REMOTE SENSING AND GIS BASED APPROACH FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVITY STUDIES 
A CASE STUDY FROM INDIAN EAST COAST 
Manoj Raj Saxena“ ‚Rajiv Kumar“, Praveen Raj Saxena^, Nagaraja R^, Satish Chandra Jayanthi" 
à Land Use Division, National Remote Sensing Agency, Dept. of Space, Government of India, Balanagar, Hyderabad, India, 500 
037 (manojnrsa@ yahoo.com) 
^ Dept. of Applied Geochemistry, Osmania University, Hyderabad, India, 500 007 
Commission VI, WG VII/3 
KEY WORDS: Land Cover, Ecology, Environment, GIS, Impact Analysis 
ABSTRACT: 
In the wake of Earth Summit — 2002 resolutions, and also the recently omni-prevalent environmental awareness across the globe, it 
has become imperative to pay attention to environmental concerns, and to standardize the procedures, wherever possible. A big step 
in this direction was the development of Environmental Sensitivity Indices (based on different events and parameters). NOAA and 
USEPA have taken lead on this front in USA and have got developed Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) for coastal areas, and 
Reach Sensitivity Index (RSI) for inland riparian and lacustrine 
direction. The present paper focuses on the application of remote 
areas, which have become bench, marks for further research in this 
sensing and GIS technologies for deriving the RSI and ESI; and 
also the validity of the indices in the context of a tropical country like India. 
Kakinada Bay situated in the east coast of India is made up of estuary of river Godavari covers an area of about 29.sq.kms. The 
Godavari delta has undergone phases of erosion and accretion t 
times. The delta with rich alluvial soil support multiple cropping pattern provi 
hrough fluvial and marine changes during its growth in recent 
ding relatively high crop yields. The bay is fringed on 
the southern side by mud flats and thick mangrove swamps. The Kakinada spit present on the eastern side of the bay running north 
south in direction acts as artificial embankment. Its shoreline habitats include mangrove swamps, tidal flats, channels and shallow 
bar built bay towards north. The mangrove is represented by 15 species belonging to 8 families and 10 genera Duke (1992) besides 
represented by wide range of invertebrates. Being rich in petroleum and natural gas deposits, this area faces potential threat, in the 
event of floating slicks running ashore. Results of the present paper examine the proximity and vulnerability of this area with the 
help of both ESI and RSI to prioritize the areas base on potential threat. 
Digital analysis of IRS-1D (LISS-III) satellite data was carried out for deriving the land use / land cover, and allied shoreline and 
fluvial surfaces information, which were again validated with sample ground 
checks. The rectified maps were converted into vector coverage for further analysis. Other collateral information like shoreline type, 
tidal elevation, intensity of tidal energy, biological richness etc. were collected through insitu observations and secondary sources. 
The insitu and secondary data were integrated in spatial framework in GIS environment for analysis. 
The GIS analysis was performed with rule-bases separately, one each for ESI and another for RSI. The RSI results categorized the 
study area into zones of higher vulnerability, namely 8, 9 and 10 besides a low sensitive zone of 2. The ESI ranking is based on 
relative exposure to wave and tidal energy, shoreline slope, biological productivity and sensitivity. Areas exposed to high levels of 
physical energy, such as wave action and tidal currents, and low biological activity i 
areas with associated high biological activity is ranked as High. 
s ranked low on the scale, where as sheltered 
The present paper attempts to showcase - the potential of remote sensing and GIS technologies as viable, and timely sources of 
information providers; and — the ESI and RSI indices are well applicable in Indian context. However, further validations from other 
coastal sites in India, is suggested for modeling the same to Indian environment. 
1) INTRODUCTION 
Wetlands are the areas that lie between aquatic and terrestrial 
ecosystems, dominated by the influence of water and play 
significant role in marinating the ecological balance of both 
biotic / abiotic life in coastal and inland environment. By 
virtue of its geographical extent and varied terrain and climate, 
India supports a rich diversity of inland and coastal wetlands. 
India's 7500 km coastline has numerous lagoons, estuaries and 
mangrove swamps. 
Coastal zones in India are constantly undergoing wide-ranging 
changes in shape and environment due to natural as well as 
human development activities. Natural processes such as waves, 
erosion, changes in river courses etc., cause long time effect at 
slower rate; but man made activities, such as settlement, 
industrial activities, recreational activities, waste disposal etc., 
affect the coastal environment at comparatively much faster 
rate. Most of marine finfish and shellfish depend on these 
coastal habitats for their survival. Continued loss of these 
wetlands may lead to the collapse of coastal ecosystems. It is, 
therefore, necessary to monitor coastal zone changes with time. 
The present paper is intended to identify ecologically sensitive 
locations identified through modern methods like Digital Image 
processing and GIS for preparedness in case of oil spill 
incidents in offshore areas of Bay Of Bengal extending near 
Kakinada along the east coast of India. 
Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integrated 
component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. In 
the present study ESI (Environment Sensitivity Index) and RSI 
(Reach Sensitivity Index) analysis maps are prepared to collect 
1176