68 
INTEGRATED WATERSHED DEVELOPMENTAL PLANNING 
USING REMOTE SENSING & GIS 
Y.V.N. Krishna Murthy, A.K. Sinha, A. Jeyaram, S. Srinivasa Rao, S.N. Das, 
D.S. Pandit, D.S. Srinivasan, C.K. Rajender 
Regional Remote Sensing Service Centre, Nagpur 
1.0 INTRODUCTION 
Integrated development is a comprehensive action 
programme aimed at optimal realization of resource 
potential in the light of physical, economical, social and 
other developmental goals. Such an endeavor entails 
harmonious development of land, water, vegetation and 
other resources of an area in a sustainable manner, so 
that the changes proposed to meet the needs of the 
development are brought about without diminishing the. 
potential for their future use. In order to derive 
maximum benefit out of these resources, in a sustainable 
way, it is preferable to treat the watershed as a single 
unit. 
Watershed is a natural geographical unit with a 
certain extent of homogeneity and uniformity. Even 
though the parameters vary, the variation shows a 
common trend. A watershed is an open physical system 
in terms of inputs of precipitation arid solar radiation and 
outputs of discharge, evaporation, transpiration and 
reradiation. It can be taken as a basic erosion landscape 
element where land and water resources interact in a 
perceptible manner. For all practical purposes it can be 
considered as a balanced system, whether it is water 
balance or energy balance. Thus, the watershed approach 
is holistic, linking upstream and downstream areas and 
the chain of cause and effect relationships is related by 
hydrologic processes. 
The utilitarian aspects of natural resources 
development within a watershed involving complex 
decisions are best handled by the state-of-the-art modern 
tools remote sensing and geographic information 
systems (GIS). Earth observing sensors on board aircraft 
and spacecraft and advanced image processing 
technology provide researchers, resource managers and 
policy makers with powerful tools for producing and 
analysing spatial, spectral and temporal information. 
Geographic information systems provide a tool for the 
effective and efficient storage and manipulation of 
remotely sensed data and other spatial and non-spatial 
data types for scientific, commercial, management and 
policy-oriented purposes. 
As such, remotely sensed data effectively 
employed within a GIS can be used to facilitate 
measurement, mapping, monitoring, modelling and 
management of natural resources. 
GIS not only facilitate the storage of and access to 
many types of data, but they also allow them to be 
updated readily. Indeed, the synergism between 
remotely sensed data for updating GIS information and 
the use of GIS for improving information extraction 
potential from remotely sensed data is a major advantage 
of integrating these powerful tools. 
1.1 Approach 
A practical approach in planning, directed at 
preservation, conservation, development, management 
and exploitation of the natural resources of the 
watershed for the benefit of the people has to operate 
within the framework of : 
(i) Physical and biological attributes 
(ii) Socio-economic conditions and 
(iii) Institutional constraints 
Physical and biological attributes comprise 
baseline data on geomorphology, geology, soils, hydro 
geology, hydrology, climate, demography, plant, animal 
and other biological resources. Socio-economic 
conditions relate to information on basic needs of the 
people, input-output relationships, marketing and 
transportation arrangements, developmental incentives 
and facilities, such as technologies, equipments, labour, 
material, energy/power, etc. Institutional constraints 
relate to laws, regulations and ordinances; Governmental 
policies and priorities; political acceptability; accepted 
customs, beliefs and attitudes of the people, and 
administrative support. 
The separate inventories of the physical and 
biological attributes, socio-economic conditions and 
institutional constraints are integrated using GIS. This 
would provide the physico-socio-economic profile of the 
watershed and permit suitable development models in 
the different sectors of economy and production. The 
system as a whole, would thus be operated upon to 
develop appropriate alternatives of conservation- 
production programmes commensurate with the 
production potential. For example, a particular land unit-,