Description

This webinar is focused on the application of remote sensing techniques in wetland ecosystem monitoring. Wetlands are water-saturated ecosystems that support unique and diverse plant and animal communities.

The current study focuses on Bisalpur Wetland, Rajasthan, India. Bisalpur wetland is the primary source of drinking water in major cities in Rajasthan. A wetland ecosystem in a place with high temperatures all year, notably in Rajasthan's arid and semi-arid areas, is critical for preventing water-related challenges and maintaining ecological balance. However, I utilize Landsat 8 (L8) Operational Land Imager (OLI) satellite imagery to map changes in Land Use and Land Cover (LULC), alongside analysis of Land Surface Temperature (LST) and vegetation health, with a focus on the Bisalpur wetland buffer zone in the post-monsoon seasons (October) of 2013 and 2022. Moreover, I employ remote sensing techniques to monitor the wetland turbidity of the Bisalpur wetland during both the pre and post-monsoon seasons in 2013 and 2022.

The study underscores that integrating remote sensing with climate data enhances wetland ecosystem understanding, guiding sustainable practices for resource management. Additionally, this research underscores the critical role of satellite imagery in assessing and managing water quality, particularly in situations where in-situ data is lacking.

The presenter:

Raj Singh, M.Sc., PGD, is Research Scholar in the Department of Environmental Science GITAM Deemed to be University, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. He served as Assistant Professor at Dr. K. N. Modi University, Newai, Rajasthan, and Tula’s Institute, Dehradun, India. He is Alumnus of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Department of Space, Gov. of India, and also worked on a France-funded IDDRI project at BITS Pilani, KK Birla Campus, Goa, India. He is Active Member of Wetland International, Wageningen, Netherlands, and the British Ecological Society London, UK. His expertise is in environmental science, wetland ecology, remote sensing, and GIS. He has published over 20 scientific articles in reputed national and international peer-reviewed journals, review, book chapters, presented 6 papers at international conferences, and edited 3 books with Jenny Stanford and Springer Nature publisher.

The study area (Wetland site) includes two main components in the same landscape zone: the Bisalpur wetland buffer and the Bisalpur Conservation Reserve (BCR). Bisalpur Wetland is located on Bisalpur Dam in the Tonk district of Rajasthan, India