Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

CHANGE DETECTION OF WATER BODIES IN SRIPERUMBUDUR WATERSHED, TAMIL NADU, INDIA USING GEOSPATIAL ANALYSIS

P. Kalaiselvan, R. Nagendran and S. Sivanesan

Abstract

Industrialization and urbanization lead to change in land use patterns and increase in utilization of water resources. This paper deals with the study of transformation in spatial distribution of water bodies in a watershed area subjected to urban and industrial development between the years 1995 and 2011. The study area is the Sriperumbudur watershed of Araniyar-Kosathalaiyar (AK) river basin in Tamil Nadu, India. Thematic maps were prepared on the spatial distribution of water bodies using GIS and remote sensing data. Based on this study a negative trend in the change of spatial extent in water bodies was observed between 1995-2005. This trend changed to positive between 2005-2011 resulting in a net reduction of 11.8 % in spatial extent of the water bodies in the watershed between the years 1995 and 2011. Geospatial analysis of the study area has demonstrated that urban and industrial growth that occurred during the time period has lead to a marked transformation in spatial distribution of water bodies.