Application of remote sensing and GIS for sustainable development

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Persistent identifier:: 856472832

Title:: Application of remote sensing and GIS for sustainable development

Sub title:: [Workshop on "Environmental Modelling Using RS & GIS for Sustainable Development" ... on 11th March 1999]

Scope:: 82 Seiten

Year of publication:: 1999

Place of publication:: Coventry

Publisher of the original:: RICS Books

Identifier (digital):: 856472832

Illustration:: Illustrationen, Diagramme, Karten

Language:: English

Usage licence:: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Publisher of the digital copy:: Technische Informationsbibliothek Hannover

Place of publication of the digital copy:: Hannover

Year of publication of the original:: 2016

Document type:: Monograph

Collection:: Earth sciences

Chapter

Title:: SPACE TECHNOLOGY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. D. P. Rao

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

3 ecological view point, sustainability may be defined as "an increasing trend in production over time per unit consumption of the non-renewable or limiting resources or per unit degradation of soil and environmental characteristic. The dominantly economically-oriented perspective puts more emphasis on economic aspects. Natural resources are either disregarded or only marginally taken into account (Ikerd, 1990). The role of such factors of production as the availability of natural resources and environmental services, but also that of environmental impacts as products of economic activity are neglected. In the eco-friendly economic development perspec tive, the ecological equilibrium is taken as norm and the focus is mainly on building up a pattern and a rate of resource use which the environment can sustain indefinitely (Wilkinson, 1973). Lastly, the social perspective lays more emphasis on continued welfare of the society. The role of economic-demographic inter relationship is either explicitly or implicitly referred to. 4. SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS Sustainability is a concept and can not be measured directly. Appropriate indicators must, therefore, be selected, tested, and validated to determine levels and duration of sustainable land management. Sustainability indicators are needed to monitor progress and to assess the effectiveness and impact of policies on natural resources development. An ideal indicator should be unbiased, sensitive to changes, predictive, referenced to threshold values, data transformable, integrative and easy to collect and communicate (Liverman et a/., 1988). One such indicator is land quality indicator which includes nutrient balance, yield trend and yield gaps, land use (agrodiversity) and land cover (Dumanski, 1997). Apart from above mentioned indicators, other sustainability indicators namely, soil sustainability indicators, indicators for sustainable use of water resources, indictors for changes in micro-climate, soil and crop management indicators, resource base indicators, indicators for different eco-regions, etc. have been developed (Lai, 1994). Important among them are indicators for sustainable use of water resources and sustainability indicators of different eco-regions. Indicators for sustainable use of water include amount, processes governing water cycle, use efficiency and its quality. Sustainability coefficient (Cs) which is dynamic and is problem or mission-oriented is another indicator of sustainability. There are three basic systems, natural system, man-made system and interface system. One such proposed coefficient for a man-made system may be as follows (Lai, 1991): Cs = f (Oi, Od, Om) t Where Oi = Output per that unit input that maximizes the per capita productivity or profit Od = Output per unit decline in the most limiting or non- renewable resource Om = Minimum assured output t - time The exact nature of the function may be site- specific and will need input from local empirical research data. For a natural system the sustainability coefficient (Cs), mentioned above, could be modified to account for the role of human being and could be written as (Rao and Chandrasekhar, 1996). Cs - f (Oi, Od, Om, HDI) t Where HDI = Human development index Further, in case of a interface system also the HDI becomes very important modulating factor for deriving sustainability indices. Conceptually, it can be formulated as (Rao and Chandrasekhar, 1996). Cs = f (Oi, Od, Om) t. HDI For man-made system dominated by agricultural farming, the model conceptualizes a positive feed back mechanism between Q1 and Q2 which could be expressed in a simple form as (Rao et a!., 1995). Q1 - Q2 > 0 Unsustainable development Q1 - Q2 = 0 Sustainable development Q1 - Q2 < 0 Virgin eco-systems (Protected bio-reserves) Where Q1 = Production in energy units and includes the emission of C0 2 , transport of moisture through évapo transpiration and transport of nutrients Q2 = Consumption in terms of energy units C0 2 , H 2 0 and nutrients from the atmosphere or external sources. A fragile balance between production processes (Q1 energy units) and consumption practices (Q2 energy units) ensures compatibility between supportive and assimilative capacity of a region. 5. INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT Hitherto, the natural resources, namely minerals, groundwater, soils, vegetation / forest cover and surface water have been mapped and treated individually for their optimal utilisation. Since most of these resources are interdependent and co-exist in nature, they need to be considered collectively for their optimal utilisation. This fact has led to the development of the concept of

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