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based remote sensing system in the 80's to
ensure generation of resource information in
vital natural resources sectors such as
Agriculture, Land, Water, Forestry and Geology.
Thus the conceptualisation of National Natural
Resources Management System (NNRMS) fructified
wherein the optimal integration of remote
sensing inputs with the conventional data has
been realised as the most cost and time
effective operational system for efficient
management of India's natural resources on
sustained basis.
The organised way of development and realisation
of the potential of remote sensing technology
through NNRMS has been justified in a country
like India and has now become the fore runner in
using remote sensing data virtually in all
resources sectors on a need basis. This is the
key factor for the success and promotion of
remote sensing in India.
CRITICAL FACTORS FOR SUCCESS OF
REMOTE SENSING IN INDIA
Over the last 50 years India has seen a number
of organised efforts to grow and apply science
and technology to national development. Today
the relevance and importance of the remote
social well being is well accepted by all
sensing technology to national economic and
sections of scientific community.
The prime factor for the success of remote
sensing is its application on a need basis for
natural resources management. For example
India's arable land is 141 million hectares and
the India's economy largely depends on
agricultural production. More than 70 per cent
of India's population depend on the two staple
cereal crops viz., wheat and rice. The timely
information on crop acreage/production estimate
on these food crops before the harvest of the
crop is of extreme importance for the nation to
make an organised food distribution system which
will aid in greater food security.
PROBLEM ORIENTED APPLICATIONS OF
REMOTE SENSING
The advantages of remote sensing technology in
obtaining timely and spatial information quickly
over convention methods has made it easier to
tackle with problem areas to yield highly
significant results with problem specific
solutions. The prime problem areas where the
remote sensing is being employed are:
* Agricultural crop acreage and production
estimation for the major crops - data on
temporal condition and spatial extent.
* Agricultural drought assessment at dis-
trict level for crop condition assessment
* Crop acreage for oil seed crops like
ground nut and cotton
* Applications of remote sensing for cash
crops like tobacco and tea
279
* Forest cover monitoring
* Wasteland identification
Ground water potential zone mapping
* Agro climatic zones characterization
through nation-wide land use/land cover
mapping and identification of current
kharif (July - October) and rabi
(December - March) agricultural areas.
* Identification of potential mineralised
zones
*
Flood damage assessment
*
Identification of potential fishing zones
*
Environmental impact studies
* Snow melt run-off and forecast of inflow
of water to the major reservoirs
For all the above problem areas the expected
objectives and the level of information that is
obtainable through remote sensing are clear
while executing the tasks.
NATIONAL NECESSITY
All the issues related to natural resources
affect national economy and timely solutions are
needed for undertaking any rehabilitation or
remedial measures. The use of conventional data
would not be able to fulfil the requirements on
a time and cost effective manner. On the
contrary the use of remotely sensed data in
conjunction with conventional data sources has
been found more time and cost effective while
providing reliable data base. This has been
widely applied and demonstrated in all the
resources problem areas in obtaining reliable
data which has lead to high degree of confidence
in utilization of information derived from
satellite data. The experience gained over the
last decade convinced all the resources managers
on the validity and efficiency of remotely
sensed data for the routine resources inventory
and monitoring. There were several national/
regional operational application projects which
have been carried out on a mission mode to meet
the end goals of user departments.
ACCEPTANCE OF REMOTE SENSING - NATIONAL
NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
(NNRMS) - SPEAR HEADING PROMOTION OF
REMOTE SENSING
Realising the potential applications of remote
sensing, Government of India under the aegis of
Department of Space has established National
Natural Resources Management System (NNRMS)
which is a culmination of concerted effort of
multi-disciplinary, multi-departmental venture.
The realisation of National Natural Resources
Management System in the country is preceeded by
well organised constitution of task forces in
1983 on various resource themes headed by
Secretaries to Government of India. The task