Assessment of Changes inWetland Storage in Gurupura River Basin of Karnataka, India, Using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques

Abstract

In view of the significant importance of wetlands in the ecosystem and regional economy, an attempt has been made to analyze the impact of land use/land cover dynamics and other contributing factors on spatial status of Gurupura river basin wetland ecosystem located in Karnataka region. The impact assessment has been carried out by analyzing the multi-temporal changes in the storage capacities of wetlands in the watershed, by using remote sensing data of LISS-III. The multi-temporal land use/land cover statistics will reveal the significant changes that have taken place over time in the watershed. The runoff generated can be easily calculated from this information which gives an idea of the total input into the system. In response to these upstream watershed changes, wetland has exhibited changes in spatial extension, structure, and hydrological characteristics. As a consequence of continuously changing land use/land cover characteristics and unpredictability of the monsoon, the wet land ecosystems have exhibited considerable changes in spatial extent and their storage capacities. Overall, there has been degradation in the storage capacities of the wetland ecosystems of the region causing a multitude of adverse effects such as increase in floods and submergence of mainland. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019.