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

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

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

1 SPACE TECHNOLOGY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT D.P. Rao National Remote Sensing Agency (Dept, of Space, Govt, of India) Balanagar, Hyderabad - 500037 (INDIA) E-mail : director@nrsa.gov.in ABSTRACT Over exploitation of natural resources for meeting the growing demand for food, fuel and fibre of increasing population has led to serious environmental degradation. Sustainable development calls for utilizing available natural resources based on their potential and limitations. Information on the nature, extent and spatial distribution of various natural resources is pre-requisite for achieving the above mentioned goal. Spaceborne spectral measurements by virtue of providing synoptic coverage at a regular interval, offer immense potential for generating such information in a timely and cost-effective manner. The article provides an overview of the concept of sustainable development and sustainability, identifies sustainability indices, and through illustration demonstrates the utility of space technology in achieving and monitoring the sustainable development. Further, a glimpse of the future scenario is also provided. 1. INTRODUCTION With only 55 per cent of the geographical area of the world, the developing countries carry 75 per cent of the world population which leads to over-exploitation of natural resources. Over exploitation of available natural resources for meeting the ever increasing demand for food, fuel and fiber has led to serious environmental degradation. Globally, an estimated 1,965 million ha of land are subject to some kind of degradation. Of this, 1,094 million ha of land are subject to soil erosion by water and 549 million ha of land to soil erosion by wind (UNEP/ISRICJ991). In addition, an estimated 954.8 million ha of land are affected by salinity and sodicity or both (Szabolcs, 1992) and another 3,600 million ha of global area comprising of hilly regions of the humid tropics of India, Manchurea, Korea, south-west China and Africa are under shifting cultivation (Schlippe, 1956; Conklin, 1957). In India alone, out of 328 million ha geographical area, 150 million ha of land are affected by wind and water erosion (Anonymous, 1976). Annually, an estimated 6000 million tonnes of soil is lost through soil erosion by water (Das, 1985). Apart from this, shifting cultivation, waterlogging, and salinization and / alkalinization have affected an estimated 4.36 million ha, 6 million ha and 7.16 million ha of land respectively (Anonymous, 1976). Frequent floods and drought further compound the problem. Degradation by way of deforestation for timber and fuel wood, shifting cultivation and occasionally forest fire is a very serious environmental problem. Besides, another equally important aspect of the sustainability of vegetation is the bio-diversity that need to be preserved. Water resources both surface as well as ground water are very crucial for sustaining flora and fauna. Over exploitation of ground water and wastage of precipitation water as run-off are the major issues which are to be addressed in the context of sustainable development. In addition, pollution of water by mining waste, solid wastes and sewage need to be checked. Anthropogenic activities along the coast may further deteriorate the delicate coastal ecosystem. In the event of major climatic change, coastal areas are going to be affected more. In addition, exploitation of marine resources especially off-shore oil drilling and ocean water pollution due to effluents from industries, solid wastes and oil-spilled over from ships may affect the ocean environment. Apart from land and water resources, the natural calamity too comes in the way of sustainable develop ment. Drought and desertification exercise major control on agricultural production and other developmental activities. Advance preparedness is, therefore, needed for combating drought. For controlling desertification comprehensive anti-desertification programmes need to be developed. Lastly, rapid industrialization and deforestation have led to building up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere which has resulted in global warming. C0 2 concentration has increased from 280 ppm during 1850 to 350 ppm at present. Similarly, the concentration of methane (CH 4 ) has increased from 0.85 ppm during 1850 to 1.7 ppm at present. Besides, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) with very long residence time (over 100 years) and nitrous oxide (N 2 0) have further added to environmental problem. The increase in the concentration of green house gases have resulted in

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