SATELLITE REMOTE-SENSING IN LANDUSE PLANNING OF ARID ENVIRONMENT

Satellite remote sensing using IRS-1A (LISS-1) False Colour Composites (FCCs) of kharif and rabi seasons for the year 1988-89 in conjunction with ground truth enabled to identify and to map different landuse/land cover categories at levels I and II in Jodhpur district comprising an area of 22, 85,000 ha of arid northwestern Rajasthan. The extent of different landuse/land cover categories from IRS FCC products and revenue record has been computed and tabulated. It has been observed that the area mapped from IRS FCC products for all the landuse/land cover categories is less than that of revenue record due to the small scale and poor resolution of the remotely sensed data. The suitable cropping patterns, plant species and soil and water conservation measures have been suggested for the rational landuse planning of different landuse/land cover categories of the district.