|
Natural Resources Information System
(NRIS)
L and and water are the basic natural resources for biomass production and constitute the core of ecological systems. The very base of production is under great stress in many parts of our country due to severe biotic pressure and ever intensifying development, as evident from the current scenario and projected demands. The present scenario and future projections will amply demonstrate that scientific planning and management of the natural resources has now become an imperative, rather an option for sustainable development of our country.The economic planning for a region or state or nation needs detailed information on various elements of natural resources. It is a fact that a lot of data related to natural resources already exists in a scattered form at many places in the government departments and in their files. They are not easily available in a consolidated manner when needed by the planners.
For
the proper utilization, equitable distribution and optimal management of
natural resources, the most needed are an inventory of natural
resources, present day utilization levels, or future utilization
possibilities. Therefore, attempts are required to produce data from the
concerned sources in the standardized formats and put in an appropriate
database. The set of activities
NRIS encompasses information on natural resources related to land, water, forests, minerals, soils etc. and socio-economic information such as demographic data, amenities, infrastructure etc. The integration of these sets of data would aid the decision making process for systematic resource utilization and also aid sustainable development goals. It is being extensively used for generating the integrated land and water development plans as well as providing development planning support with specific reference to rural development. The remotely sensed data has the advantages of providing a synoptic view and large area coverage which helps in obtaining the proverbial “bird's eye view” of the features. Thus, it helps in observing, measuring, mapping and monitoring the Earth's natural resources. Satellite remote sensing in conjunction with GIS is an extremely useful tool for natural resource assessment and management as well as micro level planning and implementation. Remote Sensing in Resource Mapping
Satellite Remote Sensing, due to its inherent advantages, has become an
inevitable tool for natural resource inventory at local, regional and
global scales. These advantages are: ® Synoptic, repetitive coverage on required scales ® Cost and time effective ® Accurate database generation ® Multi-spectral nature of data helps greatly in the discrimination and mapping of various natural resources ® Monitoring of various developmental activities being undertaken in the watershed ® Change detection capability
Remote sensing has shown its superiority in data collection for natural resource management. It has been recognized that the value of data which is collected by known conventional means is considerably enhanced by the use of remote sensing and satellite image interpretation techniques, which in turn calls for data of ground truths. Remotely sensed data/images are used to obtain the necessary information on land under various crops, crop rotation and agricultural practices adopted, soil types, problems of land degradation, availability of water bodies (both surface and ground water) etc., which are very useful for agricultural development. The remotely sensed data/images can be taken even of inaccessible land; and identification of unused land, waste land, degraded land etc. can be done by applying the suitable technology and agricultural practices. The repetition coverage of space remote sensing is useful in detecting changes/degradation, unwanted happenings, and correct measures can be taken in advance. Remote sensing data/images have been used in water resource management in citing various recharge structures through the preparation of thematic maps on land use/land cover, geomorphology, surface water bodies etc. and their combined analysis. Based on the land cover, slope, soil etc., it is possible to prioritise areas in watersheds where there is a need for immediate afforestation or other treatment to conserve the soil. Satellite remote sensing data is useful in carrying out integrated sustainable development planning at manageable units. The remote sensing data can be used for the preparation of a set of resource maps such as surface water bodies, ground water potential zones, ground water recharge site, type of soil, existing land use patterns etc. and the combination of these data with other information like meteorological data, socio-economic factors etc. can be used to identify the priority areas for various land uses to meet the needs of the people without disturbing the ecology. Role of Geographic Information System (GIS) The information derived from satellite data, topomaps and other socio-economic data could be stored in GIS as a database. GIS enables effective and efficient manipulation of spatial and non-spatial data for scientific management of watershed and evolve alternative development models for the benefit of local people. It also facilitates modelling to arrive at locale specific solutions by integrating spatial and non-spatial data such as thematic layers and socio-economic data. The database generated will also help the authorities in planning and change monitoring and assist in understanding the effects of developmental activities undertaken by incorporating the data derived from the repetitive coverage of the satellite. A GIS is a composite of computer based decision support tools for the integration of spatial data from different sources and for the analysis, manipulation and display of these data. It is therefore an excellent tool for the management of large bodies of spatially extensive data with all the advantages of a computer environment: precision, consistency and absence of computational error. This powerful tool holds a very large potential in the field of regional and micro-level spatial planning, particularly in micro-watershed planning and management. NRIS - A Resource Database NRIS is required to understand the existing resources, their status, spatial distribution and association with other resources and socio-economic situation at a given scale. This is an important way of organizing and analyzing a large amount of information. Natural resource planners require information on geophysical attributes, socio-economic aspects of land use in and around protected areas and the animal/plant communities. For effective planning, NRIS is required for analyzing and updating the spatial information quickly and efficiently. NRIS is a sound resource database on geology, hydrogeomorphology, soils; landuse / land cover and land degradation status, demography etc. This could be achieved through the Remote Sensing technique which provides data in different combinations of spatial, spectral and temporal resolution. Remote Sensing being multi-disciplinary, single satellite imagery provides information on many aspects. The NRIS database/thematic maps pertaining to soils and land capability, landuse/landcover, hydrogeology, groundwater potential, slope, drainage, watershed boundaries, transport network, village boundaries would be immensely useful as baseline information for any development work. These thematic maps provide detailed information at local, regional and global scale. NRIS – in development of action plan
1. Land resources Development and
Management:
A number of spot observations are made using the NRIS 2. Water Resource Development and Management: The water resource development and management plan can be prepared using the NRIS database. This is basically done by overlaying and analyzing the thematic maps and preparing the groundwater prospects maps of the area with suitable sites for recharge structures.
In a nutshell, NRIS is a vital tool for
collecting accurate data for sustainable development planning at the
grassroot level.
.
q
|
||||||
related
to data management on natural resources, such as data generation, data
collection, compilation, storage, retrieval and processing are mutually
interacting and inter-dependent, which naturally opens up the option of
management as a system. 
database, covering
almost all types of landforms, soil, slope, groundwater potential and
quality, rainfall and climate zones, present landuse, etc. Spot
observations should be made with high level of intensity, though the
intensity will vary depending on the variability existing in the study
area. All these observations are to be compiled as per the recommended
landuse options/practices. Accordingly, for a particular recommendation
or combinations of recommended landuse practices, various types of
combinations of land parameters are developed which serve as the
decision rules for integration of thematic maps and preparation of
action plan. A decision rule has to be area specific and therefore has
to be developed for each study area.