Applicability of RS and GIS in soil and water conservation measures

Sound planning of soil and water conservation measures is essential for developing successful watershed based interventions. Integration of relevant parameters of a watershed involves analysis of huge data. Normally this analysis is undertaken manually which involves variable decision rules with some degree of error. Of late computer based planning and design tools have been found very useful for developing a comprehensive watershed development plan (WDP). Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) are useful for storing, retrieving and analyzing these numerous data efficiently and effectively. RS/GIS was used to develop watershed plan of Mondi Gaurelli-Chintapatla watershed (Ranga Reddy District, Andhra Pradesh) having geographical area of 48 km². In this paper, GIS having the capabilities of combining diverse data sets and decision rules has been used for developing action plan with minimum degree of error.