Remote sensing to watch forest fires

CHENNAI, MAY 7: The Institute of Remote Sensing (IRS) at Anna University plans to arrive at a system to identify the near real time of th...

CHENNAI, MAY 7: The Institute of Remote Sensing (IRS) at Anna University plans to arrive at a system to identify the near real time of the occurrence of forest fires (the worst case will be 12 hours), through the use of remote sensing satellites.

IRS project manager (Recharge) M Marruthachalam told The Indian Express that it was possible to work out a practical solution to identify forest fires within 12 hours of the outbreak of fire, by comparing satellite pictures taken previously to those taken when the fire was out, and comparing the two.

Another IRS project which will start this month, will be the coastal zone management programme which will identify the degradation of the Tamil Nadu coastline. The database on the level of degradation will be ready in two years’ time, Marruthachalam said. Another project to get all the Agriculture Department Information on Tamil Nadu into one database, was also on the anvil. Besides including the ongoing crop area estimation, the database would also attempt at yield estimation, he said.

The Ground Water Recharge Project, undertaken at a cost of Rs 3.4 crore, to identify the water harvesting areas for the State Government, is nearly complete. He said that the Government of Karnataka has also expressed its inclination to take the help of Anna University in order to start a similar project there. The 14-layer study on the geology, geomorphology and other data would help the Government identify the zones for potential water recharge. A by-product of the study has been the digital database with geology and other maps, the first of its kind in the country, he said. The Collectors of the respective districts have been apprised of the study. This will aid the Government in construction of check dams and percolation ponds to tap water resources, Marruthachalam added. The project awarded to Anna University by the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD) was conducted with the support of the Department of Space.

The Department was also working on a National Resources Information System (NRIS) in 32 districts in India. The two Tamil Nadu districts are Dharmapuri and Nilgiris, and Dharmapuri is one of the nine priority districts in the country.

The water supply information for Tamil Nadu over the 17,000 villages will be made digital. The information will contain the number of over head tanks, hand pumps and the digital base of boundaries of taluks and villages.

The Department is also planning to map the water spread area, like the Red Hills or the Chembarambakkam lake, to help in the decision-making on water use and storage, he added.