Mapping the Under Water Habitat Related to their Bathymetry using Worldview-2 (wv-2) Coastal, Yellow, Rededge, Nir-2 Satellite Imagery in Gulf of Mannar to Conserve the Marine Resource

Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve is the first of its kind in India and also in South East Asia. It extends from Rameswaram to Tuticorin in the South. The Gulf of Mannar encompasses 21 small islands located from 0.5 to 4.0 km 2 in area and except a few others are uninhabited. The area is endowed with a combination of ecosystem including mangroves, seagrass, seaweeds and coral reef. The Gulf of Mannar with 3600 species of plants and animals is one of the biologically rich coastal regions in India. Proper planning and effective management of ecosystem can be achieved by collecting data on these ecosystems by the application of Remote Sensing techniques. The combined use of Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System provides a powerful multidisciplinary tool for evaluation of natural resources, both renewable and non-renewable with speed, accuracy and economy. During the present study an attempt is made to explore the advantage of newly added bands [coastal, yellow, red edge and NIR-2] in WV-2 satellite data in mapping the various ocean related parameters such as coral reef, seagrass related to their Bathymetry.

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