Standalone Open-Source GIS-Based Tools for Land and Water Resource Development Plan Generation

Abstract

Land and water which are extremely important natural resources are depleting at a fast rate. This has triggered the need to conserve these resources and utilise them optimally. Proper planning that involves strategies for achieving a desired set of goals, and management of these resources are required for sustainable development of any geographical area at watershed scale. Remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS)-based techniques have the potential to generate as well as to analyse geospatial data that serve as key inputs for generation of land and water resource development plans at the watershed level. However, planning authorities are adopting conventional methods for planning due to lack of GIS knowledge which is time consuming. Thus, the proposed customised open-source GIS tools not only help in bridging the knowledge gap but also help in generation of land and water resource development plans in short time. MapWindowGIS is a unique standalone open-source GIS component that can be customised through dot net programming. In the present study, MapWinGIS is used to develop Land Resource Development (LRD) and Water Resource Development (WRD) plan generation tools. These tools employ a set of logical conditions over a set of input layers to produce WRD and LRD action plans for a chosen area. A spatial database, pertaining to the Kuchai block of Saraikela district, Jharkhand India is used for generation of land and water resources development plan. These plans involve the generation of alternate land use and demarcation of areas suitable for artificial recharge. Thus, the tool enables to integrate together spatial data from diversified sources in order to analyse and produce meaningful information for decision makers to support their planning activity.