Evaluation of Coastal Aquaculture Ponds Using Remote Sensing and GIS

TARGET GROUP: FARMERS

OBJECTIVES

·        To evaluate coastal aquaculture ponds using Remote Sensing and GIS techniques for operational consultancy services.

SUMMARY

Aquaculture is growing more rapidly than any other segment of the animal farming industry. In India, the annual fisheries and aquaculture production increased from 0.75 million tonnes in 1950-1951 to 9.6 million tonnes in 2013-2014. Expansion of aquaculture is due to potentially high commercial returns and the ability to produce export earnings. The coastal belt of Nagapattinam is one such locale where aquaculture activity is expanding owing to the availability of land and water resources which are conductive for aquaculture development. These locations cannot be utilized for agriculture. Remote sensing has emerged as the most suitable tool for quantitatively measuring land-cover changes at the landscape scale. Satellite images provide a synoptic coverage of the earth’s surface in spatial and temporal scale and help us to understand how the changes have happened in various parts of the environment including coastal waters. An integrated Geographical Information System (GIS) and remote sensing technique deals with the spatiotemporal information of land use and land cover (LULC) features that are well recognized for decision making in the scientific realm. GIS and remote sensing combines the multiple spatial datasets, such as maps, aerial photographs, and satellite images for preparing the quantitative, qualitative, and descriptive geo-databases for periodical changes of the LULC features. The present study has been carried out in Nagapattinam coast (from Vedaranyam Canal to Vellar River) of Tamil Nadu to ascertain the changes in LULC from 2006 to 2016 along with the growth and development of aquafarming practices.

REFERENCE

http://nopr.niscair.res.in/bitstream/123456789/49712/3/IJMS%2048%288%29%201205-1209.pdf