Application of Remote Sensing and Gis

oastal areas, the place where the waters of the seas meet the land are indeed unique places in our global geography. They are endowed with a very wide range of coastal ecosystems like mangroves, coral reefs, lagoons, sea grass, salt marsh, estuary etc. They are unique in a very real economic sense as sites for port and harbour facilities that capture the large monetary benefits associated with waterborne commerce and are highly valued and greatly attractive as sites for resorts and as vacation destinations. The combination of freshwater and salt water in coastal estuaries creates some of the most productive and richest habitats on earth; the resulting bounty in fishes and other marine life can be of great value to coastal nations. In many locations, the coastal topography formed over the millennia provides significant protection from hurricanes, typhoons, and other ocean related disturbances. But these values could diminish or even be lost, if they are not managed. Pollution of coastal waters can greatly reduce the production of fish, as can degradation of coastal nursery grounds and other valuable wetland habitats. The storm protection afforded by fringing reefs and mangrove forests can be lost if the corals die or the mangroves removed. Inappropriate development and accompanying despoilment can reduce the attractiveness of the coastal environment, greatly affecting tourism potential. Even ports and harbours require active management if they are to remain productive and successful over the long term. Coastal ecosystem management is thus immensely important for the sustainable use, development and protection of the coastal and marine areas and resources. To achieve this, an understanding of the coastal processes that influence the coastal environments and the ways in which they interact is necessary. It is advantageous to adopt a holistic or systematic approach for solving the coastal problems, since understanding the processes and products of interaction in coastal environments is very complicated. A careful assessment of changes that occur in the coastal C