Remote Sensing And
GIS Application In
Wetland Mapping
By
Swetha A

Introduction
 Land consisting of marshes or
swamps that is saturated with
moisture .Wetlands are areas of
land that are either temporarily or
permanently covered by water
 Time depending on seasonal
variability.
 Wetlands vary widely because of
regional and local differences in
soils, topography, climate,
hydrology, water chemistry,
vegetation, and other factors,
including human disturbance.

 Wetlands are also
considered the most
biologically diverse of all
ecosystems, serving as
home to a wide range of
plant and animal life.
 The largest wetlands in
the world include the
Amazon River basin and
the West Siberian Plain.
Another large wetland is
the Pantanal, which
straddles Brazil, Bolivia,
and Paraguay in
South America

v
Hydric S oil
S oil that develops certain characteristics from
being saturated for several weeks.
v
Hydrophytic Vegetation
Vegetation that thrives in wetland conditions
v
Hydrology
Water either from ground or surface sources
Three Major Criteria
of Wetlands

DATA USED
Remote sensing data
 IRS P6 LISS III data was used to map the wetlands .
 IRS P6 LISS III provides data in 4 spectral bands; green, red,
Near Infra Red (NIR) and Short wave Infra Red (SWIR), with 23.5
m spatial resolution,141km-wide swath and 24 day repeat cycle.
 The spatial resolution is suitable for 1:50,000 scale mapping. The
state of Karnataka is covered in 24 IRS LISS III scene
 Two-date data,
 October/November= post-monsoon
 April/May =pre-monsoon

 National Wetland
Inventory and
Assessment (NWIA)
project was formulated
as a joint vision of
Ministry of
Environment &
Forestry, Govt. India,
and Space
Applications Centre
(ISRO) .

 Normalised Difference Water Index (NDWI) = (Green-NIR) / (Green + NIR)
 Modified Normalised Difference Water Index (MNDWI) = (Green-MIR) / (Green +
MIR)
 Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) = (NIR - Red) / (NIR + Red)
 Normalised Difference Pond Index (NDPI) = (MIR – Green / MIR + Green)
 Normalised Difference Turbidity Index (NDTI) = (Red – Green) / (Red + Green)

GIS Application
 Link between Water Analysis Simulation
Program v.4 (WASP4) and Arc/Info
 Spatial/temporal analysis of data
 Model input configuration/editing/conversion
 Model output interpretation/reporting/display
 Model calibration/confirmation/application

Vegetation unioned with…
…Geology.

Union the two layers…
…to form one layer with
both attributes.
1.
2.
3.

By using SQL we can
isolate polygons with
attributes that meet
wetland requirements…
…to delineate the
possible locations of
wetlands seen here
isolated in bright blue.

Map showing
distribution of
various types
of wetlands in
India derived
using LISS III

KARNATAKA

Bangalore Rural

IRS LISS-III FCC - 5 km buffer
area of Maddur Lake

25 MARCH
2012

 Karnataka (4250 ha)
 Magadhi
 Gudavi Bird Sanctuary
 Bonal
 Hidkal & Ghataprabha
 Heggeri
 Ranganthittu
 K.G. Koppa
State-wise area of identified Wetlands under
National Wetland Conservation & Management
Program (NWCMP)

Importance of Wetlands in
Ecological Functions
 Wetlands act as the biological "kidneys" of the
landscape by filtering out any water
 coastal wetlands can actually be regarded as stress-
controlled ecosystems.
 The presence of wetlands in a hydrological basin
can modify the floods by reducing the total volume
of floodwater and retarding flood peaks.

Cnt1…
 Wetlands, having dense vegetation, reduce flow velocity,
which facilitates sedimentation.
 Temperature is regulated by these wetlands.
 Wetlands constitute about 6% of the hydrosphere
 Various autotrophic organisms convert solar radiation
through photosynthesis
 important functions of upland and aquatic systems, physical
and biological processes

Cnt2..
 Wetland biodiversity is a remarkable part of Earth's
biodiversity.
 Wetlands offer rich grazing materials for cattle, sheep and
goats during a long period of the year.
 An erosion control value since it retains soil and
disseminates Erosional forces of flowing water and waves
 Their role in trapping atmospheric carbon dioxide
 Biodegradation of organic matter, paleoecology,
biodiversity,

Human Impact on Wetlands
 Land development
 Waste dumping that pollutes the wetlands
 Hunting and trapping
 Wetlands for agricultural drainage

SOURCES OF POLLUTION
 Point Sources -municipal and industrial
wastewater.
 Non-point Sources -urban and agricultural run-off
 Major degrading factors - acidification from
atmospheric sources, acid mine drainage;
contamination by toxic metals such as mercury
and organic compounds such as poly-chlorinated
biphenyls.

CONSEQUENCES OF LOSS OF
WETLANDS
 The tanks were reclaimed for various purposes
such as residential layouts, commercial
establishments, sport complexes, etc.
 For e.g. Darmombuditank has been converted into
the current city bus stand, Millers tank into a
residential layout, Sampangitank into the
Kanteervastadium,etc.
 This has changed the climate of the city and
affected its ground water level.

Cnt…
 The loss of wetlands has led to decrease in water
storage capacity, wetland area, number of
migratory birds, floral and faunal diversity and
ground water table.
 Studies reveal the decrease in depth of the ground
water table from 35-40 to 250-300 feet in 20 years
due to the disappearance of wetlands

Conservation of wetlands
 An ecosystem approach is needed to address the wetland
problems
 The ecosystem approach considers both human water needs
within the larger context of the drainage basin and
environmental water needs or ecological requirements.
 Increasingly, constructed wetlands are used for the treatment
of municipal and industrial wastewater before the treated
water is let into lakes and wetlands.
 They offer the most sustainable means for the treatment of
wastewater

 NATIONAL WETLAND ATLAS ,KARNATAKA
Sponsored by -Ministry of Environment and Forests,
Government of India As a part of the project on National
Wetland Inventory and Assessment (NWIA) Space
Applications Centre (ISRO), Ahmadabad And Karnataka
State Remote Sensing Applications Centre, (KSRSAC),
Bangalore
 National Wetland Conservation & Management –Minister
Environment & Forests Government of India.
 Wetlands Mapping Standard-FGDC Wetlands
Subcommittee July 2009
 Wetlands Indicators: A Guide to Wetland Identification,
Delineation, Classification, and Mapping by
Ralph W. Tiner
References:

Thank you
Any Queries