Journal of Global Resources

Volume 2

January 2016
Page 127-135
ISSN: 2395-3160 (Print), 2455-2445 (Online)

17
NEEDS TO CONSERVE THE WETLAND RESOURCES FOR SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT OF BELGAUM DISTRICT OF KARNATAKA: USING MULTISPECTRALSATELLITE DATA
1

S. S. Hangaragi1 and Sunanda. I. Kittali2

Associate Professor, Dept. of Geography, SRN Arts and MBS Commerce College,
Bagalkot, Karnataka, India
Email: sshangaragi@rediffmail.com
2
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Geography, Rani Parvati Devi Arts and Commerce College,
Tilakawadi, Belgaum, Karnataka, India
Email: sikittalibelagavi@gmail.com.

Abstract: Wetlands support a large variety of plant and animal species adapted to fluctuatingwater levels, making the wetlands of critical ecological significance. Wetlands are one of the
crucial natural resources. Wetlands are areas of land that are either temporarily or
permanently covered by water. However, the very existence of these unique resources isunder threat due to developmental activities and population pressure. In this paper attempt ismade to analyze the planning for preservation and conservation of wetland resources. To findout the wetlands in the study area used the multispectral data for accurate results. In the study
area numerous small and important wetlands found and prepared a map at 1:50,000 scales.
The multispectral data collected two time period of IRS: LISS- III data acquired during pre andpost monsoon season are used for inventory to account for wet and dry season hydrology ofwetlands. The map outputs include the status of water spread, aquatic vegetation andturbidity. Ancillary layers like road/rail, habitations are also created. The results are complied
for prepare wetlands map of Belgaum District. This map highlights the characteristics of thewetlands in the particular area within the district and hopes to improve our understanding of
the dynamics and distribution of wetlands and their status in the study area. At present urgent
need to take various conservation activities through the action plans by the concerned state
government.
Keywords: Resources, Wetlands, Diversity, Sustainable, Development.
Introduction
It is increasingly realized that the planet earth is facing grave environmental problems with fast
depleting natural resources and threatening the very existence of most of the ecosystems.
Serious concerns are voiced among scientists, planners, geographers, sociologists, politiciansand economists to conserve and preserve the natural resources of the world. One of the
difficulties most frequently faced for decision making is lack of scientific data of our natural
resources. Wetlands are one of the crucial natural resources. Wetlands are areas of land thatare either temporarily or permanently covered by water. This means that a wetland isneither truly aquatic nor terrestrial; it is possible that wetlands can be both at the same timedepending on seasonal variability. Thus, wetlands exhibit enormous diversity according to theirgenesis, geographical location, water regime and chemistry, dominant plants and soil orsediment characteristics. Because of their transitional nature, the boundaries of wetlands areoften difficult to define. Wetlands do, however, share a few attributes common to all forms. Of

127these, hydrological structure (the dynamics of water supply, throughput, storage and loss) ismost fundamental to the nature of a wetland system.
It is the presence of water for a significant period of time which is principally
responsible for the development of a wetland. One of the first widely used classifications
systems, devised by Cowardin et.al., (1979), was associated to its hydrological, ecologicaland geological aspects, such as: marine (coastal wetlands including rock shores and coral
reefs, estuarine (including deltas, tidal marshes, and mangrove swamps), lacustarine(lakes), riverine (along rivers and streams), palustarine (marshy - marshes, swamps andbogs). Given these characteristics, wetlands support a large variety of plant and animal
species adapted to fluctuating water levels, making the wetlands of critical ecologicalsignificance. Utility wise, wetlands directly and indirectly support millions of people inproviding services such as food, fiber and raw materials, storm and flood control, clean watersupply, scenic beauty and educational and recreational benefits. The Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment estimates conservatively that wetlands cover seven percent of the earth’s
surface and deliver 45 percent of the world’s natural productivity and ecosystem services ofwhich the benefits are estimated at $20 trillion a year (Source : www.MAweb.org). Wetlands
are the first target of human interference and are among the most threatened of all natural
resources. Around 50 percent of the earth’s wetlands are estimated to already havedisappeared worldwide over the last hundred years throughconversion to industrial,
agricultural and residential developments. Even in current scenario, when the ecosystemservices provided by wetlands are better understood - degradation and conversion of wetlands
continues. This is largely due to the fact that the ‘full value’ of ecosystem functions is often
ignored in policy -making, plans and corporate evaluations of development projects. One ofthe difficulties most frequently faced for decision making is lack of scientific data of our natural
resources. Often the data are sparse or unconvincing, rarely in the form of geospatial
database (map), thus open to challenges. Thus, the current thrust of researcher is to have anappropriate geospatial database of natural resources that is based on unambiguous scientificmethods. The wetland areas of Belgaum District are important among the wetlands of India.
In this paper made an attempt to identify important wetlands for strengthening the ecologicalbalance.
Study Area
The area under study covers the whole geographical area of the Belgaum District, lies
between 15° 23’ to16°58’ North latitude and 74° 05’ to 75°28’ East longitude, covering an areaof 13,415 sq.kms. and is bounded on the west and north by Maharashtra state, on the northeast by Bijapur District, on the east by Bagalkot District, on the south-east by Gadaga District,on the south by Dharawad District and Uttara Kannada districts and on the southwest by thestate of Goa (see Fig. No:1). The city of Belgaum is the district headquarters. According to the2011 Census of India, it has a population of 4,778,439 of which 24.03 percent live in urban
areas, making it the second most populous district in Karnataka (out of 30), after Bangalore.
Roughly the Belgaum district population is equal to the nation of Singapore or the US state of
Alabama. This gives it a ranking of 25th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has apopulation density of 356 inhabitants per sq. kms. (920 /sq mi). Its population growth rate overthe decade 2001-2011 was 13.38 percent. Belgaum has a sex ratio of 969 females for every
1,000 males, and a literacy rate of 73.94 percent. Belgaum (Belgaum in Marathi) is theDivisional Headquarters of North Karnataka. The ancient name of the town of Belgaum was
Venugrama, meaning Bamboo Village. It is also called as Malnad Pradesh. Belgaum district
was incorporated into the newly formed Mysore state (now Karnataka) with the passage of theStates Reorganization Act (1956), which reorganized India's states along linguistic lines since128majority of the people in the district spoke Kannada, although the majority in the cities inBelgaum district spoke Marathi. Because of that linguistic disparity, Maharashtra has been
claiming the district and the case is now in the Supreme Court of India.

Administratively Belgaum District has been divided into 10 taluks. Chikkodi taluk is thelargest with an area of 1,995.70 km² and Raybag taluk is the smallest with an area of
958.8 km². The district comprises three revenue sub-divisions and six police sub-divisions.
Apart from the Belgaum City Corporation, there are 17 municipalities, 20 towns, 485 grampanchayts, 1,138 habitated villages and 26 non-habitated villages.
Objectives
The main objectives of the present study are enunciated here under:• to identify the wetlands of Belgaum District by preparing map the wetlands on 1:50,000
scale using two date (pre and post monsoon ) of IRS LISS -III digital data.
• to know about the present status of wetlands at macro as well as at micro levels.
• to prepare wetland map for easily identify the major ones for planning to preserve formaintain environment balance.
Data Base
To conserve and manage wetland resources, it is important to have inventory of wetlands andtheir catchments. The ability to store and analyze the data is essential. Digital maps are very
powerful tools to achieve this. Maps relating the feature to any given geographical location
have a strong visual impact. Maps are thus essential for monitoring and quantifying changeover time scale, assist in decision making. The technique used in the preparation of map
started with ground survey. The Survey of India (SOI) topographic maps are the earliest true
maps of India showing various land use/cover classes including wetlands. Recent years haveseen advances in mapping technique to prepare maps with much more information. Of
particular importance is the remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS)
technique. Remote sensing is now recognized as an essential tool for viewing, analyzing,129

characterizing, and making decisions about land, water and atmospheric components. The
Belgaum district has 10 taluks and is covered by 33 Survey of India (SOI) Topographicalmaps on 1:50,000 scale that form the spatial frame work for mapping (see Fig. No: 2)
prepared by using 15’ x 15’ grid.

Other Data: Survey of India (SOI) topographical maps were used for reference purpose.

Remote Sensing Data of IRS P6 LISS III data is used to prepare the Belgaum District
wetland map. The 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 meter spatial resolution and 24 day
repeat cycle. The spatial resolution is suitable for 1:50,000 scale mapping. The Belgaum
district is covered in 4 IRS LISS III scene (see Fig. No: 3 & Table No:1). Two-time data is
acquired, one acquired during October/November and another during April/May were used tocapture the post -monsoon and pre -monsoon hydrological variability of the wetlands
respectively (see Table No: 2). The Fig. No: 6 & 6-a and Table No: 3 & 4 shows the overview
of the part of Karnataka / Belgaum as seen in the LISS III FCC of post - monsoon premonsoon data respectively.
Ground Truth Data: Remote sensing techniques require certain amount of field observation
called “ground truth” in order to deduce meaningful information. Such work involves visiting a
number of test sites, usually taking the satellite data. The location of the features is recorded
using the GPS. The standard Performa as per the NWIA manual was used to record the fielddata. Field photographs are also taken to record the water quality (qualitative), status ofaquatic vegetation and water spread. All field data collection work has been done during
October and November 20010.
Table 1: Information of Satellite Data Used in the Present Study#
Resources at LISS III
Post-monsoon
Pre-monsoon
Path Row
1
97-61
December 02,2010
April 25,2010
2
97-62
December 02,2010
April 25,2010
3
96-61
December 07,2010
April 30,2010
4
96-62
December 07, 2010
April 30,2010
Source: The data received from National Remote Sensing Agency, Hyderabad.

130

Methodology
The methodology to create the state level atlas of wetlands is adhered to NWIA technicalguidelines and procedure manual (Garg and Patel, 2007). The work was carried out using
Arc/Info and Arc-gis software’s. The overview of the steps used is shown. Salient features ofmethodology given as under:• Generation of spatial framework in GIS environment for database creation andorganization.
• Geo -referencing of satellite data
• Identification of wetland classes as per the classification system given in NWIA
manual and mapping of the classes using a knowledge based digital classification andon -screen interpretation• Generation of base layers (rail, road network, settlements, drainage, administrative
boundaries) from satellite image and ancillary data.
• Mosaicing/edge matching to create district and state level database.
• Coding of the wetlands following the standard classification system and codification as
per NWIA manual.
Creation of Spatial Framework: This is the most important task as the state forms a part of
the national frame work and is covered in multiple map sheets. To create NWIA database,
NNRMS/NRDB standards are followed and four corners of the 1:50,000 (15’ x 15’) grids aretaken as the tics or registration points to create each map taking master grid as the reference.
Spatial framework details are given in NWIA manual (Garg and Patel 2007).
Geo-Referencing of Satellite Data: In this step the raw satellite images were converted to
specific map projection using geometric correction. This is done using archived geometricallycorrected LISS III data (ISRO-NRC-land use / land cover project). Standard image processing
software was used for geo -referencing. First one date data was registered with the archived
image. The second date data was then registered with the first date data.
Mapping of Wetlands: The delineation of wetlands through image analysis forms thefoundation for deriving all wetland classes and results. Consequently, a great deal of emphasis
has been placed on the quality of the image Interpretation. In the present study, the mappingof wetlands was done following digital classification and on-screen visual interpretation.
Wetlands were identified based on vegetation, visible hydrology and geography. There arevarious methods for extraction of water information from remote sensing imagery, whichaccording to the number of bands used, are generally divided into two categories, i.e. Singleband and multi -band methods. Single -band method usually involves choosing a band frommulti -spectral image to distinguish water from land by subjective threshold values. It may leadto over - or under -estimation of open water area. Multi-band method takes advantage ofreflective differences of each band. In this paper, five indices known in literature that enhancesvarious wetland characteristics were used as given below:i) Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) = (Green-NIR) / (Green + NIR).
ii) Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) = (Green-MIR)/ (Green + MIR)iii) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) = (NIR-Red) / (NIR + Red)
iv) Normalized Difference Pond Index (NDPI) = (MIR-Green / MIR + Green)v) Normalized Difference Turbidity Index (NDTI) = (Red -Green) / (Red + Green)

131

The indices were generated using standard image processing software, stacked aslayers. Various combinations of the indices/spectral bands were used to identify the wetland
features as shown in Fig. No: 8. The following indices were used for various layer extractions:••••

Extraction of wetland extent: MNDWI, NDPI and NDVI image was used to extract thewetland boundary through suitable hierarchical thresholds.
Extraction of open water: MNDWI was used within the wetland mask to delineate thewater and no -water areas.
Extraction of wetland vegetation: NDPI and NDVI image was used to delineate thevegetation areas within a wetland using a suitable threshold.
Turbidity information extraction: MNDWI image was used to generate qualitative
turbidity level (high, moderate and low) based on signature statistics and standard
deviations. In the False Colour Composite (FCC) these generally appear in different
hues (Table No. 2).

#
1
2
3

Table 2: Qualitative Turbidity Ratings
Qualitative Turbidity
Conditional criteria
Hue on FCC
Low
> +1σ
Dark blue/blackishModerate> -1σ to <= +1σ
Medium blue
High/Bottom reflectance<= µ - 1σ
Light blue /whitish blue

Source: The data calculated by researcher based on NRSA Data.

Conversion of the raster (indices) into a vector layer: The information on wetland extent,
open water extent, vegetation extent and turbidity information was converted into vector layers
using region growing properties or on-screen digitization.
Generation of reference layers: Base layers like major rail, road network, settlements,
drainage are interpreted from the current image or taken from other project database. The
administrative boundaries (district, state) are taken from the known reference data.
Coding and attribute scheme: Feature codification scheme for every input element has
been worked out keeping in view the nationwide administrative as well as natural hierarchy(State -district -taluka) within the feature class for each of the theme. All data elements are
given a unique name/code, which are self explanatory with short forms.
Map composition and output: Map composition for atlas has been done at district and statelevel. A standard color scheme has been used for the wetland classes and other layers. The
digital files are made at 1:50,000 scale.
Accuracy Assessment
A comprehensive accuracy assessment protocol has been followed for determining the qualityof information derived from remotely sensed data. Accuracy assessment
involves
determination of thematic (classification) as well as location al accuracy. In addition, GIS
database(s) contents have been also evaluated for accuracy. To ensure the reliability ofwetland status data, the project adhered to established quality assurance and quality control
measures for data collection, analysis, verification and reporting.

132

Table 3: Wetland Area of Belgaum District compare to Karnataka State: 2010#

Name

Area of(Sq.Kms)

Wetlandarea(hectares)

Percentage
of total
wetlandarea

Percentage
of district
area

Open water extent(hectares)
PostPremonsoon monsoon

Seasonalchange(inpercent)

1

Belgaum

13,41533,412

5.2

0.2

22,09013,639-38

2

Karnataka

1,91,791

6,43,576

100.003.40

4,27,921

2,62,991- 39

Source: The data of Belgaum district calculated by researcher based on satellite FCC imaginary andKarnataka State data extracted from NIC Data.

The Belgaum district has a total geographical area of 13,415 sq. km. (see Table No: 3).
The whole district is drained by East flowing rivers namely, Malaprabha, Markandeya,
Dudganga, Krishna, Mahadai and Ghataprabha. In the district Hidkal, Renuka Sagar
reservoir/Barrages and Rakaskoppa tanks are the major wetlands. Famous falls like Gokak,
Vajrapoha, Godachina malki and Ghataprabha Bird century are located in this district, which
enriches the wetlands. The district comprises of 288 wetlands, which were mapped besides
431 small wetlan ds (< 2.25 hectares). These wetlands account for 33,412 hectares. Threewetland types (see Table No: 4) are Reservoir/Barrages, (19,213 hectares) followed by River/Stream (13,639 hectares) and Tanks/Ponds (3,832 hectares) exists in the district. Aquaticvegetation has an increase from 4,190 hectares in post -monsoon to 5,402 hectares in premonsoon. Analysis of wetland status in terms of open water the district has recorded 22,090
hectares and 13,639 hectares of during post -monsoon and pre-monsoon respectively out of
32,981 hectares (excluding wetlands <2.25 hectares) . Qualitative turbidity of the open water
dominated by moderate (20,625 hectares) followed by high turbidity (1,465 hectares) while low
turbidity has not been observed in post-monsoon. During pre -monsoon the turbidity was
dominated by moderate (8,491 hectares) followed by low (4,282 hectares) and high (866hectares).

133

Table 4: Estimated Area under Wetlands in Belgaum District
#.

1
2

Wet
land
Code

1100
1101
1102

3
4
5
6

1103
1104
1105
1106
1200

7
8
9
10

1201
1202
1203
1204

Wetland Category

Number of
Wetlands

Total
Wetlandarea(hectares)

Percentag
e of total
wetland
area

-

-

35

Open water extent(hectares)
Postmonsoon

Premonsoon

-

-

-

9,336

29.74

8,333

6,619

3
255
288
431

19,213
3,832
32,981
431

57.50
11.47
98.71
1.29

11,1902,567
22,0905,393
1,627
13,639719-

33,412-100.00-22,0904,190

13,639
5402

-

4,282

Moderate

20,625

8,491

High

1,465

866

Inland Wetlands - Natural
Lakes/Ponds
Ox-bow lakes/ Cut -offmeanders
High altitude wetlands
Riverine wetlands
WaterloggedRiver/Stream
Inland Wetlands -Man
made
Reservoirs/Barrages
Tanks/Ponds
Waterlogged
Salt pans
Total - Inland
Wetlands (< 2.25 hectares),mainly Tanks
Total
Area under Aquatic
Vegetation
Area under Turbidity Levels
Low

Source: The data calculated by researcher based on satellite FCC imaginary with the help of GIS
technology processed through Arc GIS software.

134

Conclusion
The above study has revealed that satellite data has the unique capability to detect theaccurate place of each wetland and changes its characteristics. In some taluks of Belgaum
district, due to over irrigation the land use and land cover area is changed drastically speciallyin Jamkhandi, Mudhol, Badami and Bilagi taluks. For the purpose of conceptual planning needto maintain the slow changes in land use and land cover area for sustainable development of
biodiversity in wetland on one hand. In other hand, need to control the areal extension of
wetland areas of the study area for the better agriculture output. For fulfilling all these, need to
implement the specific area planning in near future. This will help in maintaining the ecologicalbalance and improving micro-environment of the study region.
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