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International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Volume XXXIX-B8, 2012
XXII ISPRS Congress, 25 August — 01 September 2012, Melbourne, Australia
IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF WATERSHED IN DESERT REGION
V Madhava Rao ?, R R Hermon ? , P Kesava Rao *, T Phanindra Kumar *
à Centre on Geoinformatics Application in Rural Development(CGARD), National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD),
Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, Hyderabad, India. 500030.
(madhavaraov, rrhermon, kesav.nird)@gmail.com, tphani108@yahoo.com
Commission: VIII , WG VIII/6
KEY WORDS: Watershed, Cartosat, LULC,Image Processing, NDVI, Change Detection
ABSTRACT:
Change detection from different temporal images usually based on reflectance on natural and human activity impact, using
integrated GIS, Remote Sensing and image processing technologies enable impact assessment of watershed in desert region. À
time series analysis of seasonal NDVI have been used to estimate net primary productivity, phonological characteristic of
vegetative surface, length of growing season and dry drown periods (Ramsey ef al., 1995). The study is designed to achieve the
objectives to Study the changes in vegetation for selected watershed in a desert districts of Bhilwara, Barmer & Jaisalmer in
Rajastan State of India, to identify the changes in density of vegetation, to assess the temporal changes and to assess the impact of
the watershed, with an objective to conserve the soil erosion and harvest the rainwater in order to increase the ground water table,
to improve the socio economic condition of the people and to stop the migration of the people from the villages in search of
livelihood. These activities will have a direct impact on the crop production. The Changes in density of vegetation indicates the
quantity of crop production and the growth of vegetation apart from crops and the conservation of land with out scrub/barren land
to land with scrub. This gives an picture about the impact of watershed programme in increasing the vegetative cover. The
temporal changes help in understanding the changes taken place in the watershed, and facilitate understand the positive as well as
negative impacts of any decisions taken in the implementation. The extent and density and type of vegetation for the years,
2000,2004,2005,2007 and 2008, was studied and vegetation growth was analysed using GIS and Digital Image Processing
techniques.
1. INTRODUCTION
Till the recent past, land was looked in a narrow
perspective of being a physical entity in terms of its
topography and spatial nature.But the broader, integrative
or holistic view, takes into account both, a vertical aspect —
from atmospheric climate down to ground water resources,
and a horizontal aspect an identifiable repetitive sequence
of soil, terrain, hydrological, vegetative and land use
elements.
Watershed-based development has been the strategy for
growth and sustainability of agriculture in the vast semi-
arid and dry subhumid regions popularly called rain-fed
regions. Watershed Development Projects have been
undertaken to enhance agricultural production, conserve
natural resources base and ensure rural livelihood since
1980s.
Initially soil and water conservation was the primary
objective of the program which attracted large public
investments in the last 25 years. Subsequently, egalitarian
principles of equity and enhancing rural livelihood were
given prominence; more recently the principle of
sustainable development with emphasis on tenets of
development economics like cost of degradation of fragile
land and economic ecology like valuation of ecological
services have gained emphasis. Large investments have
been assigned for watershed based development in the
India’s National Five-Year Plans since 1990s and more
Investments have been earmarked till 2025.
The natural resource data thus generated will be useful to
conserve and manage watershed properly to achieve
sustainable development particularly, in ecologically fragile
areas in order to meet the living standards of the rural
communities. The restoration of ecological balance and the
productivity of various landbased activities, which can
indirectly generate gainful employment to the rural poor,
can be achieved through the effective use of this reliable
decision support system. This model provides a holistic
picture to enable to share the natural resources and protect
them for the betterment of the watershed community. This
will also help to plan the Infrastructural development
needed such as connecting market with local produce. Geo-
technical appraisal of all the surface water irrigation
projects necessary to avoid unfavorable natural conditions
will be easier to develop through participatory method.
The Geoinformatics based evaluation of watersheds
implemented in the districts of Barmer, Bhilwara and
Jaiselmer of Rajastan State, India have generated digital
layers of scientific data from field based study, GPS
coordinate data, satellite imageries, maps, legacy data etc
which objectively assesses the overall impact of the
watershed development programmes in the region.
The Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural
Development (MoRD),Government of India, has assigned
the GIS based evaluation using satellite imageries, in 7
blocks in 33 villages covering a total area of 13,500 ha in
Barmer District, implemented under 7th phase, for about 27
watershed projects. In eight phase, 47 watershed projects
