
Sheravati. All rivers originate from Western ghat and after 
flowing in west direction join Arabian Sea with estuary 
formation. The entire coastline including estuaries, lagoons, 
backwater and canals are navigable through inland waterways. 
OBJECTIVE 
Karnataka coast has severe problem of marine erosion. The 
sequential coverage of aerospace data is reliable tool for regional 
resource study and provides fruitful correlation of coastal 
geomorphology, sediment dispersion in conjunction with relevant 
meteorological data. The endeavour is a sort of attempt to make 
449 
primary estimate for aggradation/degradation of coastal zone, 
which in turn is helpful for evaluation of marine erosion. 
METHODOLOGY 
Visual interpretation of aerospace data has been carried out. The 
major keys for visual interpretation are topography, drainage pattern 
and tonal contrast in order to develop the identification criteria. The 
developed remote sensing keys for coastal features of Karnataka 
through visual interpretation are summarized in Table 1 (Gupta, 
1978). 
The digital interpretation methodology could not be utilized on 
account of unavailability of different kinds of aerospace data and 
relevant hardware and software. However the digital analysis of 
latest satellite data may provide coastal features upto maximum level 
of accuracy in conjunction with ground truth data like grain size, 
turbidity, tidal current and settling velocity. Such study is helpful for 
demarcation of algal biomass towards determination of health of sub 
aquatic vegetation as additional asset for management of coastal 
resources. 
DATA USED 
The used temporal aerospace data of Karnataka coast are: Aerial 
photographs, Landsat MSS data, Salyut 7 data and Bhaskara II data. 
The information collected through aerospace data have been 
correlated with standard toposheet of scale 1: 63,310 (1910) and 1: 
50,000 (1967). The details of used aerospace data are summarized in 
Table 2. 
RESULT AND DISCUSSION 
The coastal features of Karnataka are classified under two categories 
namely erosion and depositional on the basis of visual interpretation 
of aerospace data. The erosional features are wave cut platform and