Journal of Advanced Research in Geo Science & Remote Sensing

ISSN: 2455-3190

Special Issue - NCCE 2015

National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015

Organized by
Centre for Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics

Sponsored by
Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) New Delhi, India

Conference Date
October 29 - 30, 2015

Venue
Sathyabama University
Rajiv Gandhi Road, Jeppiaar Nagar,
Solinganallur, Chennai - 600119

Publication Partner
 National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015

Dr V E Nethaji Mariappan
Scientist F, Centre for Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, Sathyabama University

Dr K Nagamani
Scientist C, Centre for Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, Sathyabama University

Dr A Surendran
Scientist E, Centre for Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Sathyabama University

Dr P Sardar Maran
Scientist D, Centre for Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Sathyabama University

Dr Anoop Kumar Mishra

Scientist D, Centre for Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, Sathyabama University

Mr J Sriganesh
Scientist C, Centre for Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, Sathyabama University

Mr J Sriganesh
Scientist C, Centre for Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, Sathyabama University

Mr Kishan Singh Rawat

Scientist C, Centre for Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, Sathyabama University

Mrs T German Amali Jacintha,

Scientist C, Centre for Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, Sathyabama University

Mr Kishan Singh Rawat

Scientist C, Centre for Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, Sathyabama University

Mrs P Mohana
Scientist C, Centre for Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, Sathyabama University

Mr K Jayakumar
Scientist C, Centre for Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, Sathyabama University
 Table of Contents
of
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015 ISSN: 2455-3190

Articles Page No.

A Study on Prosopis juliflora: Still a Valuable Species in Arid and Coastal Areas of Tamilnadu 1-6
S Sampath Kumar, P Selvakumar, P Sreeja

A Study on Tidal Dynamics along Southwest Coast of India 7-13

V RangaRao,V Damodara Rao, V Ramanadhan, D Kumaresan

A Visitors Perceptional Study on the Environmental Impact of Marina Beach 14-24

S Mageswari, G Geetha, M Pushpa

An Analysis of Rainfall Variability and Cropping Pattern in the Districts of Coastal Tamil Nadu for
2001 and 2011 25-33
Geetha R, Imrana Banu F, Anbhazhagan N, Gowtham B

An Analysis of Vegetation Cover and Estimation of Land Surface Temperature using LANDSAT 8
Data-A Case Study of Coastal Zones of Chennai Corporation 34-39
Jenita Evangeline T, Chandrasekar V, Sumathi SN, S Mahamad

An Overview of Marine Outfall Systems 40-43

Danish D R, Murali k

Biodiversity, Distribution and Utilization of Brown Algae in Tamil Nadu Coastline 44-46
R R Remya, SR Radhika Rajasree

Coastal Hazard Assessment-After Tsunami Effect on Ground Water Quality in the Coastal Region
of Ponneri Taluk 47-51
R Soundar Rajan, S Priyadharshini, M M Vijiyalakshmi, K Nagamani

Coastal Structures' Influence on the North Chennai Shore using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques 52-60
Poornima K V, Sriganesh J, Annadurai R

Engineering Applications of Artificial Reefs 61-64

Srineash V K, Murali k

Extraction of Lutein as a value-added product from the Biomass of Marine Microalgae Chlorella salina 65-69
Gayathri S, Radhika Rajasree SR, Aranganathan L, Suman TY

Future Scenarios of Tsunami Inundation along the Kerala Coast for Different Scenarios of Sea Level Rise 70-78
S S Praveen, NP Kurian, J Sriganesh

Monitoring Capacity Loss of a Coastal Reservoir Using Satellite Data 79-84

S Saravanan, V S Jeyakanthan

Morphological Changes Caused by Post-Tsunami in the Region of Nagapattinam Coast, Tamilnadu,

East Coast of India 85-93
R Karikalan, T Kongeswaran

Remote Sensing and GIS Analysis on Cuddalore Coast of Tamil Nadu, India 94-108
J Sriganesh, P Saravanan, V Ram Mohan
 Table of Contents
of
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015 ISSN: 2455-3190

Articles Page No.

Seawater Intrusion Studies in Part of Araniyar and Korattalyiyar River Basins of Thiruvallur District
Tamilnadu 109-114
Jothi K, B Gowtham, S Senthil Kumar

Socioeconomic Frame Work of Fish Farmers in Tamil Nadu 115-121

K Nagamani, Deboral Vimala

Spatial Analysis to Ascertain the Induced Development in the East Coast Road, Tamil Nadu 122-127
Janardhanan Gangathulasi, KSA Dinesh Kumar, S Karthigeswari

Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Ground Water Quality in Chennai City, Tamil Nadu using
Geo Spatial Technology 128-136
T German Amali Jacintha, J Sriganesh, VE Nethaji Mariappan

Spatio-Temporal Variation of Phytoplankton Concentraton using Remotely Sensed Data-Case Study in

Gulf of Mannar, Tamil Nadu 137-147
S Rebekah, P Thiruvengadam

Study on Error Matrix Analysis of Classified Remote Sensed Data for Pondicherry Coast 148-154
K Nagamani, K Jayakumar, Yasodharan Suresh, J Sriganesh

Superpave Bituminous Mixes for Coastal Areas 155-161

J Samuel simron rajkumar, MM Vijayalakshmi

The Impacts of Development on the Landscape of the Coastal Regions in Sholinganallur Taluk-A
Geoinformatics Approach 162-169
Yasodharan Suresh, K Nagamani
 A Study on Prosopis juliflora: Still a Valuable Species in Arid
and Coastal Areas of Tamilnadu
S Sampath Kumar*, P Selvakumar**, P Sreeja**
Abstract
Prosopis Juliflora plays a leading role in preventing erosion caused mainly due to sea
water in coastal areas and afforestation in arid and semi-arid lands. Its capability of
growing on saline areas and in arid conditions qualifies it as suitable for this purpose.
This species fits well into the agroforestry system for controlling desertification, soil
erosion, sand dunes, improve fertilizer status, provide fuel energy sources, used for
construction timber and furniture wood, supplement to humans and promote honey
production. The plant can withstand high temperature, less water and high saline
land. In India, P. juliflora is seen widely mostly in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and
Tamilnadu.

It has become now a growing concern on how this tree has invaded and become an
obnoxious weed which had earlier proved as a blessing for the dwellers of degraded
wasteland and barren coastal areas which was prone to sand erosion and tsunami
threat. These species roots go nearly up to 175 ft. (53.5 m), access water ways and
deplete the ground water level; hence, there is a need to carry out a GIS and remote
sensing-based methodology to identify the species in an even more detailed way and
study on the cause of sea water intrusion due to these species.

Introduction
Prosopis juliflora is a thorny shrub with a height of 3 and doctors bills for treating thorn wounds. Dense
to 5 m or tree growing up to 15 m of height. It has a stands of P. juliflora can block irrigation channels,
thick rough grey-green bark that becomes scalier obstruct roads and block smaller trails completely
with age. The plants are often multi-stemmed and affecting access to pasture, croplands, water
furnished with abundant large and very sharp sources and fishing areas.
thorns measuring up to 5 cm. The tree is deeply
rooted. The stems are shaped in a mild zigzag way Prosopis species are salt and drought-tolerant with
with one or two stout thorns at each turn of the deep roots which tolerate dry as well as
stem [3]. waterlogged soils. Seed production is prolific. Trees
rapidly form dense thorny thickets that reduce
Prosopis juliflora can be a very aggressive invader biodiversity [9]. Invaded grasslands are transformed
and replaces native vegetation and takes over range to woodland and forests. Loss of grass cover under
lands. Negative effects include complete loss of canopies may also promote soil erosion. It has
pasture and range lands for both domestic and wild massive impacts upon water resources. The tree re-
ruminants, losses due to access to water and the sprouts easily after damage [9].
destruction of fishing nets by the thorns, and illness
and death of livestock due to eating P. juliflora pods Crop farmers from Chemonke village, Kenya, have
and being pierced by the sharp and stout thorns. had to seek alternative settlement elsewhere
Other impacts are loss of cropland, the costs of because they have lost their land to P. juliflora
repairing tires punctured or destroyed by thorns, invasions, often resulting in conflict with
*
Assistant Professor Grade III, Department of Civil Engineering,Velammal Engineering College, Surapet, Chennai 600066,
Tamilnadu, India.
**
Assistant Professor Grade I, Department of Civil Engineering,Velammal Engineering College, Surapet, Chennai 600066,
Tamilnadu, India.
Correspondence to: Mr S Sampath Kumar, Assistant Professor Grade III, Department of Civil Engineering, Velammal Engineering
College, Surapet, Chennai-600066, Tamilnadu, India. E-mail Id: sampatvec@gmail.com

ADR Journals 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Kumar SS et al.
established communities [6]. Surveys of local
communities around Lake Baringo revealed that
8590% of respondents to a questionnaire favored
complete eradication of invasive Prosopis species
[6]. In another study Maundu et al. [5] found that
64, 79, and 67% of respondents interviewed in the
Garissa, Loiyangalani, and Baringo areas of Kenya,
respectively, said that life would be better without
Prosopis. Over 90% of livestock owners in eastern
Sudan regard invasive Prosopis as a liability and
pastoralists in Ethiopia refer to Prosopis as the
Devil Tree. (BioNet-EAFRINET). The Prosopis system.
debate has become an important topic of
discussion and policy in Tamilnadu during recent
years, due primarily to P. juliflora in arid and semi-
arid regions becoming an aggressive weed in
several districts. Invasion of grasslands, riverine
forests and nature reserves has alarmed ecologists
and farmers. Invasion of irrigation channels and
arable land has affected the agricultural
community, while pastoralists have seen the
dwindling of their pasture lands. These groups have
put pressure on the government through petitions
and court actions, and the government has been
forced to stop further planting of P. juliflora and
begin eradication programs, most notably in many
parts of Tamilnadu.
However, there are also many people who hold the
view that Prosopis is a valuable resource in the dry
lands and that in any case eradication is a virtual
impossibility, arguing that there is need to control
the species through exploitation.
Invading P. juliflora tends to form dense,
impenetrable thickets, associated with unfavorable
impacts on human economic activities.
Millions of hectares of 22 range lands have already
been invaded, and the process is still occurring in
South Africa, Australia and coastal Asia [11]. It is
one of the three top priority invasive species in
Ethiopia and has been declared a noxious weed.
Sudan has passed a law to eradicate it (Jama and
Zeila, 2005). In the coastal areas to prevent erosion,
there were a number of important points
considered:
Drifting sand was driven by new sand
constantly blowing off the beaches. This could
only be stopped by building and revegetating
new fore-dunes.
Vegetation needed to be resistant to seasonal
drought, salt-laden winds, wind carried sand
abrasion, and high surface temperatures.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Nutrient status of the freshly deposited sand
was very low or non-existent.
Work needed to start at the beach front or it
was quickly overwhelmed by new sand
deposits.
Low fertility of the site is assisted by planting P.
juliflora which is tolerant of salt and wind and also
has a deep rooting habit. Trees planted into this
thicket in turn are well sheltered while establishing
and also benefit from the natural nitrogen in the
These species roots go nearly up to 175 ft. (53.5 m)
and access fresh water ways and deplete the
ground water level; hence, it is planned to carry out
a GIS and remote sensing-based methodology to
study on the cause of sea water intrusion.
Study Area
The Tamil Nadu coast is nearly 950 km long. About
46 rivers, draining a total catchment of about
171,000 sq. km empty along this coastline. These
rivers bring considerable sediments, as they
traverse long distance, affecting the shore
processes very significantly. The composition of
mud is sandy at Pichavaram and Nagapatinam and
clayey at Pattikudi, Pamban near Rameshwaram,
Vedaranyam, Pt. Calimare and Muttupet. Sandy
beaches are made up of fine/coarse/medium
grained brown sand particles, broken molluscan
shells, shingles and pebbles.
Sandy beaches are mapped at Ennore, south of
Chennai, from Covelong to Mahabalipuram from
Manakkanam to North Pondicherry, South
Cuddalore, near Kollidam along the Rameshwaram
coast. A well-developed spit is observed at the
mouth of the Pulicat Lake (Photo 1). Small spits are
observed at south of Mahabalipuram, Kollidan,
south Rajmatam, etc. Coral reefs on Tamilnadu
coast are located near Rameshwaram (Palk Bay)
and in the Gulf of Mannar [8]. In the Study area, the
Pulicat lagoon is the second largest lagoon in India
(Photo 2). Apart from this, there are a number of
small lagoons on the Tamilnadu coast. Well-
developed coastal dunes are observed along the
coast of Ennore, Mahabalipuram, from
Manakkanam to Pondicherry, Cuddalore to
Pichavaram, from Karaikal to Velangani,
Vedaranyam to Manamelkudi, and Pudupattanam
to Tondi. The coastal dunes are stabilized and
covered by Casurina, coconut, Palmyra and
Prosopis. [8]
2
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015 Kumar SS et al.

Photo 1.Typical Image of Pulicat Area

Sea Water Intrusion systems in economic terms. As the sea water is

The natural movement of fresh water toward the
sea prevents salt water from entering freshwater
coastal aquifers [1]. Sea water intrusion is
contaminating some of the most important aquifer
moving preferentially through high permeability
layers in the ground, over 60% of coastal aquifers
are contaminated by seawater intrusions in Indian
context (Fig. 1).

Photo 2.Image of Prosopis juliflora Infested at Old Ruins of Dutch Geldria Fort-Pulicat

Figure 1.Sea Water Intrusion

3 J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)

ISSN: 2455-3190
Kumar SS et al.
Reason to Cause Sea Water Intrusion
1. Uneven precipitation.
2. Limited recharge of surface water or fresh
ground water is sometimes partially replaced
by seawater which is drawn into the aquifer.
3. Artificial over pumping.
4. Lithology.
5. Geological Structure.
6. Utilization of limited water resources with the
local condition.
Figure 2.Ghyben-Herzberg Relation
The figure shows the Ghyben-Herzberg relation. In
the equation,
the thickness of the freshwater zone above sea
level is represented as and that below sea level is
represented as . The two thicknesses and are
related by and where is the density of
freshwater and is the density of saltwater.
Freshwater has a density of about 1.000 grams per
cubic centimeter (g/cm3) at 20 C, whereas that of
seawater is about 1.025 g/cm3.
The equation can be simplified to
. equilibrium between groundwater recharge and
The Ghyben-Herzberg ratio states for every foot of
fresh water in an unconfined aquifer above sea
level, there will be forty feet of fresh water in the
aquifer below sea level.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
7. Deep-rooted vegetation
Ghyben-Herzberg Relation
The first physical formulations of saltwater
intrusion were made by W. Badon-Ghijben (1888,
1889) and A. Herzberg (1901), Verrjuit (1968); thus
called the Ghyben-Herzberg relation [10]. They
derived analytical solutions to approximate the
intrusion behavior, which is based on a number of
assumptions that do not hold in all field cases (Fig.
2).
Large coastal cities have been faced with the
problem of saltwater intrusion for decades and this
problem has been researched in great depth. Some
US cities have attempted to maintain groundwater
levels by ponding surface runoff or river water to
slowly recharge the groundwater table. Other
methods include hiring consultants to perform
extensive research and mapping of local aquifers to
determine groundwater flow followed by setting up
barrier wells near the shore to pump out salt water
and to help recharge a freshwater gradient toward
the sea or by placing a series of closely spaced
injection wells near the coast and injecting them
with high quality freshwater creating a hydraulic
pressure ridge. To summarize, recharge wells,
injection wells, recharge basins, and barrier wells
have been effective in maintaining the proper
pumping for large city water supplies around the
world. These methods would cost a city anywhere
from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of
dollars and are therefore not solutions for private
wells owners [2].
4
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Figure 3.Salt-Water Interface
Salt-water interface in an unconfined coastal
aquifer according to the Ghyben-Herzberg relation,
this analysis assumes hydrostatic conditions in a
homogeneous, unconfined coastal aquifer.
According to this relation, if the water table in an
unconfined coastal aquifer is lowered by 1 m, the
salt-water interface will rise 40 m.
Generally, saltwater intrusion into coastal aquifers
is caused by two mechanisms:
1. Lateral encroachment from the ocean due to
excessive water withdrawals from coastal
aquifers, or
2. Upward movement from deeper saline zones
due to upcoming near coastal discharge/
pumping wells.
Methods and Instrumentation Used for
Investigation
In late 1960s, efforts rose toward drilling for
chemical analysis of groundwater samples and the
determination of flow patterns based on
piezometric levels.
Geophysical methods of investigation were
introduced later, and were found to provide more
information faster than the drilling techniques.
Subsequently, geophysical methods became more
important for saltwater intrusion monitoring.
Today, there are numerous methods available
including: well logging, chemical analysis of
groundwater samples, research into the interaction
between aquifer matrix and groundwater, and most
common, chloride concentration profiling, and
vertical conductivity and temperature profiling.
5 J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
Kumar SS et al.
Methodology
Pulicat Lake is the second largest brackish-water
lake or lagoon in India, after Chilika Lake. It
straddles the border of Andhra Pradesh and
Tamilnadu states on the Coromandal Coast in South
India, with more than 95% of the lake within the
border of Andhra Pradesh and less than 5% within
Tamil Nadu. Patches of residual, dry, evergreen
forest and large areas of littoral scrub in woodlands
in fishing villages bordering the lagoon are seen.
Invasive phytoplankton species of P. juliflora, in the
plains on the periphery of the lake have been
recorded.
The lagoons boundary limits range between 13.33
to 13.66 N and 80.23 to 80.25 E, with a dried part
of the lagoon extending up to 14.0 N, with about
84% of the lagoon in Andhra Pradesh and 16% in
Tamilnadu. The lagoon is aligned parallel to the
coast line with its western and eastern parts
covered with sand ridges. Area of the lake varies
with the tide; 450 square kilometers (170 sq. mi) in
high tide and 250 square kilometers (97 sq. mi) in
low tide. Its length is about 60 kilometers (37 mi)
with width varying from 0.2 kilometers (0.12 mi) to
17.5 kilometers (10.9 mi). Currently, P. juliflora is
rapidly invading in Pulicat and the traditional
pastoral with other good vegetation area has
encroached hundreds of kilometers away from the
earlier.
With the use of cloud-free Indian remote sensing
satellite IRS - Ie and ID data which has spatial
resolution of 23.5 m, a study need to be conducted
with the help of GIS software. The FCC (false color
composite) from satellite data was prepared with
the use of Intergraph Geomedia Desktop 2014 a GIS
ISSN: 2455-3190
Kumar SS et al.
and image processing software. On the basis of field
data, ground control points (GCP) having the fresh
and salt water level data and differences need to be
recorded as tonal/color or density variations on the
imagery. Supervised classification methods were
planned at a 1:50,000 scale for analysis. This study
is planned to show the expansion of P. juliflora in
Pulicat area by using LISS III IRS lC and ID data of
post-monsoon years since 2014.
Conclusion
Prosopis juliflora invasion, although useful, is a
threat to Pulicat livelihood mainly due to sea water
intrusion. Action is needed to be taken to reduce
the negative impacts of the same. Although the
majority of the respondents in many parts of
Tamilnadu as well prefer complete eradication over
control, as we can see more than a few recent court
orders which are evident. It is better to understand
the spreading pattern of P. juliflora, identifying
conditions that favor its spread is essential. Further
research need to be carried out on P. juliflora and
its interference in sea water intrusion which is a
very vital study to be carried out in todays
scenario.
References
[1] Barlow PM. Groundwater in freshwater-
saltwater environments of the Atlantic coast.
U.S. Geological Survey Circular: 1262, 2003.
[2] Brunswick. Fact Sheet-Salt in private drinking
water wells. Canada. 2015.
[3] CABI invasive species compendium online
data sheet. Prosopis juliflora (mesquite).
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
CABI Publishing, 2011. Available from:
www.cabi.org/ISC. Accessed on: Mar 2011.
[4] GISD. Global invasive species database online
data sheet. Prosopis juliflora (shrub). 2010.
Available from: www.issg.org/database.
Accessed on: Mar 2011.
[5] Maundu P, Kibet S, Morimoto Y et al. Impact
of Prosopis juliflora on Kenyas semi-arid and
arid ecosystems and local livelihoods.
Biodiversity 2009; 10: 33-50.
[6] Mwangi E, Swallow B. Invasion of P. juliflora
and rural livelihoods. Case Study from the
Lake Baringo Area of Kenya. World
Agroforestry Centre. ICRAF. 2005.
[7] Sanjeeva RPJ. Macrofauna of Pulicat lake.
National Biodiversity Authority, Chennai.
[8] Space Applications Centre. Coastal zones of
India. ISRO, Ahmedabad, India. 2012.
[9] Weber, E. Invasive plant species of the world:
A reference guide to environmental weeds.
Working paper No. 3. CABI Publishing
Wallingford, UK, 2003.
[10] Verrjuit A. A note on the Ghyben-Herzberg
formula (PDF). Bulletin of the International
Association of Scientific Hydrology (Delft,
Netherlands: Technological University) 1968;
13(4): 43-46.
[11] Zeila A, Mwangi E, Swallow B. Prosopis
juliflora: Boon or bane for dryland
agroforestry? The Prunus Tribune JanMar
2004 Ed. Nairobi: World Agroforestry Centre.
2004.
[12] Zeila A. Report of ICRAF mission trip to India.
ICRAF Report Nairobi, Kenya. 2005.
6
 A Study on Tidal Dynamics along Southwest Coast of India
V Ranga Rao*, V Damodara Rao*, V Ramanadhan*, D Kumaresan*
Abstract
Tidal propagation along the southwest coast (Goa to Kanyakumari coastal stretch) was
studied. Spatial and temporal variations of tidal characteristics such as tidal type,
range, phase, etc., along the coast were presented. Spring-neap variations on tidal
propagation along the coast were investigated. Analysis of Survey of India published
data for five selected stations (Cochin, Beypore, Mangalore, Karwar and Goa) which
indicate that the tides are 'Mixed Mainly Semidiurnal. Semidiurnal shape is
predominant during spring tide conditions where as diurnal tide shape is more
prominent during neap tide conditions. Observed tides at Cochin inlets indicate that
the diurnal variation in tidal signature was modulated by diurnal variation in air
pressure. Highest tide level along the coast usually occurs during December/ January
whereas lowest tide level in July/ August. The derived tidal harmonic constituents
from global tide models were utilized to simulate the tides at the five stations of
southwest coast by adopting MIKE 21 flow model. Model results are reasonably
agreed well with the Survey of India tide data.

Introduction
Southwest coast of India, the southeastern shore of
Arabian Sea starting from Goa to Kanyakumari (Fig.
1), exhibits peculiar characteristics in its
hydrodynamic behavior when compared to those of
other parts of the Indian coast. Occurrence of
intense upwelling, high fish production, seasonal
shift in mud bank formation, algal blooms, etc are
more common and the coast faces extensive land
derived inputs as the coast is connected with
number of estuaries, inlets and backwaters.
Domestic and industrial sewage, and construction
of manmade structures lead to environmental
problems such as water quality degradation, decline
fish production, coastal erosion etc. Hence keeping
in view the gaining knowledge on tidal dispersion of
land derived material in southwest coastal waters, a
study on tidal dynamics along the southwest coast
was initiated and the results are presented in this
article.
Tides generated by astronomical forces generally
result in barotropic flow in coastal waters as the
tidal waves amplifies over continental shelves.[1]
The relative importance of the tidal and non-tidal
flows depends on the time of year, the latitude, and
the extent of shallow water areas as discussed in
*
ICMAM-PD, NIOT Campus, Pallikaranai, Chennai.
Correspondence to: Dr V Ranga Rao, ICMAM-PD, NIOT campus, Pallikaranai, Chennai.
E-mail Id: vrrao@icmam.gov.in
UNESCO (1985). Now a day extensive data on sea
surface elevation is available with the advent of
satellite altimeter data.[15,18,19] Number of case
studies on prediction of tides along different parts
of the world coast by utilizing tidal harmonic
constituents were available (Le provost et al., 1995;
Sauvaget et al. 2000; Zahel 1995). Even though field
data is essential for validating the coastal numerical
model, a world ocean tide model can be used to
force a coastal tidal model along its open
boundaries. Even a carefully prepared tide
prediction model will differ with observed tide
because of weather, upland drainage and other
shore based effects.
Considerable studies on tidal propagation along
some parts of west coast of India were carried out
earlier by a number of investigators. Sanil Kumar et
al. [4]studied the variation of tidal constituents
along near shore waters of Karnataka coast and
concluded that 97% of variations of sea level were
due to astronomical tides and the remaining were
due to wind and wave influence. Srinivas (1993) and
Srinivas et al. [2] compared the tide at Cochin and
Goa and found that tidal amplitudes are much
higher at Goa compared to that at Cochin.

ADR Journals 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Rao VR et al.
Figure 1.Study area, the southwest coast of India
The time of formation of West Indian Coastal
Current (WICC), northward phase in early winter,
and the southward phase in early summer coincides
with that of Lakshadweep High (LH) and
Lakshadweep Low (LL) as revealed by Bruce et al.
[16] and Shankar and Shetye [14].
McCreary et al. [17] suggested that the LL and LH
were results of Rossby wave propagation from the
west coast of India. The sea surface slope in certain
areas is one of the causes for changes in
temperature, salinity, and currents along the
southwest coast [20]. Subheesh et al. [12] indicated
that semidiurnal variability occurs mainly in M2 and
S2, and diurnal variability occurs mainly in K1 and
O1 tidal constituents. The co-tidal charts published
based on global tidal models indicate that the tides
in the Arabian Sea propagate from south to north
[13]. In the present article, an attempt is made to
study the tidal propagation along the southwest
coast i.e., along Goa to Kanyakumari coastal stretch.
For this, the published tide tables of Survey of India
were analyzed.
Global tidal constituents were derived from the
tidal charts [6,7,10] to simulate the tides along the
southwest coast. For this, Mike 21 model was used,
and based on the simulated results, the tidal
propagation and sea level variation along the coast
was studied.
Some of the field data collected on tides during
2015 at Cochin inlets were also utilized in this
article to study the weather effect on tides.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Material and Methods
The area (Fig. 1) for the present study comprises
about 900km length of coastal stretch starting from
Goa to Kanyakumari. The seaward limit of the study
area is extended up to a depth contour of 2000m
from the shoreline. Bathymetry of the study area
was derived by merging the C-Map data and field
measured Echosounder data. The weather data
utilized in the study is obtained from IMD (2013,
2014 & 2015) and also from recorded data of
Automatic Weather Station (AWS) installed at
Munambam inlet. The tide data utilized in the study
are derived from published tide tables of Survey of
India (SOI 2013, 2014 & 2015) and the tidal
parameters derived from SOI tide tables are shown
in Table 1. For prediction of tides based on Global
harmonic tidal constituents, MIKE 21 tool box was
utilized. For this the required harmonic tidal
constituents were derived from the cotidal charts of
Unnikristnan et al. [10] and Schiwderski [6,7]. In
order to study the type of tidal characteristics along
SW coast, Form number F [11] was computed by
utilizing the formula F = (K1+O1) /(M2+S2) where
K1 & O1 are the diurnal constituents and M2 & S2
are the semidiurnal constituents. Quantitatively,
where the value of F is less than 0.25, the tide is
classified as 'Semidiurnal'; where the value is from
0.25 to 1.5, the tide is 'Mixed Mainly Semidiurnal';
where the value is from 1.6 to 3.0, the tide is 'Mixed
Mainly Diurnal'; and where the value is greater than
3.0, it is 'Diurnal'. INCOIS forecasted ROMS sea level
data has also been utilized in preparation of
suitable offshore boundary conditions for the
8
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
present tidal simulations by integrating the ROMS
data with predicted global tide data.
Results and Discussion
Physiography and Bathymetry of the Coast
The southwest coast was occupied with number of
river estuaries, inlets, backwaters etc and debouch
extensive fresh water and other land based material
into the southwest coastal waters especially during
SW monsoon season which considerably influence
the stratification of coastal waters and
consequently affect the tidal propagation along the
coast. The northern inlets discharge more
freshwater compared to southern inlets [21]. The
orientation of southwest coast is about 350o north,
which may play considerable role in modulation of
tides along the coast. The prominent feature in
bathymetry is that the depth contours up to 400 m
depth are gentle in slope and sudden steepness is
encountered beyond 400m depth, indicating that
the water depth increases steeply beyond 400m
depth.
(a)
Figure 2.Comparison of tidal curves for 5 stations (Cochin, Beypore, Mangalore, Karwar, and Goa) in (a)
January 2013, and (b) July 2013
The highest tide (high water level of 2.12m during
spring) in the study area is seen where the shelf
width is more i.e., at Goa, the northern part of
southwest coast. However, comparatively the
lowest tide (high water level of 1.22m during
spring) was noticed at Cochin. Tidal ranges
9 J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
Rao VR et al.
Tides and Tidal Propagation
Generally tides along southeast Arabian coast
origina0te in the Indian Ocean and get amplified at
the north Arabian coast, mainly due to nonlinear
shallow water effect and the northward
convergence of Arabian sea [12,13]. Distribution of
tidal curves (Fig. 2) for the stations Cochin, Beypore,
Mangalore, Karwar, and Goa for the months
January 2013 (Fig. 2a) and July 2013 (Fig. 2b)
represent NE monsoon and SW monsoon
respectively. The shape of curves varies with time
i.e., during spring tide a well defined tidal curve is
observed with two high and two low waters in a day
(24 hrs period) but this is not the case during neap
tide. Computation of Form number (Table 1)
indicates that tides along the southwest coast are
of the type Mixed Mainly Semidiurnal. The tidal
curves indicate that the High water level amplified
north ward i.e. from Cochin to Mangalore by about
20-30 cm (Fig. 2). However, this is not the case of
low water.
(b)
gradually increased from south to north along the
coast as revealed in Table 1. The spring tidal ranges
at Cochin, Beypore, Mangalore, Karwar, and Cochin
are 1.75, 1.50, 1.50, 1.45, and 0.85m respectively
while neap ranges are 0.95, 0.75, 0.75, 0.55, and
0.50 m respectively.
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Rao VR et al. National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015

Table 1.Tidal parameters at Goa, Karwar, Mangalore, Beypore, and Cochin

The phase of the tide also varies along the coast same is 77-78 min earlier during SW monsoon. Thus
from Cochin (south) to Goa (north). At Goa during tide will propagate to north first, and about 1 hr
NE monsoon, the time lag in occurrence of high later, it will reach the Cochin coast.
water is 91-97 min earlier than that at Cochin. The

Table 2.Global tidal harmonic constituents for the SW coast

Amplitudes and phases of four main tidal harmonic
constituents (M2, S2, K1 and O1) at the northern
boundary and southern boundary of study area are
shown in Table 2. The amplitudes of four tidal
constituents are higher (0.61, 0.32, 0.22 & 0.17m)
at northern boundary compared to those (0.11,
0.11, 0.06 & 0.08m) at southern boundary.
Occurrence of lower tidal amplitude at southern
boundary may be due to northward propagation of
tide and convergence of tide due to funneling at the
head of Arabian sea or may be due to the presence
of Amphidromic point (the region of zero tidal
range) around SE corner of Sri Lanka. Very small
amplitude of S2 compared to M2 indicates the
dominance of semi diurnal tidal component over
diurnal component.

(a) (b)
Figure 3.Monthly distribution of mean sea level for 5 stations along SW coast a) Spatial variation and
b) Temporal variation

Distribution of monthly mean sea level (Fig. 3a) for
NE monsoon months (November and December
2014) and SW monsoon months (July, August &
September 2014) clearly indicates that the sea level
along southwest coast during NE monsoon is about
30cm higher than that of during SW monsoon. The
higher sea level in NE Monsoon may be due to
northward propagation of tide and coastal current;
convergence and amplification along the shore may
lead to high sea level, whereas during SW monsoon,

J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4) 10

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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
upwelling and southward coastal current may lead
to lowering the sea level. Monthly variations in
mean sea level (Fig. 3b) at the five stations (Goa,
Karwar, Mangalore, Beypore, and Cochin) reveal
that the high sea level usually occurs in December/
January whereas low sea level occurs in July/
August.
Meteorological Effects on Tide
In January-February 2015, the Survey of India
published tide more or less exactly matches with
observed tide (Fig. 4a) at the inlets of Cochin
estuary. Further, there is no variation in tides at the
two inlets and the tide more or less remains the
same. Hence one can use Survey of India tide
instead of observed tide at the Cochin inlet area
especially when the fresh water discharge into the
Figure 4.(a) Comparison of observed tide and SOI tide, (b) Interaction among weather and tides for NE (Jan
2015), (c) Interaction among weather and tides for SW monsoon seasons (July 2015)
Tidal Modeling
The hydrodynamic numerical model of the study
area has been constructed on the basis of MIKE21
flow model, which is a software developed by DHI
(2005). The model solves the depth-averaged free
surface and time-dependent shallow water flow
equations. These equations express the
conservation of water mass and momentum. MIKE
21 Flow Model can be used to simulate tidal
exchange and currents. For present flow model,
finite difference computational grid was used. In
order to solve better non-linear effects occurring on
the continental shelf, the grid size has been set to
1000m. The model domain is 80km in length
northward and 35km in length eastward on UTM 43
geographical system. The model run took 8-9 hrs
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Rao VR et al.
inlet is negligible. Simultaneous variation of tide,
atmospheric pressure, wind speed & direction,
relative humidity and air temperature for Cochin
inlet area for NE (Jan 2015) and SW monsoon
seasons (July 2015) are shown in Figs. 4b & 4c. The
variations in tide and weather parameters clearly
reflect the land and sea breeze effects on tidal
variation. Fall in air temperature coincides with
calm winds and constant humidity that occurred in
night time. During day time, air temperature rises
and hence winds pick up and consequently
humidity gets altered. Thus Cochin coast shows a
perfect Land-Ocean-Atmospheric interaction (LOA)
system on southwest coast. A similar variation is
expected at other locations also. Hence wind and
air pressure considerably modulated the sea level
or vice versa along the coast.
for 30 days simulation either on laptop or PC. The
simulations were carried out for each of the two
months January and July 2013. Harmonic
constituents (M2, S2, K1 and O1) from tidal maps
[6,10] were used in the study to predict the tide
level at the north and south boundaries of the
model domain. As transfer of energy to other
constituents may occur on the continental shelf by
non-linear interaction, the harmonic analysis of the
simulation results was not limited to only four
forcing constituents [1]. Hence in addition to the
constituents, the sea level data supplied by the
INCOIS ROMS model (INCOIS, 2015) have been used
to force the present regional hydrodynamic model
along its boundaries. Western boundary was forced
with flux of 0.002 m3/ s (as constant) throughout
the simulation period.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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Rao VR et al.
Figure 5.Predicted tide level and validation of model results
Conclusions
Tides and tidal propagation along the southwest
coast using MIKE 21 flow model was investigated.
The model took into account all non-linear effects
such as advection terms, bottom friction, and wind
shear stress as well as internal forcing by the static
tide potential. Model results were validated with
existing SOI tide tables of the five stations-Goa,
Karwar, Mangalore, Beypore, and Cochin. To
achieve 100% validating results in tidal propagation
along the coast, some more non tidal focings shall
be considered in future studies.
Acknowledgements
The work is part of the Ministry of Earth Sciences
project "Ecosystem Modeling for Southwest Coast".
The investigators wish to express their sincere
thanks to Dr S Shenoy, Project Director, and Dr M A
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Atmanand, Ex Project Director, ICMAM-PD,
Chennai, for their keen interest and encouragement
to carry out the research work along the SW Coast.
The authors thankfully acknowledge the support
extended by Dr Parameswaran, Scientist-In-Charge,
NIO, Cochin for providing NIO laboratory to process
some of the field samples and for local logistic
support. The authors express their gratitude to Prof
Vinayachandran, IISC, Bangalore for his valuable
scientific advices and support in framing field data
collection plan for modeling activities of the
southwest coast of India. The investigators are
thankful to the Cochin Port authorities for their
constant support and help during the field
measurements along the Cochin coast.
References
[1] Sauvaget P, David E, GuedesSoares C.
Modelling tidal currents on the coast of
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Portugal. Coastal Engineering 2000; 40: 393-
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[2] Srinivas K, Revichandran C, Maheswaran PA
et al. Propagation of tides in the Cochin
estuarine system, southwest coast of India.
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[3] Zahel W. Assimilating ocean tide determined
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[4] Sanil Kumar V, Udhaba Dora G, Sajive P et al.
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shore waters of Karnataka, West coast of
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[5] Le Provost C, Genco ML, Lyard F. Modeling
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[6] Schwiderski EW. Atlas of ocean tidal charts
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[7] Schwiderski EW. Global ocean tides Part III:
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[8] UNESCO. Manual on sea level measurement
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[9] Srinivas K. Seasonal and interannual
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Thesis, CUSAT, 1999.
[10] Unnikrishnan AS, Testut L, Koch Larrouy A et
al. Tidal Modeling of the Arabian Sea. 2011.
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ltika_2011/16Mar11/5_CoastalAltimetry_
SeaSurfaceBias/Testut_presentationtidal_
modelling.pdf.
[11] Pugh D. Changing sea level: Effect of tides,
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weather and climate. Cambridge university
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[12] Subeesh MP, Unnikrishnan AS, Fernando V et
al. Observed tidal currents on the continental
shelf off the west coast of India. Continental
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[13] Lyard F, Lefevre F, Letellier T et al. Modelling
the global ocean tides: modern insights from
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[14] Shankar D, Shetye SR. On the dynamics of the
Lakshadweep high and low in the
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102(12): 551-62.
[15] Woodworth PL, Cartwright DE. Extraction of
the M2 ocean tide from SEASAT altimeter
data. Geophysical Journal of the Royal
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[16] Bruce JG, Johnson DR, Kindle JC. Evidence for
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[18] Cartwright DE, Ray RD. Energetics of global
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[19] Mazzega P. M2 model of the global ocean
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upwelling and down-welling processes in
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J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
 A Visitors Perceptional Study on the Environmental Impact
of Marina Beach
S Mageswari *, G Geetha**, M Pushpa***
Abstract
Marina beach is a natural urban beach in Chennai city, along the Bay of Bengal. It is
the most crowded beach in the country and attracts about 30,000 visitors a day
during week days and 50,000 visitors a day during the weekends and on holidays.
The arrival of visitors and tourism development has both positive and negative
impact on the beach of the city. Due to increase in visitor arrival and improper
management, the negative impact ranks higher than the positive in Marina. Along
with the crowd, the increase of food courts and shops make the place more
unhygienic for tourism. According to the perception of visitors, the main problem
with the Marina is the lack of cleanliness and the absence of an adequate design
system to make it attractive for visitors from far and near. It would be appropriate to
develop a separate authority to maintain the beaches with the active participation of
public.

Keywords: Tourism, Marina beach, Perception.

Introduction
Tourism is one of the largest and dynamically Tourism development induces both positive and
developing sectors of external economic activities. negative consequences while, over time, the
It has developed through the years and presently, it adverse effect of tourism is on the environment.
is one of the most diversified, customized and The increasing number of tourists magnifies the
specialized industries. Its high growth and pressures on and can lead to severe negative
development rates, considerable volumes of foreign impacts on the environment [2]. Negative
currency inflows, infrastructure development, and environmental impacts have been reported by [3-
introduction of new management and educational 12], amongst others. The focus of such studies has
experience actively affect various sectors of mainly been on physical impacts, such as the
economy, which positively contribute to social and deterioration of natural resources, the causes and
economic development of the country as a whole. incidence of various kinds of pollution, drinking
water shortages, overcrowding and the production
According to World Travel and Tourism Council, of litter. The positive impacts reported include the
India will be a tourism hotspot from 2009 to 2018, enhancement of public places, the protection and
having the highest 10-year growth potential. The upgrading of valued places such as national parks
India travel and tourism industry ranked fifth in the and historical sites, and improvements in
long-term (10-year) growth and is expected to be infrastructure and telecommunication facilities. As
the second largest employer in the world by 2019. tourist practices become more widespread, there
As per the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness tends to be marked changes in the environment
Report 2009 [1] by the World Economic Forum, [13], the capacity to absorb large numbers of
India is ranked 11th in the Asia-Pacific region and people will be challenged [14] and environmental
62nd overall. problems tend to increase.
*
Icssr-Cwds Doctoral Fellow, Department of Geography, Queen Marys College, Chennai.
**
Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Queen Marys College, Chennai.
***
M Phil Scholar, Department of Geography, Queen Marys College, Chennai.
Correspondence to: Mr S Mageswari, Icssr-Cwds Doctoral Fellow, Department of Geography, Queen Marys College, Chennai.
E-mail Id: mage.2621@gmail.com

ADR Journals 2015. All Rights Reserved.

National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
The environment acts as a powerful resource for
tourism as it plays a major role in attracting tourists
to the destination. Tourism causes both positive
and negative impacts and impacts are greater if the
environment is underdeveloped or is fragile. It was
only in the mid-1960s after the growth of mass
tourism that people realized that nature is an
exhaustible resource and that tourism and related
activities leave their mark on the environment.
Environmental degradation generated by tourism
development along with a lack of specific and
integrated management for the preservation of
natural resources has brought about economic
decline to many tourism destinations [15-17]. In
particular, the progressive depletion of natural
resources generated by the impact of mass tourism
in coastal areas has increased. Coastal tourism is
based on a unique resource combination at the
border of land and sea environments: sun, water,
beaches, outstanding scenic views, rich biological
diversity, sea food and good transportation
infrastructure. Based on these resources, various
profitable services have been developed in many
coastal destinations such as well-maintained
beaches, diving, boat-trips, bird watching tours,
restaurants or medical facilities. Beaches are one of
the most favorite coastal tourism destinations for
majority of population.
The increased pressure on the carrying capacity of
the coastal ecosystem particularly beach shows
increase in environmental degradation of the
locality. The increased visitors flow led to increase
in solid waste dumping as well as depletion of
resources. Noise pollution from vehicles and public
address systems, water pollution, untreated sewage
into sea, etc., also have direct effects on bio-
diversity, ambient environment and general profile
of tourist spots. So beaches are under a number of
threats or face issues with a number of underlying
social and economic drivers, resulting in many
complex and inter-related problems.
Today environment is a global issue. Modern mans
environmental perception is altogether a different
one. A rapid socioeconomic development of
humanity has most vigorously stimulated changes
in the form of interaction between the man and the
environment with far-reaching consequences for
the nature. To avoid economic decline in tourist
areas is necessary, therefore, to develop an
efficient and sustainable planning of territorial
resources based on a coordinated management
strategy. Therefore, there will be a greater need to
15
Mageswari S et al.
regulate tourism and the environment, not only to
preserve the environment for future generations
[18], but also in the interests of tourism businesses
and the quality of life of local residents.
The study tries to explore the perception of visitors
about the beach and its surrounding, its
environmental quality by taking the case study of
Marina beach, Chennai city. The perceptional study
helps us to know the prevailing thoughts, practices
and knowledge among the visitors about tourism
impact on environmental quality and its related
hazards created by the intrusion of people.
Study Area
Marina beach is a natural beach located in the city
of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, along the coast of Bay of
Bengal. The beach runs from near Fort St. George in
the north to Besant Nagar in the south for a
distance of 13 km. It is the longest natural urban
beach in the country and the worlds second
longest. The average width of the beach is 300 m
(980 ft.) and the width at the widest stretch is 437
m (1434 ft.). Bathing and swimming at the Marina
beach are legally prohibited because of the
dangers, as the undercurrent is very turbulent. The
Marina is primarily sandy and it is the most
crowded beach in the country and attracts about
30,000 visitors a day during week days and 50,000
visitors a day during the weekends and on holidays
[19]. During summer months, about 15,000 to
20,000 people visit the beach daily [20]. It has been
a stopover in the world tourists itinerary.
Materials and Methods
The design of the study is the perceptional study,
which applies the quantitative method. The main
source of the data for the study is primary data. The
convenient sampling technique was applied to
select the 150 samples disproportionately as the
visitor population of Marina beach is dynamic. The
sample group of the study was the visitors who are
all spotted in Marina beach during the data
collection. The study was conducted mostly in
evening for two months during November to
December of 2014. The direct interview method
was used to collect the data with the help of pre-
structured schedule. The schedule had both open
and closed ended questions to bring about the
perceptions of visitors. The simple statistical
analysis like percentage analysis is carried out using
SPSS software. Appropriate and needed diagrams
were also used to support the study.
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Mageswari S et al.
Results
Marina beach, a coastal tourist spot of Chennai city,
is one of the places where environmental
degradation is taking place as a continuous process
due to the increase flow of visitors. In reverse,
tourism industries are also facing issues in
development, as natural aesthetic beauties of
tourist spots are despoiled. The perceptions of
visitors about the Marina are represented as
follows:
Tourist Spots in Marina
Along the beach of Marina shore, there are some
major tourist spots like MGR memorial, Anna
memorial and Museum and Lighthouse. Visitors
approaching the beach also visit these places
without fail. However, there is a great variation in
Figure 1.Tourist Spots in Marina
The diagrams represent that around 88% of visitors
visit beach without fail, while only 48% and 46 of
visitors visit memorials. Visitors visiting lighthouse is
low when compared to other places, i.e., only 22%,
as it is little far from the main visiting place of
beach.
Figure 2.Activities in Marina
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the number of visitors visiting these spots and the
beach. Only other district, state and nation tourists
visit these places and visitors consider it as one-
time visit place. Yet, visitors who come for the
second or many more times make it a point to visit
the beach without fail. Anna Memorial and MGR
Memorial are the places of political legends of the
state who played an important role for the
development of Tamil Nadu. The burning oil lamp in
the memorial surprises every visitor, as it is glowing
24*7 on 366 days of a year without fail. And visitors
enjoy hearing and watching the sound of MGRs
voice which is kept in his memorial. The lighthouse
is now developing into one of the major tourist
spots of the city. Only recently, visitors have been
allowed inside the light house. The numbers of
visitors visiting beach and these spots are shown in
the Fig. 1.
Visitors enjoy to take photographs in aesthetic
architecture of memorials and the newly built horse
statue in MGR memorial. The government has
taken steps to renovate the spots in marina to
develop the tourism here.
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Activities in Beach
Visitors involve themselves in different game
activities like balloon shooting, kite flying and other
activities like walking, horse riding and so on. Figure
2 shows the different activities involved by visitors
in beach.
Nearly 43% of visitors coming here like to
experience the breeze through walking, while
around 50% of visitors involve in some form of
games like balloon shooting, kite flying, play waves,
etc. And also around 5% of people visit the beach to
enjoy shopping and food items.
Different Shops in Marina Beach
Apart from the natural beautiful beach, there are
different varieties of shops available for the visitors
Figure 3.Shops in Marina
Around 60% of shops are eatable shops having
chats, fish fry, bajjis, etc. Apart from these, 35% of
shops are of selling fancy items and playing items.
Other than these, some other mini shops too are
available in the beach. The games for kids are also
present in Marina beach.
Figure 4.Type of Food Packages
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Mageswari S et al.
to shop. The important shops are the shop of shells
and their products. The handmade shell products
like mirror, interior decoration, hangings, etc.,
attract visitors. Other than these, there are
different fancy items like cosmetic jewelries,
wallets, purses, coolers, etc. Studios are also
available here where different styles of actor and
actress cutouts are present to take photo with it. It
attracts many visitors of nation to take photograph
with their lovable actor or actress.
The very important shops that visitors like to
experience are the food items available there. The
fresh fish fry, chat items and hot bajjis and vadas
are very famous in Marina beach. And also sweet
corns, popcorns, channa, sliced mangoes and
sugarcane juice are very popular food items sold.
The number of shops available in Marina beach are
shown in Fig. 3.
Types of Packages Used for the Supply of
Food at the Beach
The food items supplied to the visitors are the main
menace, which create lot of environmental
problems. The visitors think that disposal of the
packaged items has to be taken care by the
agencies appointed by the government.
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Mageswari S et al.
Figure 4 shows that the type of package items for
foods like bottled, packed in paper, packed in
plastic and biodegradable food items are available.
Nearly 40% of foods are paper packed while only
Residence of Visitors
Figure 5.Residence of Marina Visitors
Figure 5 shows that different people visit Marina
beach from different places. Around 79% of visitors
are from within the city while the remaining
constitute the tourist group.
Purpose of Visitors
Figure 6 represents the different purposes for
which the tourists and other local city dwellers
wishto visit the beach.
Figure 6.Purpose of Visitors to Visit Marina Period of Visit
Figure 7 gives the different period of time visitors
prefer to visit the marina beach. Around 28% of
visitors visit the place daily, while 30% of visitors
wish to visit the beach rarely.
During vacation and holidays, around 17% of
visitors are coming to beach, while weekly 17% and
monthly 7% of people are visiting the beach for
various reasons. The regular visitors visit beach for
their health maintenance.
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10% of foods are biodegradable type. The wastes
from these like paper, plastic and food wastes are
littered in the beach, which acts as the main issue
of Marina.
Around 58% of visitors visit the beach to entertain
in their free time in sea breeze with cool air and
fresh nature.
28% of people visit the beach to make themselves
free from the stress and to relax their mind and
body, while 14% of people visit the beach for
physical exercises in nature like walking, jogging
and other exercises.
Time of Visit
Figure 8 shows the peoples preference time to visit
the beach. The figure shows that nearly 55% of
visitors wish to visit the beach in evening because
the sea breeze is so cool and pleasant during this
time. Around 32% of people visit beach in morning
to see the sunrise and to breathe the fresh morning
air, they feel that this time is ideal for exercising.
Only 6% of people visit the beach in afternoon and
midnights.
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015 Mageswari S et al.

Figure 7.Period of Visit to Marina

Figure 8.Time of Visit to Marina

Company of Visit
Figure 9 shows the peoples preference of having
different accompanying persons to enjoy the
nature. The figure depicts that 42% of visitors arrive
at the beach with their families, while 28% come
along with their friends to enjoy the nature. And
also 30% of visitors visit the beach alone to come
out of stress and for physical exercises too.

Figure 9.Preference of Company while visiting Marina beach

Mode of Transport to Visit
The tourists and visitors avail different modes of
transport to visit the Marina beach. Fig.10 shows
the mode of transport and it represents that around
33% of visitors avail public transport to reach the
spot. Only 30% of visitors use cars, 24% use two-
wheelers and 13% of visitors use train to reach the
tourist spot. It also clearly depicts that all modes of
transport facilities are available to reach the
location.

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Figure 10.Mode of Transport to Visit Marina

Tourist Insight about Marina Beach
Figure 11 explains the perception of the vistors
about the condition of beach. Nearly 37% of visitors
feel the place as pleaseant and mild to enjoy, while
more than 60% of visitors felt it as over-crowded
and congested. The majority of visitors of Marina
beach feel that the beach is crowded during the
evenings and during holidays especially on
weekends. During week days, it is very pleasant in
the evenings.

Figure 11.Condition of Marina Beach

The visitors feel that the beach is an ideal spot for which acts as an eyesore to the vistors. Many of
stress releaving. Apart from these characteristics, visitors had expressed their feelings of such
the beach of Marina is also the center for lovers, incidents as not appealing.

Figure 12.Environmental Condition of Marina Beach

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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Environmental Situation of Beach
Figure 12 shows the visitors view of beach
environment. The figure depicts that nearly 56% of
visitors feel the beach as very dirty and 30% as
dirty, while only 12% of visitors feel the beach as
clean. The predominant perception of visitors is the
beach these days does not give peace and
happiness as it was intially, so many of them feel
that they may not be interested to visit again, which
creates economic decline for the tourist spot.
Figure 13.Garbage Disposal on Marina Beach
are also dumped in the sea. For example, during the
Ganesh Chathurthi, Dhashara and so many other
festivals (Fig. 14), people dump the idols into the
sea once the function is over. These idols are all in a
giant size with lots of chemicals and POP which gets
dissolved in the sea and distrubs the ecosystem of
Figure 14.Dumping of Idols
Discussion
Marina beach is a major tourist attraction of the
city. People visiting Chennai make it a point to visit
the beach. It is also the main place for the local
people to escape from the summer heat. The beach
is popular for its shops and food stalls-about 500
shops run by 1212 vendors. The memorials and
21
Mageswari S et al.
Garbage Disposal
Figure 13 shows the visitors disposal method of
garbage on the beach. The figure explains that
nearly 62% of visitors throw garbage in dustbin,
while 11% of people throw in sand and 6% of
visitors throw the waste in the sea water.
Nowadays, due to these activities, Marina beach
looks untidy, unhealthy and unattractive to visitors.
Apart from the regular dumping of the garbages of
the visitors, festive materials
ocean environment. This is one major enironmental
disaster to the coastal region. The beach area is also
used for big meetings both for political and religious
gatherings. This again creates the left-out garbage
menance.
statues, morning walk, joggers track, lovers spot,
aquarium, and the like make it a hangout for people
of all ages. Kite flying and beach cricket are
common sports at the beach, and there are facilities
for pony rides too. There are also joyrides, merry-
go-rounds and mini giant wheels along the stretch,
although they are installed without permission from
any government agency. Best time to visit the
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Mageswari S et al.
Marina is November to February when the weather
is cool.
The Marina used to be famed for its pristine beauty,
jolly ambiance, and rich ecosystems. However, the
beauty of the beach depreciates owing to the mans
voluntary and involuntary activities. Since the
middle of the 20th century, the beach and water
have become polluted. Proliferation of plastic bags,
human waste, and other pollutants have rendered
many parts of the beach unusable. The beach
facilities and provisions worsen the environment. It
is sad that structures and concrete roads have been
built on the beach sands and huge hoardings have
been installed, which considerably affect the quality
of the environment. The eateries on the beach
make the place untidy. Waste materials remaining
after shop establishments are strewn here and
there. These materials include iron, wood, plastic
and polythene pieces. Generators pollute the beach
air quality, and make noise pollution. Organic
wastes arise from fishing and seafood stalls. Corn
horns are significant debris on the beach. Inorganic
wastes are from game shooting spots; pieces of
blasted balloons litter the beach considerably.
Visitors litter the beach by throwing packaging of
water and food items. For example, drinking water
bottles, water sachets, ice cream cups, polythene
and paper wrappers of various eatables are heavily
found on the sand. Contribution of alcoholics
deserves a special mention as they break the
bottles after consuming drinks. Day by day it makes
barefoot walking risky and dangerous. The solid
waste or litter generated by the shops is finally
distributed along the coast. Beach litter types are
polythene, paper, plastic, rubber, glass fragments
and organic waste. This debris hamper the aesthetic
value of the beach. It is common to see stray dogs
running on the beach. Beggars and urchins harass
visitors. People spit on the sand, unmindful of the
fact that others sit on the beach to enjoy the cool
breeze. There is also considerable apprehension
amongst visitors about the misbehavior of the
youth and anti-socials, who embarrass and
inconvenience visitors.
There are NGOs who try to clean up the beach once
in a while. However, such activities are considered
as correction instead of prevention. Littering on Cooperative Environment Program (SACEP), a
Marina beach should be considered as a crime.
Government should not be just focusing on keeping
the pavements clean and developing gardens near
the beach, but also on keeping the beach sand
clean.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Another source of pollution occurs through the
atmosphere. Windblown dust and debris, including
plastic bags, are blown seaward from landfills and
other areas. The oceans are normally a natural
carbon sink, absorbing carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere. Because the levels of atmospheric
carbon dioxide are increasing, the oceans are
becoming more acidic [21,22]. Much land-
generated debris end up in the ocean and it is a
global challenge to overcome. Coastal plastic
wastes are having global impact on the health of
marine organisms [23]. It has thus necessitated a
comprehensive program like beach conservation
and cleanup in a global perspective.
Need for Conservation of Natural Beach
Environment
It is a pride for the country to have the worlds
second largest beach. This is the reason for the
visitors visiting Marina, in large numbers. Also, the
revenue of the state is being supported by tourism.
The impact of litter is equally on all the lives at
ocean and land. It is our wholehearted duty to
conserve the natural resources for future
generation without spoiling it. Marina beach slowly
loses its beauty and undergoes aesthetic blight. The
beach is spoiled by increasing litter accumulation.
Beach is a zone of natural beauty. It gives pleasant
joy to a beach walker. Also, it is the zone where
lives of land and ocean live together. Conservation
of marine flora and fauna against beach waste turns
a must.
Chennai corporation cleans the beach through its
personnel and modern equipment. Beach sifter is
used to clean the top layer of sand. It combs and
collects debris, leaving sand. Servants collect and
sort debris into decaying and non-decaying types
before they are sent to dumping yards. According to
an environmentalist, political and ethical
association will help improve and protect the
quality of the natural environment. Some NGOs,
research organizations, researchers, NSS and NCC
students and volunteers take their responsibilities
in cleaning the coast. Volunteers from Indian Coast
Guard Region (East), Tree Foundations Sea Turtle
Protection Force in association with South Asias
United Nations Environment Program, and Loyola
College came together to clean up the Marina
beach to mark the International Coastal Clean-up
Day on Sep 15, 2012. The Hindu, English daily, in
association with the Chennai Trekking Club,
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
organized the Chennai Coastal Cleanup, an initiative
to clean up our beaches. Volunteers cleaned up a
15 km stretch of the beach from Marina to
Injambakkam. Indian Maritime Foundation and a
group of 677 volunteers and 120 NCC cadets
together collected 950 kg of garbage at the launch
of International Coastal Clean Up 2011. Apart from
these, the Indian Maritime Organization and
ExNoRa (Excellent Novel and Radical) also have
their part in conservation and cleaning of coast.
Conclusion
The Marina beach in Chennai has considerable
economic potential, perhaps much more than any
other beach in the world. Unfortunately, the
advantages of the beaches in Chennai are not being
adequately exploited due to lack of forward
planning. The marina beach, in length and size, is
bigger than many other beaches in the world, which
remain attractive tourist destinations. The main
problem with the Marina is the lack of cleanliness
and the absence of an adequate design system to
make them attractive for visitors from far and near.
It would be appropriate to develop a separate
authority to maintain the beaches with the active
participation of the public. If necessary, the beaches
should even get separate rules and laws to ensure
that they would not be misused or discredited.
Imaginative planning thereafter could do wonders
for these beaches. Therefore, there is a great hope
that Marina beach would be beautiful and restored
along with the fame of being the longest in the
world and most beautiful beach in the world.
Acknowledgments
The author take immense pleasure in placing his
gratitude to Dr G Geetha, Supervisor, who guided
throughout the study and helped in reading and
reviewing the article for publication. The author
also thanks M Pushpa for her tremendous work in
this study. He also thanks all the respondents of the
study for their active participation.
References
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[2] Wolfe RI. Recreational travel, the new
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[3] Cohen E. Impact of tourism on the physical
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[10] Croall J. Preserve or Destroy: Tourism and
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[12] Wheeller B. Egotourism, sustainable tourism
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[19] Kumar KP. Fake parking attendants on the
prowl. The Times of India (Chennai: The
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24
 An Analysis of Rainfall Variability and Cropping Pattern
in the Districts of Coastal Tamil Nadu for 2001 and 2011
Geetha R*, Imrana Banu F*, Anbhazhagan N**, Gowtham B**
Introduction
Climate change is one of the major environmental
threats to food production, water availability,
forest biodiversity and livelihoods. It is widely
believed that developing countries such as India
will be affected more severely than developed
countries. Global warming and climate change is
projected to increase the number of extreme
temperature and rainfall events, and hence climate
variability is expected to show a rising trend. It is
very important to understand the past trends and
variability in rainfall, minimum and maximum
temperature in Coastal Tamil Nadu since
knowledge of the past could provide guidance for
the future. India ranks first among the rain-fed
agricultural countries of the world in terms of both
extent (86 M ha) and value of produce. Rain-fed
areas in India are highly diverse, ranging from
Study Area
resource-rich areas with good agricultural potential
to resource-constrained areas with much more
constrained potential. It is in the rain-fed regions
where cultivation of nutritious (coarse) cereals
(91%), pulses (91%), oilseeds (80%) and cotton
(65%) predominates.[2] Rain-fed agriculture
supports 40% of Indias population. Earlier,
rain-fed farming systems were dependent upon
locally available inputs and grew traditional
drought resistant crops. But over-time cropping
systems have changed [1] and farmers have
started cultivating high-value crops requiring
intensive use of costly inputs. This study will
describe effects of rainfall on the crops from 2001
to 2011. The secondary data on Rainfall and
cropping pattern has been collected for the
comparison of effects.

Figure 1.Study Area

*
Research Scholars, Presidency College, Chennai, Tamilnadu.
**
Assistant Professor, Deptt of Geology, Presidency College, Chennai, Tamilnadu.
Correspondence to: Ms Geetha R, Research Scholars, Presidency College, Chennai, Tamilnadu.
E-mail Id: geethaarumugham@gmail.com

ADR Journals 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Geetha R et al. National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015

Coastal Districts of Tamil Nadu comprises 13 Material and Methods

districts namely, Chennai, Kancheepuram,
Thiruvallur, Cuddallore, Villupuram, Pudukkottai,
Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapatinam, Ramanatha
puram, Thirunelveli, Thoothukudi and
Kanniyakumari. The climate of Tamil Nadu coastal
region is basically tropical. Due to its proximity to
the sea, the summer is less hot and winter is less
cold. The maximum daily temperature rarely
exceeds 43oC and the minimum daily
temperature seldom falls below 18oC. Coastal
and deltaic areas of Thanjavur,
Nagapattinam, Tiruchirappalli, Cuddalore,
Kancheepuram, Tirunelveli, Tuticorin,
Kannyakumari, and Ramanathapuram districts
have alluvial soil. Paddy cultivation is also practiced
in many parts of this region. In the study area,
formations are of fluvial origin. It consists of sandy
coastal fluvio-marine formation. The formations
include mixture of sand, silt, clay, and natural
levee complexes. The entire block comes under
sedimentary terrain and the formation includes
alluvium, sandy clay, and has Muthupet and
Vedaranyam swamps in the southeast. The area
forms part of Cauvery delta with gentle slope
towards Bay of Bengal (Meyer, 1992).The chief of
geomorphology feature of the study area is alluvial
plain deposit, alluvium of the Cauvery River and is
distributaries, and narrow fluvio-marine deltaic
plain deposits (East coast formation). Major rivers
like Cauvery, Palar, Vaigai, and Thamiraparani drain
in this region.
The variations in precipitation were analyzed
statistically for the year 2001and 2011.The rainfall
data for 2001 and 2011 for Tamil Nadu Coastal
District has been taken for analysis. In addition,
Production data of the three major crops (Cereals,
Pluses and Oilseed) in the area has been analyzed
and presented for the year 2001 (Fasli year 2001-
2002) and 2011 (Fasli year 2011-2012). The yearly
average rainfall data (mm) for the period 2001
and 2011 are presented in Table 5. Using
Pearson correlation method, the relation between
rainfall and crop production has been analyzed.
Result and Discussion
The land use has changed from 2001 to 2011. The
land put to non agricultural uses in the year 2001
was 20.52% and it has increased to 25.20% in the
year 2011. The cultivable waste was 3.43% and it
has reduced to1.70% in a decade. The grass land
is reduced to about 0.25%.
The land under miscellaneous tree is 2.24%,
current fallow has lowered to about 5.60%. The
other fallow land also reduced to 9.60% from
10.60% in ten years and the net area sown has
increased to 45.30%. The present land use has
major changes particularly in net area sown
( approximately 3% of area has increased).

S. No. Land Use Area in hectares Area in %

2001 2011 2001 2011
1 Forest 343328 261593.90 7.05 6.60
2 Barren and uncultivable land 196635 139120.40 4.05 3.51
3 Land put non-agriculture uses 997563 998813.10 20.52 25.20
4 Cultivable wastes 166733 67380.25 3.43 1.70
5 Grass land 55282 9908.86 1.20 0.25
6 Land under miscellaneous tree crops 184420 88783.39 3.80 2.24
7 Current fallow 330107 221958.50 6.80 5.60
8 Other fallows land 518756 380500.20 10.60 9.60
9 Net area sown 2068211 1795485.40 42.55 45.30
Total Geographical Area 4861035 3963543.00 100 100
Sources: Economic & Statistics department, Chennai
Table 1.Land use for the period 2001 and 2011

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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015 Geetha R et al.

S. No. Districts Total area under Cereals

2001 2011
1 Kancheepuram 134044 96115
2 Thiruvallur 95541 83676
3 Cuddalore 123795 134717
4 Villupuram 202763 168363
5 Pudukkottai 95995 96240
6 Thanjavur 192062 167305
7 Tiruvarur 174265 160237
8 Nagapattinam 167325 156073
9 Ramanathapuram 127772 135012
10 Tirunelveli 87171 88994
11 Thoothukudi 49833 56930
12 Kanyakumari 28594 16989
13 Chennai 0 0
STATE 1479160 1360651
Table 2.Total area under Cereals
S. No. Districts Total area under Pulses
2001 2011
1 Kancheepuram 2778 2454
2 Thiruvallur 11472 10419
3 Cuddalore 40472 53601
4 Villupuram 9716 22201
5 Pudukkottai 4151 1754
6 Thanjavur 19231 34042
7 Tiruvarur 70337 93713
8 Nagapatinam 72179 80310
9 Ramanathapuram 2429 3899
10 Tirunelveli 18275 16469
11 Thoothukudi 18544 73783
12 Kanyakumari 3528 537
13 Chennai 0 0
STATE 273112 393182
Table 3.Total area under Pulses

S. No. Districts Total area under Oilseeds

2001 2011
1 Kancheepuram 31456 20211
2 Thiruvallur 24810 12030
3 Cuddalore 39715 15518
4 Villupuram 69086 44605
5 Pudukkottai 33012 25125
6 Thanjavur 37535 45369
7 Tiruvarur 6938 7397
8 Nagapatinam 7247 7450
9 Ramanathapuram 16214 13160
10 Tirunelveli 22173 17904
11 Thoothukudi 11899 8842
12 Kanyakumari 22419 24921
13 Chennai 0 0
STATE 1162328 858537
Sources: Economic & Statistics department, Chennai
Table 4.Total area under Oilseeds

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Geetha R et al.
Figure 2.Total area in Cereals
Figure 4.Total area in Oilseeds
In the above image (Fig. 2), total area in cereals
has been analyzed for the two periods 2001 and
2011. The crops such as Paddy, Ragi, Cholam,
Cumbu, and Maize are categorized in cereals. The
spatial distribution of cereals is dominating in
the coastal area of Tamil Nadu. Paddy holds
t h e highest hectare of land. Villupuram holds
high area of cereals during in both the years, 2001
and 2011.
In Thiruvallur district, more than 1000 hectare has
been reduced in a decade this may be due to
urbanization in this region. Kanyakumari shows
t h e lowest total area under cereals. The
Thanjavur known as the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu
has decreased its cultivation area. Also the
climatic factor is another major reason behind
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Figure 3.Total area in Pulses
these low cultivations. This may lead to another
low production in the future decades, as all the
production values from last 5 decades has seen
downfall.
In Fig. 3, total area in pulses has been analyzed
for the two periods from 2001 and 2011. The
crops such as Red gram, Green gram, Bengal gram,
Horse gram, a n d Black gram are grouped under
Pulses. Pulses are t h e second largest crops
cultivated in Tamil Nadu.
Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam ensure high sown
area in the year 2001 and 2011. Thoothukudi and
Villupuram show positive approach in cultivation
of pulses during the year 2011. In Fig. 4, total
area in oilseeds has been analyzed for the two
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015 Geetha R et al.

periods from 2001 and 2011. The crops such as
Coconut, Groundnut, Gingly, a n d Sunflower are
oilseeds. Coconut occupies predominant position in
Oilseeds.
Villupuram showed highest land holding under
oilseeds in the year 2001, but it is reduced much
during the year 2011.
Thanjavur has increased its oilseed cultivation in
the year 2011. Most of the districts showed decline
in the Oilseed cultivation area. Oilseed
cultivation was carried out in 858537 hectares
in Tamil Nadu during the year 2011.
Rainfall variability for the coastal Districts of
Tamil Nadu
In the study area, maximum rainfall is measured in
Chennai District (148.85 mm) during the year 2001
and i n Nagapattinam (100.38 mm) during
2011. Minimum rainfall is found in Villupuram
during both the years (47.87 mm and 36.50 mm
respectively). Statistically, the variability of rainfall
is calculated and it is found that the co-efficient of
variation of rainfall for the year 2001 is 27.99% and
it has increased by 0.40% during 2011. This shows
that the variability of rainfall is negligible during the
study period.

District Rainfall 2001 Rainfall 2011

Chennai 148.85 92.19
Kancheepuram 111.11 81.26
Kanniyakumari 136.63 82.85
Nagapattinam 100.59 100.38
Pudukottai 123.13 46.12
Ramanathapuram 95.47 59.28
Thanjavur 71.31 49.41
Tirunelveli 84.68 54.80
Thiruvallur 99.84 89.42
Tiruvarur 76.86 67.32
Thuthookudi 125.09 87.14
Villupuram 47.87 36.50
Cuddalore 86.68 75.05
Mean 100.6246409 70.9005702
Standard Deviation 28.1671794 20.1313725
Co-efficient of variation 27.9923279 28.3938090
Sources: IMD, Chennai.
Table 5.Rainfall variability for the coastal Districts of Tamil Nadu

Figure 5.Rainfall Variability in 2001 Figure 6.Rainfall Variability in 2011

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Figure 7.Total Production in Paddy

Figure 8.Total Production in Pulses

Figure 9.Total Production in Oilseeds

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Crop Production in the Coastal Districts
The above figures show varied production of
different crops. The production of cereals, pulses,
and oilseed for the year 2001 and 2011 is
considered for the analysis. Most of the district
shows decrease in production of cereals, pulses
and oilseeds. Thanjavur had t he highest
production of cereals in the year 2001, but in 2011,
the production has declined by a large extent. As
far as cereal production is concerned, none of the
districts has increased their production. In pulses
production, most of the districts show increased
pattern. Cuddalore and Tirunelveli have
increased its pulses production in the decade by
10000 tonnes. Villupuram has surpassed
Cuddalore in the production of oilseed. Other
i
than Nagapatinam, all other districts show a
declining trend in oilseeds production.
Correlation of Rainfall and Production of
Crops
Pearson's correlation coefficient is commonly
represented by the letter r and i s referred to as
the sample correlation coefficient or the sample
Pearson correlation coefficient. We can obtain a
formula for r by substituting estimates of the
covariances and variances based on a sample into
the formula. So if we have one dataset {x1,...,xn}
containing n values and another dataset {y1,...,yn}
containing n values then that formula for r is
calculated as:

Where, n, xi, y are defined as above.

Here Pearson's correlation is used to analyze the cereals, pulses and oilseeds separately.
relation between rainfall and production of
CROPS R value for the year
2001 2011
Cereals 0.085 -0.199
Pulses 0.296 -0.255
Oilseeds -0.046 0.195
Table 6.Correlation Co-efficient (Pearson) Results of correlation analysis between annual average rainfalls
and cereal production

Table 6 shows a strong correlation o f pulses shows negative correlations. For the year 2011,
production for the year 2001, whereas oilseed cereals and pulses show weak or negative
correlation.

Graph 1.Correlation Co-efficient of Cereals in 2001 Graph 2.Correlation Co-efficient of Pulses in 2001

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Graph 3.Correlation Co-efficient of Oilseeds i n 2001

Graph 4.Correlation Co-efficient of Cereals i n 2011 Graph 5.Correlation Co-efficient of Pulses in 2011

Graph 6.Correlation Co-efficient of Oilseeds in 2011

Conclusion
Rainfall is a major requirement for crop
production not only in this region but also
throughout India. With the change in climate, the
rainfall pattern has also changed. In spite of change
in rainfall pattern, the crop yield does not fall
sharply. This implies that the crop yield is not
affected by rainfall significantly. The study also
reveals that there is no trend in rainfall in the
region.
References
[1] Kanwar JS. Need for a future outlook and
mandate for dry land agriculture in India. In:
Fifty Years of Dry land agricultural research in
India. 1999.
[2] Rosegrant M, Ximing C, Cline S et al. The role
of rainfed agriculture in the future of global
food production. EPTD Discussion Paper 90.
Washington D.C., USA: International Food

J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4) 32

ISSN: 2455-3190
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Policy Institute. 2002: 252. Available from:
www.ifpri.org/divs/eptd/dp/papers/eptdp
90.pdf.
[3] Kumar V, Jain SK, Singh Y. Analysis of long-
term rainfall trends in India. Journal of
Hydrol Sc 2010; 55: 484-96.
[4] Subas N, Singh SS, Priya N. Rainfall
variability and its impact on changes of
cropping system in Bihar. Indian Journal of
Soil Conservation 2012; 40(1): 33-40.
[5] Choudhury BU, Das A, Ngachan SV et al.
33
Geetha R et al.
Trend Analysis of Long Term Weather
Variables in Mid Altitude Meghalaya, North-
East India. Journal of Agricultural Physics
2012; 12(1): 12-22.
[6] Shetye SR, Shenoi SSC, Antony AK et al. The
Monthly-mean wind stress along the Coast
of the North Indian Ocean. J Earth Syst Sci
1985; 94: 129-37.
[7] Singh RB, Singh A, Kumar A. Climate Change
Variability in Coastal Karnataka, India.
Chapter 2. 2014.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
 An Analysis of Vegetation Cover and Estimation of Land
Surface Temperature using LANDSAT 8 Data-A Case Study of
Coastal Zones of Chennai Corporation
Jenita Evangeline T*, Chandrasekar V*, Sumathi SN*, S Mahamad**
Abstract
The spatial land cover pattern of Chennai city is continuously changing, as it has
the highest urbanization rate among metropolitan cities, because of which the
vegetation cover has been decreasing, every decade. The NDVI (Normalized
Difference Vegetation Index) technique has been used to analyze the vegetation
coverage in Chennai coastal zones. Land Surface Temperature (LST) is an
important phenomenon in global climate change. As the greenhouse gases
increases in the atmosphere, the Land Surface Temperature will also increase.
This temperature increase will result in melting of glaciers and ice sheets and
affects the flora and fauna of that area. LST can be estimated through many
algorithms. With the help of the satellite images and digital image processing
software, it is possible to calculate LST. In this study, LST for Chennai Zones of
Chennai Corporation was derived using SW algorithm with the use of Landsat 8
Optical Land Imager (OLI) of 30 m resolution and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS)
data of 100 m resolution. Using this method and NDVI techniques, we can judge
the temperature increase and vegetation decrease, which have affected the
coastal region in many ways.

Keywords: NDVI, LST, Vegetation.

Introduction
Temperature is one of the most important
climatic factors and there are many techniques to
estimate the surface temperature distribution.
The aim of this study is to analyze the surface
temperature and develop a relationship between
surface temperature, land cover and NDVI using
satellite image. Land Surface Temperature (LST)
means the temperature of the surface of Earth
which we observe if directly contact or touches it
with. It is also referred to as skin temperature of
the surface. When it rises, it causes
environmental disturbances like melting of
glacier, and changes in vegetation, and climatic
condition of monsoon leading to unpredictable
rainfall. Thermal infrared remote sensing
technology has become one of the important
means to study the thermal characteristic of land
surface. In the present study, we estimate LST for
Coastal Zones of Chennai Corporation.
Study Area
Chennai city is one of the major metropolitan
areas located in south eastern coast of India. For
the present study, coastal zones of Chennai
Corporation namely Thiruvottiyur (I), Tondiarpet
(IV), Royapuram (V), Teynampet (XI), Adyar (XIII),
Perungudi (XIV), and Sholinganallur (XV). The
study area lies between 12o 51' 6.9" N to 13o 14'
4.69" N Latitude and 80o 30' 53.51"E to 80o 20'
2.58" E Longitude. Two major rivers flow through
Chennai, the Coovum River through the center
and the Adyar River to the south.

*
Ph. D. Scholar, Department of Geography, Presidency College, Chennai.
**
Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Presidency College, Chennai.
Correspondence to: Mr Chandrasekar V, Department of Geography, Presidency College, Chennai.
E-mail Id: vchandrasekar1989@gmail.com

ADR Journals 2015. All Rights Reserved.

National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015 Evangeline JT et al.

Figure 1.Study Area

Sensor No of bands Resolution (m) Path & Row Date of Acquisition

TM 7 30 142/ 51 16 September 2005
OLI 9 30 142/ 51 14 September 2014
TRIS 2 100
Table 1.Metadata or Statistics of Image data

Materials and Methods Process

In this research, Landsat 5 (16 September, 2005)
& Landsat 8 (14 September, 2014) images were
taken. The data of Landsat is available in Earth
Explorer website at free of cost. In the present
study, Landsat 8 TIR bands 10 and 11 were used
to calculate the brightness temperature.
TM bands 2, 3, 4 and OLI spectral bands 2, 3, 4
and 5 were used to generate NDVI of the study
area for 2005 and 2011. Metadata of the satellite
image provides the details of the bands such as
thermal constant, rescaling factor value etc.,
which can be used for calculating various
algorithms like LST. Software used: ARCGIS 10.1,
ERDAS IMAGINE 9.3.
Step 1.Conversion to TOA Radiance
Estimation of Top of Atmospheric Spectral
Radiance of TIRS Band 10 and 11 using the
algorithm given below. This algorithm transforms
raw image into spectral radiance image. Using
ARCGIS 10.1, we implement algorithm of
equation-1 to perform task.
OLI and TIRS band data can be converted to TOA
spectral radiance using the radiance rescaling
factors provided in the metadata file:
L = MLQcal + AL ------------------ (1)
Where,

L = TOA spectral radiance (Watts/ (m2 * srad *

Rescaling factor Band 10 Band 11 m))
ML 0.0003342 0.0003342
AL 0.1 0.1 ML = Band-specific multiplicative rescaling factor
Table 2.Rescaling Factor from the metadata. (RADIANCE_MULT_BAND_x,
where x is the band number)
Band K1 K2
AL = Band-specific additive rescaling factor from
10 774.89 1321.08
the metadata (RADIANCE_ADD_BAND_x, where x
11 480.89 1201.14
is the band number)
Table 3.Thermal Values

35 J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)

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Evangeline JT et al.
Qcal = Quantized and calibrated standard product
pixel values (DN)
Step 2.Conversion to At-Satellite Brightness
Temperature
Thermal correction process done by converting
thermal DN values of raw thermal bands of TIR
sensor into TOA Spectral Radiance and after using
Brightness Temperature equation shown in
equation-2, we got Brightness Temperature (T).
Using ARCGIS 10.1, we implement algorithm of
equation-2, and finally average band of 10 & 11 at
Satellite Brightness temperature can be obtained
using raster calculator mean function.
TIRS band data can be converted from spectral
radiance to brightness temperature using the
thermal constants provided in the metadata file:
K2
T= K1 ------ (2)
ln( +1)
L
Where,
T = At-satellite brightness temperature (K)
2
L = TOA spectral radiance (Watts/ (m * srad *
m))
K1 = Band-specific thermal conversion constant
from the metadata (K1_CONSTANT_BAND_x,
where x is the thermal band number)
K2 = Band-specific thermal conversion constant
from the metadata (K2_CONSTANT_BAND_x,
where x is the thermal band number)
Kelvin to Celsius T = Tk- 273.15
(NASA, 2009)
Step 3.Extraction of NDVI
Estimation of Normalized Difference Vegetation
Index (NDVI) using OLI sensor optical band after
layer stacking of bands 2,3,4,5 using algorithm is
as shown:
NDVI = (NIR-VIS) / (NIR + VIS) ------ (3)
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Step 4.Land Surface Emissivity ()
Obtaining Land Surface Temperature involves
accounting for the land surface emissivity of the
study area. LSE I quantification of the intrinsic
ability of the surface in converting heat energy
into above-surface radiation depends on the
physical properties of the surface.[1]
= 0.004Pv + 0.986
Pv (Proportional Vegetation)
= NDVI-NDVI Min2 ---- (4) [1]
NDVI Max-NDVI Min
Step 5.Land Surface Temperature (LST)
Estimation of Land Surface Temperature (LST)
using the algorithm in equation 5 is implemented
by ARCGIS 10.1.
BT/ 1+W*(BT/)*Ln () ----- (5)
Where,
BT = At Satellite Temperature
W = Wavelength of emitted radiance (11.5m)
= h*c/ s (10438*10-2 mk)
h-Planks constant (6.626*10-34 Js)
c-Velocity of Light (2.998*108 m/s)
s-Boltzmann constant (1.38*10-12 J/K)
(Weng et al. 2005)
Results and Discussion
Figures 2 & 3 explain the vegetation coverage in
the coastal zones of Chennai Corporation. The
vegetation coverage has steadily decreased
within a decade around 33.35 sq. km. In the year
2005, the southern part had good coverage of
vegetation and these zones were under
Kancheepuram district. Most of the southern
zones have avenue plantation when compared
with northern zones. Contrary to that, in the year
2014, the extension of Chennai limit and fast
growing urbanization and occupation of industrial
sector around outskirts of Chennai made the
36
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
vegetation growth very low. In the year 2005, the
region has approx. 94.02 sq. km of land under the
vegetation growth, and in the year 2015, the
coverage has reduced to 33.35 sq. km of land i.e.
60.67 (approx.) sq. km of green coverage is found
in 2015. This image will clearly explain how the
extension of Chennai boundary will reduce the
green coverage in future.
Figure 2.Normalized Difference Vegetation
Index-2005
Figure 4.Land Surface Emissivity
37
Evangeline JT et al.
Figure 5 clearly indicates how the land use of the
region has changed. The northern part of the
region has a huge cover of build up land, whereas
the southern part of the region has the green
coverage due to new joined region from
Kancheepuram district, also those regions were
once used to be agri based lands.
Figure 3.Normalized Difference Vegetation
Index-2014
Figure 5.Land Use Land Cover-2014
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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Evangeline JT et al. National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015

Figure 6.Land Surface Temperature

Figure 6 shows the land surface temperature for
the coastal zones of Chennai Corporation. In the
northern part of Chennai, the temperature is high
due to the high coverage of buildup land which is
clearly seen in the land use map of Chennai
coastal region. The region has recorded the
highest temperature of 34.11oC and lowest of
22.10oC.
region with thick vegetation. The region near the
marina beach (sand) has recorded the highest
temperature because sand has a low specific
heat, it has a low capacity per unit weight per
degree temperature to absorb heat. This means
that the temperature rises quickly in response, it
is also the reason why sand cools quickly-the
temperature drops, as heat is released.

Land Use/ Land Cover Area (Km2) Conclusions

Water Bodies 7.1532
In this research article, we have calculated the
Forest 12.2769
NDVI for one decade and the Land Surface
Thick Vegetation 2.3742
Temperature in the Chennai coastal zones. The
Build Up Land 64.5381
urbanization is steadily increasing and extension
Vegetation 116.8254 of Chennai boundary had started increasing every
Table 4.Land use/ Land Cover
year. The temperature in the northern part of
Chennai is high, due to the high coverage of
Land Use Temp (oC) buildup land which is also clearly seen in the land
Build Up Land 28-35 use map of Chennai coastal region. The region has
Water Bodies 22-25 recorded the highest temperature of 34.11oC and
Forest 25-26 lowest of 22.10oC. This clearly indicates the
Thick Vegetation 25-27 decrease in green coverage.
Wetlands 22-25
Sand 28-34 References
Vegetation 26-27
Table 5.Temperature Ranges in Selected Land use [1] Sobrino JA, Jimenez-Munoz JC, Paolini L.
Land Surface temperature retrieval from
In the buildup region, the temperature is around LANDSAT TM 5. Remote Sensing of
28 to 35oC which shows the increase in heat Environment 2004: 434-40.
islands and decrease in green coverage. In the [2] Weng Q, Lu D, Schubring J. Estimation of
same manner, some part has also recorded low Land Surface Temperature-Vegetation
temperature such as water bodies, forest, and Abundance Relationship for Urban Heat

J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4) 38

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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Island Studies. Remote Sensing of
Environment 2004: 467-83.
[3] Rajeshwari A, Mani ND. Estimation of land
surface temperature of Dindigul district
using Landsat 8 data. International Journal
of Research in Engineering and Technology
3(5): 122-26.
[4] Jaber SA, Ghosh AK, Mahmud MS et al.
Using Time Series of Satellite Images to
Detect Vegetation Cover Change in Dhaka
City. Journal of Geographic Information
System 2014; 6: 653-63.
[5] Rezaul R. Surface Temperature and NDVI
Generation and Relation between Them:
Application of Remote Sensing. Asian
Journal of Engineering and Technology
39
Evangeline JT et al.
Innovation 2013; 1(1): 8-13.
[6] Dewan AM, Yamaguchi Y. Land Use and
Land Cover Change in Greater Dhaka,
Bangladesh: Using Remote Sensing to
Promote Sustainable Urbanization. Nagoya.
2009.
[7] Mahmud MS, Masrur A, Ishtiaque A et al.
Remote Sensing & GIS Based Spatio-
Temporal Change Analysis of Wetland in
Dhaka City, Bangladesh. Journal of Water
Resource and Protection 2011; 3: 781-87.
[8] Gallo KP, McNab AL, Karl TR et al. The use
of a vegetation index for assessment of the
urban heat island effect. International
Journal of Remote Sensing 1993; 14: 2223-
30.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
 An Overview of Marine Outfall Systems
Danish DR*, Murali K**
Abstract
Marine outfall systems have become profound solution for discharge of effluent
from the thermal power plants, desalination plant, nuclear plants, etc. But installing
an outfall system is not an easy task; it has its own difficulties. Some of the major
problems are optimizing the location of the outfall system, diffuser port
arrangement, number of port diffuser, and estimation of the near-field and far-field
diffusion rates. To overcome the above problems, proper understanding of the jet
plume characteristics (i.e., either densely buoyant or negatively buoyant), local
hydrodynamics (waves, tides, and currents) and bathymetry are essential, as they are
the significant parameters for optimizing the location of the marine outfall system
and for the efficient mixing of the effluent in the ambient condition. This study is
mainly focused on the recent advancements regarding the different types of marine
outfall systems, port arrangement for densely buoyant and negatively buoyant
effluent for efficient mixing of the effluent along with its behavior for various
hydrodynamic parameters for optimizing design and the location of the outfall
system.

Introduction
The expression marine outfall indicates merging of
two bodies of knowledge that are normally
considered entirely separate, namely, sanitary
engineering and oceanography. All wastewaters,
regardless of how well treated, contain potential
pollutants. Introduction by man of substances into
the marine environment results in such deleterious
effects as harm to living resources, hazard to
human health, hindrance to marine activities
including fishing, impairment of quality of seawater
and reduction of amenities. The publics experience
with ocean outfall has often been bad. Industries
and municipal agencies have frequently dumped
their untreated wastewater into the environment
that results in foul smelling and foul looking,
causing public health problems, if not from pure
aesthetics. For coastal, there is no better alternative
than to continuously discharge into the sea water
through an outfall [9]. Over 90% of large seawater
desalination plants in operation dispose of
concentrates through a new ocean outfall designed
specifically for that purpose [11]. Discharges of
effluent in the coastal waters have to be adapted to
be site-specific and optimum. Most important for
*
Research Scholar, Department of Ocean Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India.
**
Professor, Department of Ocean Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India.
Correspondence to: Mr Danish DR, Department of Ocean Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India.
E-mail Id: civildanish@gmail.com
dilution is the combination of two physical
processes such as primary dilution in the near field
and the natural dilution happening in the far field
due to diffusion and mixing produced by the
prevailing currents in the sea.
Location Optimization
The outfall is a pipeline or a tunnel or combination
of the two, which terminates in a diffuser that
efficiently mixes the effluent in the receiving
waters. Outfall typically ranges from 1 to 4 km long
and discharges into waters 10 to 70 m deep; some
may lie outside these ranges. The main objectives
of the system are to dispose of wastewater in a
safe, economical and reliable way to minimize the
impacts on the receiving water. To accomplish
these objectives, optimum location for disposal has
to be selected for better dilution of the effluent.
The spreading of an effluent released in an aquatic
environment is governed by advection by large-
scale water movements and diffusion caused by
comparatively small-scale random and irregular
movements without causing any net transport of
water [5].

ADR Journals 2015. All Rights Reserved.

National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Discharge outfalls should be located in less sensitive
coastal region with good transport and flushing
characteristics to avoid accumulation and allow
further mixing [2].
Effluent Characteristics
To ensure the water quality effects are minimal, the
following are required: (1) concentration of
bacteria, toxins and other contaminants are
reduced to the safe level; (2) ecosystem products of
the effluent (organic carbon, nutrients, etc.) and
dissolved oxygen concentration are kept within the
allowable limits; (3) local particulate deposition is
not excessive; and (4) the waste field is not visible
on the water surface. These can be effectively
achieved by suitable combination of the outfall and
diffuser location.
Outfall Design
The design of outfall system involves careful
planning and understanding of the process
associated with it. The effluent disposal into the sea
involves transportation of the effluent through
pipes all the way from the shore into the disposal
point which lie beyond the surf zone. The effluent
from the disposal pipe is allowed to flow into the
sea water by small holes placed along the sides of
the outfall in the terminating portion. The pipe that
carries the effluent from the outfall system into the
sea is called as diffuser.
Metcalf et al. [7] explains about the dispersion
parameters, coefficients and design criteria for the
outfall in different environmental and experimental
conditions through theoretical and mathematical
manner for better understanding the basics of the
hydrodynamics and its properties. Vidal et al. [10]
proposed protection and stabilization of outfalls in
high-wave regime through a case study in Spain by
considering the hydraulic forces and its impacts on
the pipe and outfall system through design criteria
and designing the waves simulated through wave
analysis giving a clear idea for better design
parameters for the outfall systems on high-wave
regime.
Chiban [3] emphasizes about special practical
design tips and recommendations to minimize the
negative effects of discharge of waste water laden
with solid practices via submarine outfalls. The role
of representing the hydraulic conditions in the
outfall is to prevent sedimentations in the outfall or
their accumulation in adjacent areas. Malcangio
41
Danish DR et al.
and Petrillo [6] focused on the brine outfall systems
which would be state-of-the-art considering the sea
ecosystem parameters, necessary outfall pipes as to
the environmental condition, type of diffusers and
dilution process considering wave motion and
current effects which dominates the dilution
process to minimize the environmental effects due
to the brine discharge. Thus, an effective
mathematical model was taken as a case study to
study the above parameters.
Pita and Sierra [8] explain about the design and
construction of pipelines for desalination plant, sea
water cooling circuits and sewage outfalls. Most of
the projects have been constructed using
helicoidally welded PE pipes, which are
manufactured by the Spanish company PPA &
KRAH. Alameddine and El-Fadel [1] illustrate about
design of an optimum and efficient outfall design
for a desalination plant using model approach for
quick and efficient dispersion of the effluent into
the marine environment.
Discharge openings, called nozzles, are set into each
branch of the diffuser in the appropriate size both
to allow for an exit velocity adequate for diffusion
and arranged with a discharge speed and direction
that will make it possible to avoid the overlapping
of the plume rise at a short distance from the
nozzles as shown in Fig. 2.
Conclusion
The following conclusions are made from this study:
1. Reasonably uniform flow should be attained
from each port.
2. Proper screen has to be provided to avoid
sediments or sands or marine organisms into
the diffuser.
3. Should have enough outfall velocity to avoid
accumulation of salt or sediment inside the
pipe.
4. Should provide proper cover and ballast weight
to minimize the probability of physical damage
from hydrodynamic ocean forces, fishing gear
and boat anchor.
5. Placement and orientation of the diffuser is to
be properly designed to minimize the dilution
and minimize the transport of the wastewater
to beaches, shellfish harvesting or
environmentally sensitive areas.
6. Effective chlorine burst or air burst are to be
provided at proper interval of time for
maintenance.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
Danish DR et al. National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015

Source: (Jirka 1996)

Figure 1.Typical Outfalls Characteristics

Source: (Jirka 1996)

Figure 2.Multi Port Diffuser System

References [2] Bleninger T, Jirka GH. Environmental

[1] Alameddine I, El-Fadel M. Brine discharge
from desalination plants: a modeling
approach to an optimized outfall design.
Desalination 2007; 214(1): 241-60. Available
from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/scien
ce/article/pii/S0011916407003669. Accessed
on: Jun 21, 2014.
planning, prediction and management of
brine discharges from desalination plants.
Final Report of MEDRC Project 07-AS-003,
Middle East Desalination Research Centre,
Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, 2010.
[3] Chiban S, Terfous A, Ghenaim A et al.
Sedimentation in the submarine outfall and
in the mixing zones (avoiding, diagnosis and

J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4) 42

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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
remediation). Journal of Shipping and Ocean
Engineering 2011; 1(2): 124-32. Available
from: http://www.davidpublishing.com/
davidpublishing/Upfile/9/21/2011/2011092
184077537.pdf. Accessed on: Jun 21, 2014.
[4] Grace RA. Marine outfall systems: Planning,
design, and construction. Prentice-Hall, 1978.
Available from: http://bases.bireme.br/cgi-
bin /wxislind.exe/iah/online/?IsisScript=iah/
iah.xis&src=google&base=REPIDISCA&lang=
p&nextAction=lnk&exprSearch=151690&in
dexSearch=ID. Accessed on: Jun 21, 2014.
[5] Kumar DPK, Kumar NPK, Muraleedharanan
KR. Identification of optimum outfall location
for desalination plant in the coastal waters
off Tuticorin, India. International Journal of
Environmental Research 2014; 8(1): 69-78.
[6] Malcangio D, Petrillo AF. Brine outfalls: State
of the art. Available from: http://
cdn.intechweb.org/pdfs/20348.pdf. Accessed
on: Jun 21, 2014.
[7] Metcalf L, Eddy HP, Tchobanoglous G.
Wastewater Engineering: Treatment,
Disposal, and Reuse. McGraw-Hill, 1972.
43
Danish DR et al.
[8] Pita E, Sierra I. La Taboada (Lima-Peru)
outfall. International symposium on outfall
systems Argentina. May 2011.
[9] Purnama A, Al-Barwani HH, Al-Rawahi MS et
al. Dispersion models for brine discharges
from desalination plants of Oman. Kuwait
Journal of Science and Engineering 2004;
31(1): 1-13.
[10] Vidal C, Cembrero P, Lomnaco P et al.
Transient loads in outfalls under heavy wave
conditions: Risk of depression and buckling.
In: Proceedings 2nd International Conf. on
Marine Waste Water Discharges, 2002.
Available from: http://www.emisarios.
unican.es/archivos%20descargar/congresos
/vidal%20cembrero_transient%20loads%20
in%20high%20wave%20conditions.pdf.
Accessed on: Jun 21, 2014.
[11] WHO. Desalination for safe water supply,
guidance for the health and environmental
aspects applicable to desalination. Public
Health and the Environment. World Health
Organization, Geneva, 2007.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
 Biodiversity, Distribution and Utilization of Brown Algae in
Tamil Nadu Coastline
RR Remya*, SR Radhika Rajasree*
Abstract
Macroalgae are economically, ecologically and biologically significant component and
are much diversified group of plants. Seaweeds are marine macroalgae which grows
abundantly along the Indian coastline particularly in rocky shore regions; eastern
coast of Visakhapatnam, southern coast of Gulf of Mannar, Mahabalipuram,
Tiruchendur and Kerala, in the western coast of Gulf of Kutch and Veravel and
Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep. More than 10,000 species of
marine algae have been reported from all over the world. Among 844 species from
India, 191 species belong to Phaeophyta; the maximum number of species has been
recorded from Tamil Nadu region, i.e., around 302. According to FAO data base
(1998), out of 7 million tons of seaweeds, 4 million tons are brown seaweeds, 1.9
million tons are red seaweeds and the rest are green seaweeds. The main objective
of the present review is to gather and analyze the resources, exploitation and
commercial utilization of some major species of brown algae, namely, Sargassum,
Turbinaria, etc., in Tamil Nadu coastline.

Introduction
Seaweeds or benthic marine algae are the group of
plants that live either in marine or brackish water
environment. Like the land plants, seaweeds
contain photosynthetic pigments and with the help
of sunlight and nutrient present in the seawater,
they photosynthesize and produce food. The algae
are classified into three main groups, i.e., green
(Chlorophyta), brown (Phaeophyta) and red
(Rhodophyta). The seaweed flora of India is highly
diversified and comprises mostly of tropical species,
in all 271 genera and 1153 species of marine algae
which include forms and varieties [1]. However, a
survey carried out in 2000 revealed fewer number
of species (844) with similar genera number of 27
[2].
Tamil Nadu coast was first surveyed during 1971-
1976, covering a distance of 320 km from
Rameshwaram and adjoining islands to Colachal by
CSMCRI (Central Salt and Marine Chemicals
Research Institute), in collaboration with Central
Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI),
Cochin, and Department of Fisheries of
Government of Tamil Nadu [3]. They reported that
*
Centre for Ocean Research, Sathyabama University, Jeppiaar Nagar, Rajiv Gandhi Road, Chennai 600119, Tamilnadu, India.
Correspondence to: Mr RR Remya, Centre for Ocean Research, Sathyabama University, Jeppiaar Nagar, Rajiv Gandhi Road,
Chennai 600119, Tamilnadu, India.
E-mail Id: radhiin@gmail.com
seaweeds have been distributed in 20,000 ha.
Moreover, Tamil Nadu stands first in marine
resources among all the states of India [4, 5]. To
strengthen the diversity information of the regional
and sub-regional level with the preparation and
publishing of seaweeds guide, identification both in
the electronic as well as print media is essential [6].
Several species of macroalgae with abundant
growth occur along the southern Tamil Nadu coast
from Rameshwaram to Kanyakumari covering 21
islands of the Gulf of Mannar. In Mandapam area,
180 species of seaweeds are growing, of which
more than 40 species are economically important
[7]. In this article, the authors are trying to discuss
the biodiversity, distribution and utilization of
brown algae along Tamil Nadu coastline.
Distribution and Utilization of Brown Algae
Brown algae varies in coloration from olive-yellow
to deep brown. The coloration is due to the
accessory carotenoid pigment and fucoxanthin. The
amount of fucoxanthin varies in different species of
brown algae. The other photosynthetic pigments of

ADR Journals 2015. All Rights Reserved.

National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
the brown algae are Chlorophyll a and c, -carotene
and xanthophylls. Recently, antioxidant compounds
were identified as some pigments (fucoxanthin,
carotenoids) and polyphenols (flavonoid, tannin)
[8]. Brown seaweed pigments especially
carotenoids are of interest as antioxidant and anti-
cancer as reported by Mori et al. [9]. Fucoxanthin as
major part of carotenoids in brown seaweed has a
specific alenic bond 5, 6-mono epoxide which plays
an important role within fucoxanthin structure [10,
11]. Some workers had reported that fucoxanthin
had a variety of effects on human health such as
anti-carcinogen, anti-inflammation, antioxidant and
anti-obesity. It was found that fucoxanthin isolated
from brown seaweed has various radical scavenging
activities, and an increased utilization of this
seaweed as food was reported due to it being
beneficial for human health [12]. A brown alga
Laminaria cichorioides in ethanol has been reported
to produce high hemolysis. Antimicrobial,
antioxidant and hemolytic activity of three species
of Sargassum, viz., S. cinereum, S. ilicifolium and S.
tenerrimum was also investigated using extracts
prepared in different organic solvents.
Algin is obtained from brown algae like Sargassum,
Hormophysa, Lamlnaria, Turbinaria, Undaria,
Cystoseria and Macrocystis. These phycocolloids are
used as gelling, stabilizing and thickening agents in
food, confectionery, pharmaceuticals, dairy, textile,
paper paint industries, etc. Apart from these
products, mannitol, iodine, laminarin and fucoidin
are also obtained from seaweeds. Kaiiaperumal and
Kalimuthu studied the seasonal changes in growth,
reproduction, alginic acid and mannitol contents in
Turbinaria deccurens from Rameswaram coast.
Chennubhotia et al. found that alginic acid yield
varied with the seasonal growth behavior of
Sargassum lllcifoliumd and S. myriocystum showing
maximum yield in July or August and recommended
the suitable harvesting period from July to
September for getting the maximum yield of alginic
acid. Some of the potent major species of brown
algae are mentioned below.
Sargassum wightii
The marine macro-brown alga Sargassum wightii
belongs to the family of Sargassaceae, and existed
in shallow water at the tropical regions and
contemporary a wide range of bioactive compounds
including, steroids, phenolic groups, alkaloids,
saponins, anthroquinones and flavonoids are
identified and isolated from it. 1-O-palmitoyl-3-O
45
Remya RR et al.
(6-sulfo--quinovopyranosyl)-glycerol isolated from
the methanolic extract of the brown seaweed S.
wightii is a novel bio-compound with antimicrobial
activities against Xanthomonas oryzae. Moreover,
alginic acid isolated from S. wightii exhibits potent
anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity. Senthil
Rajan and colleagues reported the anti-tumour
influence of ethanol extract of S. wightii may be due
to occurrence of sulfated polysaccharides, fucoidan
and flavonoids as well as its antioxidant.
Turbinaria ornata
Turbinaria ornata, one of the tropical brown algae
belongs to the family of Sargassaceae that grows in
Indian and Pacific Ocean in a variety of habitats
including rocky intertidal, tide pools and deeper
water. Presently, compounds with considerable
pharmaceutical activities including, phloroglucinol,
lectin, fucoxanthin, fucosterol, 29
hydroperoxystigmasta-5, 24 (28)-dien-3beta-ol, 24-
hydroperoxy-24-vinyl-cholesterol were isolated
from T. ornate, which exhibits cytotoxicity against
various cancer cell lines.
Conclusion
From the above account, it is evident that several
studies have been made in Tamil Nadu on seaweed
distribution, resources, taxonomy, culture, harvest,
industry, utilization, post-harvest technology and
utilization. Intensive studies should be made on
different aspects in industrial and pharmaceutical
applications in future.
References
[1] Anonymous. In: Krishnamurthy V (Ed).
Seaweeds: Wonder Plants of the Sea.
Aquaculture Foundation of India, Chennai.
2005: 30.
[2] Oza RM, Zaidi SH. A revised checklist of
Indian marine algae. Central Salt and Marine
Chemicals Research Institute, Bhavnagar,
India. 2000: 296.
[3] Anonymous. A report on the survey of
marine algal resources of Tamil Nadu, 1971-
1976. Central Salt and Marine Chemicals
Research Institute, Bhavnagar. 1978: 137.
[4] Subbarao PV, Mantri VA. Indian seaweed
resources and sustainable utilization:
Scenario at the dawn of a new century. Curr
Sci 2006; 91: 164.
[5] Kaladharan P, Jayasankar R. Seaweeds. In:
Status of Exploited Marine Fishery Resources
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
Remya RR et al.
of India. Central Marine Fisheries Research
Institute, Cochin. 2003: 228.
[6] Wafar M, Venkataraman K, Ingole B et al.
State of knowledge of coastal and marine
biodiversity of Indian Ocean countries. PLoS
ONE 2011; 6: e14613.
[7] Kolanjinathan K, Ganesh P, Saranraj P.
Pharmacological importance of seaweeds: A
review. World Journal of Fish and Marine
Sciences 2014; 6(1).
[8] Heo SJ, Park EJ, Lee KW et al. Antioxidant
activities of enzymatic extracts from brown
seaweeds. Biores Technol 2005; 96: 1613.
[9] Mori K, Ooi T, Hiraoka N et al. Fucoxanthin
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
and its metabolites in edible brown algae
cultivated in deep sea water. Mar Drugs
2004; 2: 63.
[10] Haugan JA, Aakemann T, Jensen SL.
Carotenoids, isolation and analysis.
Birkhauser Verlag 1995; 1A: 215.
[11] Matsumo T. Aquatic animal carotenoids.
Fisheries Sci 2004; 67: 771.
[12] Kim JM, Araki S, Kim DJ et al. Chemo
preventive effects of carotenoids and
cucumins on mouse colon carcinogenesis
after 1, 2-dimethylhydrazine initiation.
Carcinogenesis 1998; 19: 81.
46
Coastal Hazard Assessment-After Tsunami Effect on Ground
Water Quality in the Coastal Region of Ponneri Taluk
R Soundar Rajan*, S Priyadharshini**, MM Vijiyalakshmi***, K Nagamani ****
Abstract
Groundwater is a globally important and valuable renewable resource for human life
and economic development. The earthquake under sea causing high tidal waves in
the coastal area is generally known as tsunami, which is a Japanese word which
means "harbor wave". These waves which often affect distant shores, originate from
under sea or coastal seismic activities, landslides and volcanic eruptions. Whatever
be the cause, sea water is displaced with a violent motion and swells up, ultimately
surging over land with great destructive power. In the mean time, piezometric
pressure at coastal aquifer is less than the force of water from the tidal waves. So the
open wells and other ground water may be contaminated by salt and debris. An
attempt has been made to identify this in coastal region of Ponneri Taluk, Thiruvallur
district after the tsunami event in December 26, 2005. The ground water samples
were collected from 8 coastal villages in the month of Jan-2005 and were subjected
to determine the concentration of pH, Ec, Cl, Na, TDS and Hardness. Elemental
analysis was done with scanning electron microscope and were compared with the
results obtained by the above said analysis and concluded.

Introduction
Groundwater is the largest source of fresh water open wells and other ground water may be
available on the earth. It is a precious and the most contaminated by salt water and debris or sewage.
widely distributed resource of earth. The annual Then seawater enters the normal river course
utilizable groundwater resource of India is towards the landslide opposite to the river flow
estimated as 396 km per year. This accounts for direction during Tsunami, which causes lateral base
about 80% of domestic water requirement and flow. Salinity problem will arise in both sides of the
more than 45% of the total irrigation requirement river course towards few kilometers of landmass, so
of the country. the extent of intrusion and degree of quality
changes ground water in coastal area must be
Coastal aquifers constitute an important source of identified.
fresh water supply in these areas. Recently
earthquake under sea caused high tidal waves in During Tsunami, sea water is displaced with a
the coastal areas generally known as Tsunami. violent motion and swells up, ultimately surging
These waves, which often affect distant shores, over land with great destructive power and in the
originate from under sea or coastal seismic mean time open wells and other ground water
activities, landslides and volcanic eruptions. sources near the shore line may be contaminated
Whatever be the cause, seawater is displaced with by salt water and debris or sewage. The flooding
a violent motion and swells up, ultimately surging produced by a tsunami may vary greatly from place
over land with great destructive power. In the mean to place over a short distance due to a number of
time, piezometric pressure at coastal aquifer is less variables. These include submarine topography,
than the force of water from the tidal waves. So the shape of the shoreline, reflected waves and
*
Research Scholar, Department of Civil Engineering, Sathyabama University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
**
PG student, Department of Computer Science, Sathyabama University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
***
Professor & Research Head, Department of Civil Engineering, Sathyabama University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
****
Scientist, Centre for Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics.
Correspondence to: Prof MM Vijiyalakshmi, Department of Civil Engineering, Sathyabama University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
E-mail Id:vnat12345@gmail.com

ADR Journals 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Rajan RS et al.
modification of waves by seiche and tides. Flooding
may extend inland by over 300 to 600 meters. An
attempt has been made in the study area due to
earthquake under sea of 8.5 Richter scale recorded
near Sumatra island, subsequent event of Tsunami
hit in Dec-26-2004 have affected the east coast of
Indian peninsula especially the wave height along
the coast line of Tamil Nadu have varied from 2 to
10m.
In some coastal districts like Cuddalore and
Nagappatinam, sudden increase in open well water
and automated outflow from the bore hole were
identified by the coastal village people.
Figure 1.Study Area Map-Ponneri Taluk, Thiruvallur District
Ground Water Sampling and Quality
Analysis
After the tsunami wave in December 26-2004, the
ground water samples were immediately collected
from eight coastal villages on Jan 2, 2005 and were
subjected to chemical analysis to determine the
concentration of pH, EC, Cl, Na, TDS and Hardness.
Also, Elemental analysis with scanning electron
Microscope (SEM) and Energy descriptive Spectra
(EDS) were carried out in this analysis. All the
Table 1.Water Quality Data
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Study Area
The study area, taken here is coastal villages of
Ponneri taluk of Tamil Nadu state, which lies in
between latitudes of N15O10' 00" and N13o 15' 00"
and longitudes E80o 05'00" and E80o18'00". The
annual average rainfall of the study area is
1082.2mm from four seasons. The stations rainfall
pattern varies from 772.9 to 1292.2mm.
The major river drainage in this study area is
Korttaliyar River and the Buckingham canal
backwater flow occurring in the above said water
courses.
collected samples were tested in Environmental
laboratory, Annamali University, Annamalai Nagar
for the above selected parameters, and one sample
of Edayanchavadi was selected for analysis with
SEM and EDS in the Department of physics,
Annamali university, Annamalai Nagar.
Test results for the above said water quality
parameters corresponding to the ground water
samples of each coastal village after the Tsunami
event is presented in Table 1.
48
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015 Rajan RS et al.

Figure 2.Ground Water Quality Data after Tsunami

Historical ground water quality data were collected Ennore and Vallur were considered for the purpose
from the Institute of water studies, Chennai of comparison of the water quality. The available
relevant to the study area. Two observation wells at data are presented in the Table 2.

Table 2.Historical Water Quality Data

Figure 3.Comparison of Existing Data at Ennore

49 J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)

ISSN: 2455-3190
Rajan RS et al.
Figure 4.Comparison of Existing Data at Vallur
Determination of Elemental Analysis Using
Scanning Electron Microscope and Energy
Dispersive Spectra
Its versatility and capability to provide the wide
range of information, the scanning electron
microscope is often preferred as the starting tool
for analytical microscopy. With SEM, a focused
beam of high-energy electrons is scanned over the
surface of a material. The electron beam interacts
with the material causing a variety of signals with
secondary electrons, backscattered electrons, X-
Figure 5.Edayanchavadi Spectrum-1
Electrical conductivity values of water samples
collected from Edayanchavadi and Vallur shows a
poor category which is greater than 2250Mohs/
cm. Other villages were found in good category
which is less than 1500Mohs/ cm. All the villages
are having good pH values in between 6.5 to 8.5
except Edayanchavadi.
TDS values of ground water sample analyzed for
Edayanchavadi and Vallur shows poor quality
category of limit greater than 2000mg/ lit. Other
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
rays, photons etc which is used to modulate the
brightness on a display Cathode Ray Tube, thereby
providing a high-resolution map on the selected
material property.
Results and Discussion
Results of water quality parameters in the study
area after Tsunami are interpretated with drinking
water standards and are discussed below.
Microscopic and EDS for Edayanchavadi is shown in
Fig. 5.
villages were found in good quality of water limit
which is less than 500mg/ lit. Poor quality of
Hardness was reflected in the villages of
Edayanchavadi, Ennore and Vallur, its value being
greater than 600mg/ lit. In other villages, the
quality of Hardness was moderate in condition,
lying between 300 and 600 mg/ lit.
Edayanchavadi, Ennore and Vallur also show poor
quality of ground water in terms of sodium and
chloride which is greater than 400mg/ lit for sodium
50
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
and 600mg/ lit for chloride. Therefore, other
villages show moderate category of limit 200mg/ lit
to 600mg/ lit for both the parameters.
Conclusion
There is no appreciable change of ground water
quality in the coastal villages of Ponneri taluk due to
direct impact of Tsunami event. Because of low
Tsunami wave height of 2m has been observed
from Kattupalli and Kalanji coastal villages.
Ground water quality parameters of Cl and Na were
rapidly increased in Edayanchavadi and Vallur
villages due to high tide backwaters influence in
Buckingham canal and Korttaliyar River during the
Tsunami incident. There is abrupt rise in Na and Cl
concentrations due to direct effect of Tsunami
waves in Ennore.
The EDS of Edayanchavadi Village sample shows
higher percentage of Molybdenum. The effect and
source have to be studied and investigated more in
detail.
References
[1] Kashef AAI. Text book on Ground water
Engineering. McGraw-Hill, 1986.
[2] Criminisi A, Tucciarelli T. Water Level
Measurement Locations for Coastal Aquifer
Management. Journal of water Resource
planning and management 2003; 129(1): 49-
58.
[3] Jimenez BE, Garduno H, Dminguez R. Water
Availability in Mexico Considering Quantity,
51
Rajan RS et al.
Quality and uses. Journal of Water Resources
planning and management 1998; 124(1): 1-7.
[4] Gurugnanam B, Manoharan K, Mohankumar
T et al. Remote Sensing Techniques to Locate
Groundwater Potential Zones in Perambur
Taluk, Tamil Nadu. 2002.
[5] Sawyer CS, Lin YF. Mixed integer Chance
constrained Models for ground water
Remediation. Journal of water resource
planning and management 1998; 124(5):
285-94.
[6] Ground water perspectives a profile of
Tiruvallur District, Tamil Nadu. G.S Water
Resource Data Centre, Taramani, Chennai-
600 005, 2000.
[7] Ragunath HM. Text book on Hydrology.
Wiley, 1985.
[8] Morris, Lawrence BL, Chilton ARL et al.
Groundwater and its susceptibility to
degradation: A Global Assessment of the
Problem and options for Management. Early
Warning and Assessment Report Series, RS.
03. United Nation Environment Programme,
Nairobi, Kenya, 2003.
[9] Emch PG, Yeh WWG. Management Model for
Conjunctive Use of coastal Surface water and
Ground water. Journal of Water Resource
planning and management 1998; 124(3):
129-39.
[10] Domenico PA. Concept and Models in
Ground Water Hydrology. McGraw-Hill,
1972.
[11] Todd. Text book on Ground water
Engineering. 1974.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
 Coastal Structures' Influence on the North Chennai Shore
using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques
Poornima KV*, Sriganesh J**, Annadurai R *
Abstract
The world coastal zones are influenced by anthropogenic and natural climate
changes. There is an increase in global warming which results in sea level rise; there
is also increase in frequency of number of cyclones, shoreline erosion, and other
calamities that have increased the natural pressures on coastal Zone. The coastal
Zone is dynamic as the geological, geographical, hydrological, meteorological,
biological interactions shaping it in various degrees along with the physical, chemical,
biological factor influences. In general, the shoreline is a boundary between the land
and ocean/ sea. Development and extension of ports/ harbor and other armor
structures involves construction, dredge, transportation, excavation, building,
machinery on offshore, along the shore and inland along with other activities, which
also induce several changes along and adjacent to coastal zones. Detection and
measurement of shoreline changes are an important task in the environmental
monitoring, hazard Zone mapping and coastal Zone management. Remote sensing
provides synoptic view with high spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions, where
the land and water interface is well defined. Here, an attempt was made to locate
and compute the north Chennai shoreline changes (erosion/ accretion) by the
development of structures using multi-temporal satellite images and GIS techniques.
Since 2009 every year, the USGS LANDSAT satellite images were downloaded and
used for the extraction of shorelines. Digital image processing software ERDAS was
used for the image enhancement, geo-referencing and the ArcGIS was used for the
database creation and extraction along with the extension and digital shoreline
analysis system (DSAS) used for statistical calculations. In general, the end point ratio
(EPR) and linear regression rate (LRR) methods found that from the 20 km Chennai
coastal length from Ennore Port to Kattupalli Port, the 10 km length of the coast on
north and south are in high eroding condition, whereas the 2 km coast in between
the Ennore port and Kattupalli port is in accretion. Though EPR is appropriate for
short-term change analysis, LRR is found as more reliable for the determination of
long-term changes as structural constructions take long periods of time.

Keywords: Anthropogenic, Environment, Erosion, Ports, Coastal zone management.

Introduction
Shoreline assessment is a major concern in types of structures. These interventions offered
environmental monitoring and integrated coastal protection to considerable part of the coast, but
Zone management (ICZM) [1]. Shoreline changes started issues on adjacent coast. Coastal areas are
draw more attention since they are most important the major sites for transportation, tourism,
environmental indicators that directly affect the recreation, fishing, nuclear power plants, thermal
economic development and land management [2]. power plants for power generation, and other vast
Management of eroding coasts of India made the developing industrialism [3].
pathway to coastal engineers to develop many
*
Department of Civil Engineering, SRM University, Chennai.
**
Center for Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, Sathyabhama University, Chennai.
Correspondence to: Ms Poornima KV, Department of Civil Engineering, SRM University, Chennai.
E-mail Id: poornikv18@gmail.com

ADR Journals 2015. All Rights Reserved.

National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Breakwaters and other large-scale port structures
can greatly affect local wave conditions, currents
and sediment transport process and can cause
significant changes in the configuration of adjacent
shoreline [4]. The erosion and accretion started its
effect not only on the environment but also on daily
human life of fishing community, aquaculture
practice and also ship navigation. Detection and
measurement of shoreline changes is an important
task in environmental monitoring and coastal Zone
management. Approaches for the detection of
shoreline changes can be achieved by the studies of
aerial photographs, photogrammetry, survey,
altimetry, Lidar and also by satellite images [5].
Multispectral remote sensing satellites provide
digital imageries in infrared spectral bands where
the land water interface is well defined and has
advantages such as it is less time-consuming, large
coverage and cost effective [6].
The modern scientific tools of remote sensing, GIS
are extremely valuable in development of
databases and to analyse them in the integrated
manner and derive management action plans.
Availability of repetitive, synoptic and multi-spectral
data from various satellite platforms, viz., IRS,
LANDSAT, SPOT, have helped to generate
information on varied aspects of the coastal
environment [7]. In India, satellite-based
information has been used for generating inventory
on coastal habitats, landforms, coastal land use and
shoreline conditions, condition assessment of
protected areas, exploration of marine fisheries,
mitigation of coastal disasters and understanding of
Figure 1.Location Map of the Study Area
53
Poornima KV et al.
sediment dynamics. GIS has been used for
integrating satellite-based information for
identifying aquaculture sites, coastal regulation,
and environmentally sensitive zones.
Materials and Methods
Study Area
The study area is covered partly in the Survey of
India (SOI) topo sheets 66C/7 and 66C/8 and starts
from longitude 8019'12"E and latitude 1311'47"N
to longitude 8020'4"E and latitude 1322'403"N
toward north and falls under north Chennai city of
Thiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu. This region
approximately covers 20 km length of coast and
width of 5 km. The western side is land cover,
eastern side is sea cover, southern side is covered
by Ennore and the northern side is covered by
Pulicat. Two important ports and two creeks are
located in these regions and they are Karungali
Creek, Kattupalli Port, Ennore Port and Ennore
Creek. These two creeks are interconnected by the
Buckingham canal which runs parallel to the coast
about 2 km inland from the shoreline. The two
ports are well connected by the road network as
well as ship routes. Ennore Port, officially renamed
Kamarajar Port Limited, is located on the
Coromandel Coast about 24 km north of Chennai
Port. This port is one of the oldest ports in Chennai.
Kattupalli port has been constructed in recent years
and is situated in the Kattupalli village and named
so. This port is about 2 km north of Ennore port as
shown in Fig. 1.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
Poornima KV et al.
Data Preparation
In the present study, multi-temporal LANDSAT ETM
+ images acquired from 2009 to 2014 were used as
the primary data source. The missing scan lines
present in the images were corrected using
interpolation technique with the help of MATLAB.
Georectification/ geometric correction process was
carried out from the ground control points (GCPs)
obtained from SOI topo sheets using ERDAS Imagine
9.1 software and projected to universal transverse
mercator (UTM) with reference to WGS-84 datum.
The accuracy of the transformation, i.e., root mean
square error was restricted to 0.2 pixel.The satellite
images were geometrically corrected by
establishing 50 well-distributed ground control
points.
Shoreline Delineation
Key issue in monitoring the coastal changes is the
selection of an adequate feature that can serve as a
shoreline indicator or proxy, so that it properly
reflects the real shoreline position and evolution.
Band ratio technique was adopted to delineate the
shoreline. The band ratio of band 5 and band 2 was
used to delineate the shoreline based on the dry
wet boundary.
End Point Rate=
A linear regression rate-of-change statistic can be
determined by fitting least-squares regression line
to all shoreline points for a particular transect. The
regression line is placed so that the sum of the
squared residuals (determined by squaring the
offset distance of each data point from the
regression line and adding the squared residuals
together) is minimized. The linear regression rate is
the slope of the line. The method of linear
regression includes these features: (1) All the data
is used, regardless of changes in trend or accuracy;
(2) The method is purely computational; (3) The
calculation is based on accepted statistical
concepts; and (4) The method is easy to employ [8].
Result and Discussion
Shoreline Change Analysis-EPR
Shoreline changes were calculated from 2009 to
2014 using the end point rate and linear regression
rate. The study area was classified into four zones
as Zone 1, Zone 2, Zone 3 and Zone 4 to study the
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Shoreline Change Analysis
Continuous shoreline positions were extracted and
digitized manually for six different periods of 2009,
2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. Digital shoreline
analysis system, an extension of ArcGIS was used to
calculate the shoreline rate of change statistics
from a time series of multiple shoreline positions.
All the shorelines were appended into a single
feature class for the analysis.
The topo sheets (66C7 and 66C8) were used in the
preparation of baseline which is required to cast
transects. Transects of 1000 m length were cast
with a spacing of 100 m. Among many standard
methods for shoreline analyses, end point rate and
linear regression rate are used, following the DSAS
tutorial [8].
The end point rate is calculated by dividing the
distance of shoreline movement by the time
elapsed between the oldest and the most recent
shoreline. The major advantages of the EPR are the
ease of computation and minimal requirement of
only two shoreline dates. The major disadvantage is
that in cases where more data is available, the
additional information is ignored [8].
Eq. (1)
shoreline changes for a period of six years starting
from 2009 to 2014. Total length of the coast
included in Zone 1 is 5.1 km which is having
Karungalli creek on north and total number of
transects are 51 placed at every 100 m horizontal
spacing. The length of the coast is maintained as 5
km in Zone 2 which contains the Kattupalli Port of
about 2 km in length.
The total number of transects are 29 at every 100 m
horizontal spacing in this Zone. As the port region is
under continuous activities, the 20 transects were
excluded for this DSAS analysis. The length of the
coast is maintained as 5.1 km in Zone 3 and has the
Ennore Port which covers about 2.4 km length. The
total number of transects are 28 at every100 m
horizontal spacing. As mentioned earlier because of
the port activities the 24 transects were excluded
for this DSAS analysis. Total length of the coast is
5.1 km in Zone 4, which is having one creek called
Ennore creek. The total number of transects are 51
at every 100 m spacing.
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Figure 2.Shoreline Changes
From the results obtained by different zonal
analysis shown in Fig. 2, the erosion and accretion
rates suggest that the erosion rates were higher for
all the four zones during 2010-2011, 2011-2012 due
to the active port construction taking place
between 2009 and 2012. During 2009-10, all three
zones except Zone 3 experienced high erosion rates
when compared to accretion which may be due to
the commencement of construction of one of the
breakwaters of Kattupalli port extending to a length
of 400 m to 700 m from 2009 to 2010.
During 2012-13, all the four zones experienced high
accretion than erosion which could be due to the
completion of port in 2012 and functioning of port
which commenced in 2013. During 2013-14, Zones
55
Poornima KV et al.
1 and 4 experienced high erosion than accretion
whereas Zones 2 and 3 showed high accretion rate
than erosion which is due to the port activities that
started. During 2009-2014, Zones 1 and 2 and Zone
4 exhibited high erosion rate than accretion
whereas Zone 3 showed high accretion rate than
erosion.
Figure 3 shows the maximum erosion and accretion
rates for each Zone. During the time period of 2009-
2014, high erosion was evident in Zone 4 with the
maximum value of erosion extending up to 67.1 m
near the Ennore creek and also Zone 2 showed the
maximum accretion of 80.4 m in the area lying in 2-
km stretch between the two ports.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
Poornima KV et al.
Figure 3.Rate of Shoreline Changes
Zonal Changes
From the graphs shown in Fig. 4, Zone 1 is found to
be dominated by erosion for the periods of 2009-
10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2013-14, 2009-14 except for
2012-13, which showed accretion.
Zone 2 is found to be dominated by erosion for the
time periods of 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2009-
014 and high accretion during 2012-13, and 2013-
14.
Zone 3 erosion was found to be high during the
periods of 2010-11, 2011-12 and accretion was
more during 2009-10, 2012-13, 2013-14, and 2009-
2014. Zone 4 experienced erosion during 2009-10,
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
2010-11, 2011-12, and 2009-2014 and accretion
during 2013-14.
This variation in erosion and accretion process is
due to the developmental process of Kattupalli port
which started in 2009 with the initiation of
construction of breakwaters. In 2010, the
breakwater to the north of Kattupalli port was
extended up to 700 m. Later in 2011, the
breakwater to the south of Kattupalli port extended
up to 700 m. In 2012, both the breakwaters have
extended up to 1500 m. In 2012, the functioning of
port started. The construction activity was
progressing at a fast rate during 2009, 2010, 2011,
and 2012 leading to a dynamic and drastic change
along the shoreline.
56
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Figure 4.Erosion and Accretion Rates per Zone
Shoreline Change Analysis-LRR (2009-2014)
Zone 1 experiences erosion for about 4.1 km and
accretion of 1 km. Zone 2 experiences erosion of 1.7
km on the north and 1.2 km of accretion on the
south of the Kattupalli port.
The north of Zone 3 was found to have an accreting
coast for a length of about 1.4 km and eroding coast
for a length of 1.4 km. Zone 4 experienced a
maximum erosion of 4.5 km and an accretion of 0.7
km as shown in the Fig. 5.
57
Poornima KV et al.
The maximum erosion was found to be 14.5 m in
Zone 1 and accretion of 3.7 m. The maximum
erosion of 31.3 m was found on the northern side
of the Kattupalli port and maximum accretion of
64.1 m was found near to the south breakwater of
the Kattupalli port. Zone 3 showed a maximum
accretion of 26 m on the northern side of the
Ennore port and maximum erosion of 5.8 m on the
southern side of the Ennore port. Zone 4 showed a
maximum erosion of 36.3 m and maximum
accretion of 3.7 m as shown in Fig. 5.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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Poornima KV et al. National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015

Figure 5.Shoreline Changes (2009-2014)

Comparison of EPR and LRR-Erosion and
Accretion
The erosion and accretion found out by EPR and
LRR is being compared here. An evident change is
found to occur between the values calculated by
EPR and LRR in all the four zones as shown in Fig. 6.
A difference of about 1 to 0.1 m is found. A change
in accretion is noticed between the values
calculated by EPR and LRR in all the four zones as
shown in Fig. 7. A difference of about 1 to 0.1 m is
found.

Figure 6.Comparison of EPR and LRR Erosion

Figure 7.Comparison of EPR and LRR Accretion

J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4) 58

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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Shoreline Change Map (2009-2014)
Figure 8 shows the shoreline change trend from
2009 to 2014. Since LRR was found to give the best
Table 1.Zonal Shoreline Change
8020'0"E
1322'0"N
ZONE 1
1320'0"N
ZONE 2
1318'0"N
1316'0"N
ZONE 3
1314'0"N
ZONE 4
1312'0"N
8020'0"E
Figure 8.Shoreline Change Trend Map
Table 1 shows the zonal shoreline change for all the
four zones which shows the coast with high erosion,
high accretion and coast with stable coast.
Zone 1 was found to cover 1.3 km, 3.8 km of highly
eroded coast and stable coast respectively. Zone 2
was found to cover 1.7, 0.2 and 1 km of highly
eroded coast, stable coast and coast with high
accretion, respectively.
Zone 3 was found to cover 0.4, 1.5, 0.9 km of coast
with high erosion, stable coast and coast with high
accretion, respectively. Zone 4 was found to cover
1.3, 3.8 of highly eroding coast and stable coast,
respectively.
Conclusion
Remote sensing and geospatial techniques coupled
with DSAS will be useful for long-term shoreline
change monitoring and provide a comprehensive
view of erosion and accretion patterns of the
59
Poornima KV et al.
result as its algorithm uses all the shorelines into
calculationun likeEPR which use only two shorelines
as input to calculate changes, the LRR result was
used to calculate the shoreline change trend.
8022'0"E
1322'0"N
.
1320'0"N
KATTUPALLI
1318'0"N
PORT
1316'0"N
ENNORE PORT
1314'0"N
Legend
High Erosion
Stable coast
High Accretion
1312'0"N
0 0.5 1 2 km
8022'0"E
coastal areas, which is economically important.
DSAS analysis of EPR and LRR shows that the
northern and southern side of the study area is
under high-eroding condition up to 10 km.
The 2-km coast in between the Ennore Port and
Kattupalli Port is of accretion nature at present by
the six-year satellite image study.
LRR is found to be more reliable for the
determination of long-term changes as it takes into
account all the shorelines for calculating the trend
in shoreline change.EPR is well suited for calculating
the short term changes. Continuous monitoring of
the shoreline is essential for the coastal areas in
order to observe the changes in future.
Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank SRM University for
their support in carrying out this work. The authors
also take this opportunity to thank scientist, Mr
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
Poornima KV et al.
Sriganesh J of NIOT, who is also a co-author, for his
guidance in carrying out this study. They would like
to thank Dr Annadurai R for his guidance
throughout this endeavor to make this a successful
one.
References
[1] Nayak S. Role of remote sensing to
integrated coastal zone management. Space
Applications Centre (ISRO), Commission VII.
2013: 18-23.
[2] Parthasarathy A, Natesan U. Assessment of
short term shoreline changes along Tuticorin,
Southeast coast of India using Geospatial
Techniques. Disaster Advances 2014; 7(7): 2-
7.
[3] Sheik M, Chandsrasekar P. Shoreline change
analysis along the coast between
Kanyakumari and Tuticorin, India using digital
shoreline analysis system. International
Journal of Environmental Science Technology
2013; 6(1): 61-66.
[4] Valerio B, Raffaella B, Donatella D et al.
Coastline detection using high resolution
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
multispectral satellite image. Journal of
Remote Sensing 2010; 3(2): 1.
[5] Choudhury R, Gowthaman R, Sanil KV.
Shoreline change detection from Kanwar to
Gokarna-south west coast of India using
remotely sensed data. International Journal
of Earth Science and Engineering 2013; 3:
489-94.
[6] Appeaning AK, Jayson-Quashigah PN,
Kufogbe KS. Quantitative analysis of
shoreline change using medium resolution
satellite imagery in Keta, Ghana. Marine
Science 2011; 1(1): 1-9.
[7] Chenthamil SS, Kankara RS, Rajan B.
Assessment of shoreline changes along
Karnataka coast, India using GIS& remote
sensing techniques. Indian Journal of Marine
Sciences 2014; 43(7): 66-72.
[8] Thieler ER, Himmelstoss EA, Zichichi JL et al.
DSAS 4.0 Installation instructions and user
guide, digital shoreline analysis system
(DSAS) version 4.0-An ArcGIS extension for
calculating shoreline change. U.S. Geological
Survey Open-File Report 2008-1278.
*updated for version 4.3. 2009.
60
 Engineering Applications of Artificial Reefs
Srineash VK*, Murali K**
Abstract
Artificial reefs are underwater structures built to dissipate energy of waves. The reef
may be built to prevent erosion of coast, to promote aquaculture or to improve
surfing. They are often called multipurpose reefs combining the aspects of coastal
protection, aquaculture and surfing. Artificial reefs may also be used to prevent or
reduce loads on coastal structures. Artificial reefs make the waves break over them
by depth-limited criteria which dissipates significant portion of energy contained in
the wave. When artificial reef takes form of offshore detached break water,
accretion takes place on the lee side of the reef breakwater called as salient. This
salient formation may later form a tombolo, once the sediment deposition touches
the structure. Thus, the wave force on sea wall (any structure) can be reduced by the
above process. This deposition of sediments increases the stability of structure and
forms an aesthetically appealing beach. The same can also be used to control erosion
due to waves. This article describes about various engineering applications about
artificial reefs, which may be a cost-effective sound solution for ecofriendly coastal
engineering.

Keywords: Artificial reefs, Wave breaking, Soft engineering, Coastal protection,

Offshore wave attenuation.

Introduction
An artificial reef is an underwater structure, built to
attenuate waves thereby reducing the energy of
waves. The purpose of the underwater artificial reef
may also include promotion of marine life, to
improve surfing, or to block the passage of ships.
Fig. 1 shows the evolution of artificial reefs over the
centuries.

As maritime security Persians, Romans

Alga culture
Purpose of reef

Fish attracting devices & aqua culture

Surfing and recreation - scuba diving

Coastal protection

In centuries
10th 17th 18th 19th 20th
Figure 1.Evolution of Artificial Reefs
*
Research Scholar, Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT Madras, Chennai, India.
**
Professor, Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT Madras, Chennai, India.
Correspondence to: Mr Srineash V K, Research Scholar, Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT Madras, Chennai, India.
E-mail Id: srineash@gmail.com

ADR Journals 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Srineash VK et al.
The reefs were first said to be used by Persians and
Romans as maritime security in tenth century.
During the war, to prevent the entry of naval
vessels from opponent nations into the harbor, they
used artificial reefs on the mouth of the harbor.
This is the earliest record of artificial reefs
application.
In the seventeenth century, artificial reefs were
used as measures to create algal culture. This
started in Japan. Japanese are considered as
pioneers in using artificial reefs. Further, in the
eighteenth century, artificial reefs were deployed to
increase marine life. Artificial reefs were also used
as fish-attracting devices to attract fishes and for
increasing their fishing yield. This was also used in
many tropical countries; the construction
techniques used for such reefs were simple, readily
available materials like rocks, trees, bamboo, scrap
tires, etc.
Many European countries along the Mediterranean
coast started using reefs as a surfing aid. They
deployed reefs on the coasts to increase wave
height thereby creating high-quality surfing waves.
This started around the nineteenth century.
Further, artificial reefs were used to increase the
Figure 2.Artificial Reef for Coastal Protection
The artificial reef attenuates wave energy off the
shore, thereby the energy carried by the wave will
be dissipated off the shore and hence less energy is
spent on the shore to erode and hence coastal
erosion can be kept in control. Further, reefs may
also be built in such a way as to promote free flow
of sediments without affecting the littoral transport
of sediments. Black and Mead [1] discuss about the
design aspects of artificial reef in Gold Coast,
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
amenity value of the coast by including snorkeling
and scuba diving in the vicinity of the reef.
In recent times (twentieth century), artificial reefs
are looked into as environment-friendly technique
of coastal protection. Hence, using artificial reefs, a
coast can be protected from erosion in an
environment-friendly way with less destructive
effects to the marine life. Further, the aesthetics
and natural beauty of the coast is also preserved.
Artificial Reef as Coastal Protection Aid
Artificial reefs are built as coastal protection
structures to dissipate energy of waves, to have a
calmer sea on the lee side. Pilarczyk and Division [7]
show how artificial reefs can be used for coastal
protection.
This manuscript describes the wave attenuation
characteristics of artificial reefs. Conventional hard
approaches like construction of break water, groins,
revetments and seawalls may pose a negative
threat to environment and the species associated.
Use of artificial reefs may prove to be a good
technique to counter the erosion problems with
less destructive effects on the shorelines of the
coast.
Australia, where the reef is built to allow free
passage for sediments.
When the wave travels from deep waters to
shallow waters, the wave height increases due to
the process of shoaling. Once this wave encounters
an obstacle, it tends to break dissipating energy.
The wave may also break due to depth-limited
criteria as discussed by McCowan [1]. The offshore
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
reef-induced breaking takes place once the wave
encounters an artificial reef as shown in Fig. 2. This
process is due to interaction of wave with the reef,
more precisely the phase velocity of wave differs
between crest and trough of the wave; this
differential velocity makes crest of the wave travel
much faster than trough tending the wave to break.
The process of reef-induced breaking dissipates
about 50% of energy according to Srineash Murali
[8].
The wave carries sediments with it, which may get
deposited on the lee side of the reef during the
process of reef-induced wave breaking. This
accretion on the lee side of the reef (Fig. 2) is due to
the fact that the un-attenuated wave has enough
energy to carry sediments with it. Once the wave
breaks due to reef-induced breaking phenomenon,
the wave dissipates energy and hence the wave
does not possess enough energy to carry the
sediments and hence they get deposited on the lee
side of the reef. These accreted sediments are
called salient; it may further extend and form
tombolo touching the shore.
The artificial reefs may also be used to reduce loads
on existing structures like sea wall as sown in Fig. 2.
The rise in sea level or other causes may hinder the
performance of coastal structures. The artificial
reefs may help to reduce the loads on coastal
structures. Since the artificial reef reduces the wave
height past the reef, the energy of the wave
reduces and hence the loads on the structures can
be minimized.
Artificial Reef as Surfing Aid
Artificial reefs are also built as recreational aids to
provide breaking waves to surfers and to have a
swimmers paradise on the lee side of the reef. To
provide high-quality surfing reefs, wave breaking
aspect has to be considered.
The main criterion to achieve this is to make the
wave shoal by creating a ramp, thereby decreasing
the depth gradually. Further hydrodynamic stability
condition (H/d) also plays a major role in design.
Since in ocean we have a tidal range, we cannot
attain surfing of waves throughout the day; in many
cases the surf breaker remains functional for only a
few months.
Usually plunging waves are desired for surfing,
there is an important parameter called peel angle
to design surf reefs. Peel angle is defined as, the
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Srineash VK et al.
included angle between the peel-line and a line
tangent to the crest-line at the breaking point.
Further surfing difficulty can be described based on
peel angle; the difficulty rating varies from 2-9
based on peel angle. It is desirable for beginners to
have a difficulty rating 2-3 with a peel angle of 70
degrees. While professional surfers prefer higher
difficulty rating of 8-9 with peel angle of about 27
degrees. Hutt et al. [5] discuss about the design
aspects of surfing reefs.
Artificial Reef as Aquaculture Aid
Artificial reefs are also built to enhance coastal
economy providing benthic growth on it, serving as
breeding grounds for aquatic species. Artificial reefs
are deployed to increase marine life like algal mass
to cling to the surface of the artificial reefs, which in
turn provides a breeding ground for fishes. Thus,
this can be effectively used to increase the fish
production, which in turn yields greater revenue to
the fishing community.
Such concepts can be used to generate revenue and
also provide an effective solution to problems
prevailing due to fishing in international waters.
Since fishermen get good yield close to the coastal
zone, possibility for them to venture into other
territorial waters may become minimum. Firth et al.
[2] describe about an artificial reef made of gabion
boxes. In the study involving gabion box artificial
reefs, gabion boxes were filled with stones of
different sizes and were deployed as an artificial
reef. It is discussed that gabions potentially have
important habitat-forming value as they are
analogous to natural boulder shores. It was found
that the artificial reef gabions were colonized by
twelve to fourteen different species depending on
location of reef deployment.
There are also studies in which direct current is
used for precipitation of calcium carbonate which
will house the algal community. In this process
metallic frames are used as artificial reefs. A direct
current source connected via long cables is
attached at the artificial reef, usually constituting a
simple metal lattice construction. The current
causes the calcium carbonate to separate from sea
water and settle on the metallic frame. It was found
that even weak and diseased coral in the vicinity
recovered soon. Development of aquaculture along
with the constructions of artificial reefs helps in
fisheries management, to enhance the marine
population in aquaculture systems.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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Srineash VK et al.
Materials Used for Artificial Reef
Deployment
Further, there are several studies across the globe
where artificial reefs are made of different
materials. This started by usage of materials of
opportunity for construction of reefs. This involved
sinking of old oil rigs, damaged ships, unused cars,
debris, etc. Since these materials contain toxic
substances, they started to actually degrade the
aquatic life in some regions and hence use of non-
toxic elements was preferred. Rubble stones and
concrete is found to be more stable and less toxic
to marine life and they form good aquatic habitat
around the reef made of such elements. The
elements with inherent holes and voids worked
better. Slowly, this led to engineered prefabricated
materials. There are reefs made of concrete with
inherent holes in them to promote marine life.
Recent-day reefs are also built using gabions which
are porous and analogous to natural stones. There
are several eco-friendly materials used nowadays
where gabions are filled with oyster shells and
other natural materials.
Conclusion
Thus, the artificial reefs are examined as
multipurpose reefs in this study. The engineering
applicability of artificial reefs is discussed, i.e.,
coastal protection aspects, for high-quality surfing
conditions and aquaculture aspects.
The creation of artificial reefs has changed the
perception of fishery resources from a primarily
competitive hunting attitude to a collaborative
rearing and nursing one.
Thus, an artificial reef is one of the best soft
engineering approaches in coastal engineering
as solution to coastal problems in a noninvasive
way.
Artificial reefs also enhance the amenity and
tourism value of the beach by promoting
surfing, scuba diving, and other marine sports.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
References
[1] Black K, Mead S. Design of the Gold Coast
reef for surfing, public amenity and coastal
protection: Surfing aspects. Journal of
Coastal Research 2001; l(29): 115-30.
[2] Firth LB, Thompson RC, Bohn K et al.
Between a rock and a hard place:
Environmental and engineering
considerations when designing coastal
defence structures. Coastal Engineering
2014; 87: 122-35.
[3] Harris LE. Engineering design of artificial
reefs. Challenges of Our Changing Global
Environment. Conference Proceedings.
OCEANS 95 MTS/IEEE. 1995; 2: 1139-48.
[4] Hartig JH, Zarull MA, Cook A. Soft shoreline
engineering survey of ecological
effectiveness. Ecological Engineering 2011;
37(8): 1231-38.
[5] Hutt JA, Black KP, Mead ST e al. Classification
of Surf Breaks in Relation to Surfing Skill.
2001; 29: 66-81.
[6] McCowan J. On the highest wave of
permanent type. Philosophical Magazine
1894; 5(38): 351-57.
[7] Pilarczyk KW, Division HE. Design of low-
crested (submerged) structures-An overview.
Hydraulic Engineering Division (2003) 6th
International Conference on Coastal and Port
Engineering in Developing Countries,
Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2003.
[8] Srineash VK, Murali K. Hydrodynamic
performance of gabion box artificial reefs.
Proceedings of the twenty-fifth international
ocean and polar engineering conference,
Kona, Big Island, Hawaii, USA, Jun 21-26,
2015: 1438-42.
[9] Walker JR. Recreational surf parameters.
Technical Report. University of Hawaii, James
K.K. Laboratory of Oceanographic
Engineering, 1974; 73-30: 311.
64
 Extraction of Lutein as a value-added product from the
Biomass of Marine Microalgae Chlorella salina
Gayathri S*, Radhika Rajasree SR*, Aranganathan L*, Suman TY*
Abstract
Marine eukaryotic photosynthesis is dominated by a diverse group of unicellular
organisms in the sea collectively called microalgae. Marine microalgae are very
rich in several chemical compounds and, therefore, they may be used in several
biological applications related with health benefits, among others. Of these,
Lutein, an oxygenated carotenoid, has therapeutic or prophylactic effects on
ocular disorder and hence is used for various commercial applications. The
species Chlorella, a heterotrophic microalga, has been widely studied and
provides a high amount of Lutein, with other compounds and has good profiles
for commercial exploitation. Our work was aimed at examining the Lutein
contents in heterotrophic marine microalga C. salina biomass. The Lutein content
and production of C. salina reached 30mg/ L and 6.9g/ L respectively. Thin-layer
chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods
were successfully applied to the determination of Lutein in C. salina. Further, it
was confirmed through High resolution Mass spectrometer (HR-MS) with regard
to specificity and sensitivity. The extracted pigment exhibited good antioxidant
activities. The results obtained from our work suggest that there is tremendous
potential in the exploitation of Lutein as a value-added compound from C. salina.

Keywords: C. salina, Lutein, TLC, HPLC, HRMS.

Introduction
Micro algae are eukaryotic photosynthetic
microorganisms that use solar energy, nutrients
and carbon-dioxide to produce proteins,
carbohydrates, lipids and other valuable organic
compounds like carotenoids.[1,2] Microalgae find
uses as food and as live feed in aquaculture for
production of bivalve molluscs, for juvenile stages
of abalone, crustaceans and some fish species and
for zooplankton used in aquaculture food
chains.[3] Microalgae present considerable
biotechnological potential and their biomass can
be used in the production of food, feed, bioactive
compounds, biofuels, bioremediation,
biofertilizers, and cosmetics. Among the products
extracted from algae with potential for
commercial exploration, the natural bioactive
compounds are highlighted. The carotenoids
derived from microalgae have significant
antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, which
allow them to provide health benefits.
*
Centre for Ocean Research, Sathyabama University, Chennai.
Correspondence to: Ms Radhika Rajasree SR, Centre for Ocean Research, Sathyabama University, Chennai.
E-mail Id: radhiin@gmail.com
Carotenoids are valuable compounds used in
different fields, such as pharmaceuticals and
health promoting agents. Carotenoids are
produced either via chemical synthesis or they
can be separated from naturally occurring plants
or algae. Algae production has gained a lot of
interest during recent years due to its high growth
rate and tunability of the algae composition. In
addition to fatty acids, there are also other
compounds in algae that are of interest as
potential feedstocks for synthesis of valuable
compounds, such as carotenoids, chlorophylls and
proteins. In this article, the bioactivities of
microalgal carotenoids are reviewed. Emphasis is
placed on Lutein, a Xanthophyll with
extraordinary potential for protection against a
wide range of diseases.
Similar to other members of carotenoids, lutein
also contains a series of conjugated double bonds

ADR Journals 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Gayathri S et al.
and has strong antioxidant abilities. Lutein is an
important nutraceutical ingredient and a daily
intake of 6 mg is recommended.[4] Lutein
(commonly referred to as xanthophyll) is a
carotenoid, and is related to beta-carotene. It is a
strong antioxidant, as well as a natural pigment.
Lutein is present in many vegetables such as:
spinach, kale, broccoli, and green peas. Marigolds
are the primary source of Lutein used as a
coloring agent, food and livestock feed additive,
and as a nutritional supplement. Lutein comprises
the macular pigment of the eye and is found in
the lens. It acts as a filter to blue light and serves
an important role in eye health. All lutein must be
acquired through ones diet and cannot be
synthesized by the body. A large amount of lutein
present in marigold flowers is esterified with half
of the weight corresponding to fatty acids, and
therefore chemical saponification is necessary in
the manufacture of lutein products. In this regard,
microalgae are regarded as a promising
alternative to the conventional plant sources as
the algae-derived lutein is in the free non-
esterified form. The most commonly-studied
algae include Dunaliellabardawil, Chlamy
domonasreinhardtii, Chlorella protothe coides,
Chlorella zofingensis, Muriellopsis sp.,
Scenedesmusalmeriensis, Chlorococcumcitriforme
and Neospongiococcusgelatinosum. They are
potential lutein producers because they are
capable of accumulating a much higher lutein
content (0.5%-1.2% dry weight) than marigold
petals, and their growth is independent of season
or weather, producing a homogeneous biomass
which is ready for processing without labor-
intensive separation required.
Materials and Methods
Micro Algae Culturing and Harvesting
Chlorella salina was obtained from CIBA, Chennai,
Tamil Nadu, India, and cultivated
heterotrophically in Microalgal laboratory at
Sathyabama University using sterile f/2 medium
(Guillard and Ryther, 1962) under 5000 lux
illuminated with white fluorescent bulb for
12 : 12 hr light and dark condition for 15 days.
Growth was monitored by measuring the optical
density at 550nm. When the culture reached
stationary phase, the biomass was harvested by
centrifugation at 8500 rpm for 10 min to get
thick algal paste. The microalgal paste was rinsed
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
with distilled water to remove residual salts and
then dried in hot air oven at 60C for 8 h.
Conventional Solvent Extraction Methods
Two ml of thoroughly mixed fluid (16.4 g dry
cells/l) was transferred to a 50 ml conical tube,
then the culture was centrifuged at 3000 rpm for
10 min, and the supernatant was discarded. One
ml of a solution containing 2.5% ascorbic acid and
10M KOH was added to the conical tube
containing the cell pellets, and the mixture was
incubated at 60C for 10 min before cooling down
to room temperature. 19 ml methanol was
subsequently added to mixture for the extraction
of Lutein. The mixture was then centrifuged at
3000rpm for 15 min at 4C, and the supernatant
was collected and kept at-12C for the
subsequent determination of Lutein stability.[5]
Purification of lutein
The C. vulgaris extract (400 mL) was saponified by
adding 6% KOH (w/v) (24 g) at 50 C for 30 min.
The mixture was then evaporated by rotary
evaporator, and the dry solid obtained was
dissolved in distilled water (400 mL) and
partitioned with ethyl acetate (400 mL). The ethyl
acetate fraction (400 mL) was evaporated by
rotary evaporator and redissolved in 5 mL of
acetone. The acetone solution (2 mL) was loaded
on a silica gel column (2.0 60.0 cm), and then
eluted with 150 mL of hexane, followed by 400
mL of hexane-acetone (7:3 v/v). The purified
compound fraction was collected based on
spectral characteristic of lutein using a
spectrophotometer. The lutein fraction (150 mL)
was evaporated and dried by nitrogen, and stored
at-20 C.
Identification and Quantification of the
Purified Compound
TLC Analysis
The carotenoid extract from C. salina was
subjected to TLC for qualitative analysis of
presence of Lutein and its allied products such as
lutein monoesters and lutein diesters. Acetone,
petroleum ether and chloroform (mobile phase)
were optimized for separation. The whole
experiment was performed in a closed glass
chamber.
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Rf = Length of the spot travelled
Length of mobile phase travelled
HPLC Analysis
The amounts of lutein and other types of
compounds such as chlorophyll a, b and b-
carotene dissolved in ethanol were analyzed by
HPLC with intelligent UV/ visible detector (UV-
970, Jasco, Japan) using methanol/ acetonitrile
(90:10 V/ V) as a mobile phase with a flow rate at
1.0 mL/ min. The samples were injected through a
20-lL injector loop and separated by a C18 column
(5m, 150mmx46) at 30 C. The mobile phase
consisted of Peaks, which were monitored at 450
nm, and absorption spectra of each peak were
scanned from 190 to 800 nm using dual
absorbance detector. Signals were recorded by
Borwin chromatography software to show the
peak areas.[6]
Mass Specrometry
High-resolution mass spectrometric analysis was
performed on a single-stage Orbitrap mass
spectrometer (Thermo Fisher Scientific, San Jose,
USA), equipped with an atmospheric pressure
chemical ionization probe (APCI), operating in
positive ionization mode. Ionization source
working parameters were optimized and involved
sheath gas pressure (35 au, arbitrary units),
auxiliary gas pressure (0.01 au), sweep gas
pressure (0.01 au), vaporizer temperature (275
C), capillary temperature (275 C), discharge
current (5A), capillary voltage (57.50 V), tube
lens voltage (90 V), and skimmer voltage (18 V).
An m/z scan range of 100-650 was selected, and
the resolution was set at 100,000 FWHM at 1 Hz
(1 cycle per second). The automatic gain control
(AGC) target was set at the high dynamic range
(3e6 ions), and the maximum injection time was
50 ms. The option of all ion fragmentation using
the high energy collision dissociation (HCD) cell
was only used to investigate the confirmation
potential of generated fragments and was turned
67
Gayathri S et al.
off during the actual analysis. Instrument control
and data processing were carried out by Xcalibur
2.1 software (Thermo Fisher Scientific, San Jose,
USA).
Results and Discussion
Chlorella salina, is a heterotrophic microalga
known to accumulate lutein as its major
carotenoid, and is therefore considered to be a
valuable lutein source from a biotechnology point
of view. Microalgae are also preferred
commercially because they grow fast and require
minimal nutrients for their growth.[7] Based on
the extraction by the reference extraction with
methanol, the total amount of Lutein contained in
the algae was 5.06 + 0.2 mg per gram of dry algae.
The cell size and shape, in turn, affect the efficient
extraction of biomolecules from the species. In
order to obtain the carotenoids during the
extraction process, the cell wall of the microalga
should be destroyed and dissolved in the
appropriate solvent. Extraction procedure was
followed by a saponification step to simplify the
separation of carotenoids. After extracting
carotenoids from microalgal matrix, the
purification step was engaged to obtain the high
purity lutein products for commercial purpose.
Since the lutein purity in the carotenoid extract is
still low, its commercial application would be very
low. Accordingly, a purification step must be
performed to improve the lutein purity in the
extracts. After the purification process by using
chromatographic methods, the purity of lutein
increased to nearly 90%.
Mobile phase (running solvent) was optimized
and resulted that Hexane: acetone in the ratio of
2:1 for efficient separation of carotenoid and the
relative front (Rf) value recorded was 0.269
(Fig.1). The TLC result of this study obviously
relative with some other results reported early.
Nagaraj et al. (2012) [8] separated carotenoid
extraction from H. pluvialis and Rf are 0.37, 0.58
and 0.73 with respective to astaxanthin,
astaxanthin mono and diesters.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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Gayathri S et al.
Figure 1.Open Column Chromatography &Thin Layer Chromatogram of extract
The spectrophotometric analysis of the crude
extract by various solvents were analyzed from
300-700nm. The UV spectra of the purified lutein
extract by reference extraction (Fig. 2) showed
the wavelengths of maximum absorption and
spectral fine structural values. These were
tentatively identified based on the data in the
literature.[9,10]. Solvents widely used for
extraction of plant pigments were efficient in
carotenoid and chlorophyll extraction and no
Figure 2.(a)UV Spectra, (b)Structure, (c)Mass Spectrum
The carotenoid profile was quantified by HPLC
after a reference extraction procedure. The HPLC
analysis results indicate that the compound in the
solution was detected at retention time of about
4.35 mins. The typical HPLC spectrum of lutein
extracted from C. salina was shown in Fig. 3.
Results are identified with the help of standards
and of comparison with that of literature
results.[17] The lutein contents in extract of C.
salina before and after saponification were
estimated to be 1.56 and 1.75 g/ kg, respectively.
The lutein in C. salina is also in free lutein form.
Saponification did not markedly increase free
lutein content in the tested microalgae. Restated,
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
further separation was carried out in these
studies.[11,12,13,14,15,16] The mass spectra of
the purified lutein by reference extraction
showed the molecular ion at m/ z 568.42 and the
abundant fragment ion at m/ z 591.4
[C40H56O2Na]. The purified compound was
identified as all-trans-lutein, based on the UV and
mass spectra characteristics and confirmed by co-
elution with the lutein standard.
crude extract from microalgae contains
chlorophyll and lutein without lutein esters.
Conclusion
This work presents strategies leading to the
improvement of lutein extraction efficiency from
an isolated microalga strain. The conventional
extraction method was improved to match the
need for carotenoid extraction using hexane as
the best solvent. An additional saponification step
is needed for the extraction of pure lutein.
Addition of ascorbic acid could stabilize lutein
provided that the solution is not acidic.
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Figure 3.HPLC Chromatogram of purified Lutein (after saponification) at 450nm
The microalgal systems show productivities in the
order of hundreds of milligrams of lutein per
square meter per day which translates to
kilograms per hectare per day. A lot remains to be
done, but the potential of microalgae seems
undeniable in view of numbers presented.
References
[1] Mendes RL, Nobre BP, Cardoso MT et al.
Inorg Chim Acta 2003; 356: 328-34.
[2] Batista AP, Gouveia L, Bandarra NM et al.
Algal Res 2013; 2: 164-73.
[3] Priyadarshani I, BiswajitRath J. Algal
Biomass Utln 2012; 3(4): 89-100.
[4] Francis GW, Strand LP, Lien T et al. Arch
Microbiol 1975; 104: 249-54.
[5] Shi XM, Chen F. Nahrung/Food 1997; 41:
38-41.
[6] Ruenngam D, Shotipruk A, Pavasant P et al.
Chemical Engineering & Technology 2012;
35: 255-60.
[7] Jin E, Feth B, Melis. A Biotechnol Bioeng
2003; 81:115-24.
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[8] Nagaraj S, Rajaram MG, Arulmurugan P et
al. Biomedicine and Preventive Nutrition
2012; 2: 149-53.
[9] Davies BHTW. Chemistry and Biochemistry
of Plant Pigments. Academic Press, London,
UK, 1965.
[10] Rodriguez-Amaya DB. ILSI Press,
Washington D. C., USA, 2001.
[11] Bachmann A, Lopez JF, Ginsburg S et al. P
New Phytol 1994; 126(4): 593-600.
[12] Berova M, Stoeva N, Zlatev Z et al. Central
Euro Agri 2007; 8(1): 57-62.
[13] Dunn JL, Turnbull JD, Robinson SA.
Functional Plant Biology 2004; 31: 195-202.
[14] Edelenbos M, Christensen LP, Grevsen K. J
Agri Food Chem 2001; 49: 4768-74.
[15] Lichtenthaler H, Wellburn A. Biochemical
Society Transactions 1983; 11: 591-92.
[16] Zuniga R, Alberdi M, Reyes-Diaz M et al.
Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 2006;
79: 489-504.
[17] Hadden WL, Watkins RH, Levy LW et al. J
Agric Food Chem 1999; 47: 4189-94.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
 Future Scenarios of Tsunami Inundation along the Kerala
Coast for Different Scenarios of Sea Level Rise
SS Praveen*, NP Kurian**, J Sriganesh***
Abstract
Climate change and associated sea level Rise (SLR) is a reality. All over the world,
concerted efforts are being made to understand, analyze and combat the effects of
climate change. In this background, an analysis of the tsunami inundation in the SLR
scenario is felt very important and relevant, and is undertaken. Based on the IPCC
predictions of sea level, numerical modeling of tsunami inundation was carried out
for three representative sectors of the Kerala coast for three scenarios of SLR, viz.,
low, moderate and extreme. The simulations were carried out for three cases of
tsunami generation, viz., Sumatra 2004 at present sea level, Sumatra 2004 with
extreme SLR, and hypothetical worst case with extreme SLR. From the modeling
results, it can be summarized that sea level rise can definitely cause manifold
increase in inundation in some of the stretches where the backshore elevation is
comparatively low. It would be highly essential to carry out the numerical
simulations for the extreme SLR scenarios for the whole coast by providing high
resolution topographic grid for the coastal zone.

Introduction
Tsunami is one of the most devastating natural observed, warming of the climate system is
coastal disasters. Most of the tsunamis are unequivocal as is now evident from observations of
generated by submarine earthquakes occurring in increases in global average air and ocean
subduction zones. Tsunamis can also be triggered temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice,
by volcanic eruptions and large landslides. Although and rising global average sea level. The sea level
the skill for predicting earthquake is still in its rise (SLR) emanating from climate change is
infancy, tsunami warning is possible if the tsunami expected to increase significantly the tsunami
can be detected in the open ocean. Tsunami inundation and consequent damage due to any
warning system has been operational in the Pacific future tsunami. In this investigation, an assessment
Ocean for several decades and has proven its of the future scenarios of tsunami inundation
effectiveness and trustworthiness. If a similar early scenario is carried out for different sectors of the
warning system had been available in the Indian Kerala coast for the projected levels of SLR.
Ocean in 2004, the devastation due to the 2004
Indian Ocean tsunami would have been much less. Causes and Consequences of Sea Level Rise
It is well recognized today that climate change is
one of the most complex challenges that the human The rise and the fall of sea level is influenced by
kind has ever faced in its history. both geological and climate factors. Changes in the
mid-ocean ridge systems may have been
There is a growing perception that the sea level is responsible for a drop in the sea level of 300 m over
going to rise in the next century. All over the world, the last 80 million years [8]. Even today, emergence
concerted efforts are being undertaken to and subsidence of land can have a noticeable effect
understand, analyze and combat the effects of on the local sea level [3]. The geological events
climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on affecting sea level are, however, generally slow and
Climate Change (IPCC) in its fourth synthesis report unlikely to accelerate, whereas climate influences
*
Assistant Professor, St Thomas College, Kozhenchery, Kerala.
**
Former Director, National Centre for Earth Science Studies, Thiruvanathapuram, Kerala.
***
Centre for Remote Sensing & Geo informatics, Sathyabama University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
Correspondence to: Mr SS Praveen, St Thomas College, Kozhenchery, Kerala. E-mail Id: praveensakalya@gmail.com

ADR Journals 2015. All Rights Reserved.

National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
sea level in two ways: (i) by moving the earths
water between glaciers resting on land and the
ocean, and (ii) by changing the temperature of the
ocean water and thus its volume. If we think of a
hypothetical situation in which all the glaciers in
Antarctica and Greenland melt, sea level would
definitely rise to more than 70 m. In the past,
lowering of sea level by around 150 m has occurred
due to the accumulation of ocean waters in glaciers.
Although the complete melting of land-based
glaciers would take thousands of years, partial
melting could raise sea level by as much as a meter
in the next century, whereas glaciers grounded
under water could disintegrate more quickly.
Hughes et al. [9] and Bentley [1] estimated that the
entire West Antarctic ice sheet, where the largest
marine-based glacier exists could enter the ocean in
200 years whereas a complete disintegration of the
land-based glacier will not occur in the near future.
But parts of it, coupled with other ice fields as well
as mountain glaciers, could be vulnerable in the
next century. They also reported that a warmer
climate could cause the SLR even without any
contribution from glaciers. While the warming of
the entire ocean would take several centuries, the
upper layers could warm and cause SLR by as much
as a meter by 2100.
The past trends in climate and sea level have
indicated that for the last two million years and
probably longer sea level and climate have
fluctuated together in cycles of 100,000 years.
During the last glacial period (12,000-20,000 years
ago), sea level was approximately 100 m lower than
today [6]. During the warm interglacial period
temperatures and the sea have risen to
approximately the levels of today, even though
there is no evidence to prove that the land-based
glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica have
completely melted in the last two million years. It is
said that from the end of the last glacial until about
6000 years ago sea level rose approximately 1 m
per century [13]. Sea level rise has several physical
consequences. They are:
1. Inundation or permanent flooding
2. Enhanced flooding by coastal hazards
3. Shoreline retreat
4. Salt intrusion
A sea level rise of a few meters would inundate
major portion of backshore, marshes, and low-lying
flood plains, besides rivers and bays. The rising sea
will increase coastal erosion, pollution, storm
damage, and flooding. It would pose threats at a
71
Praveen SS et al.
greater extent to coastal roads, bridges,
breakwaters, docks, piers, and waterfront property.
As sea level rises and water depth increases near
the shore, the shoreline advances shoreward,
facilitating erosion. Erosion will, therefore,
accelerate on the coasts that were already
retreating and may be initiated on coasts that were
previously stable.
The analysis of the physical impacts of a sea level
rise has now become more complex by the dense
human occupation of many coastal areas, by their
often high economic value and by the continuous
interaction between human activities and natural
processes. Submergence of coastal areas at risk will
not occur gradually, but by steps, after severe
storms which open breaches in natural or artificial
coastal defenses. Climatic changes may also modify
force and direction, altering the sedimentary
budgets of longshore drifts, increasing storm-surge
frequencies and levels and accelerating shoreline
displacements. Another cause of beach erosion
from sea level rise is over wash and the resulting
landward migration of coastal barriers [12].
Sea level rise also causes the salt content of
aquifers and estuaries to migrate landward. In
coastal aquifers, a layer of fresh water floats on top
of the heavier salt water. The salt water generally
focuses a wedge such that the farther inland (the
higher the water table), the farther below ground is
the boundary between fresh and saltwater. When
sea level rise occurs, the shoreline moves landward
and the boundary too moves inland. Since the level
of water table itself is determined by sea level, a
rise in the sea level causes the fresh water/salt
water boundary to rise. A rise in sea level would
also increase the salinity of rivers and estuaries. A
decrease in the flow or an increase in the volume of
water allows salt to migrate upstream. With higher
sea level, salt water would intrude farther into the
estuary thus increasing salinity and moving the salt
front farther upstream.
The advancement of the shoreline landward and
deepening of the sea due to SLR will lead to
significant increase in the inundated area in the
event of the occurrences of a coastal hazard. The
coastal hazards of particular relevance are storm
surges and tsunami. A one meter increase in sea
level can increase the inundated area many fold in
some of the low-terrain coastal sectors. So, to
conclude we can say that a global sea level rise
would indeed make most low-lying coastal areas
more vulnerable to submergence and erosion.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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Praveen SS et al.
However, for an actively submerging coast, where
sea level problem already exists, these problems
will probably worsen during the next century even
in the absence of an additional global sea level rise.
Model Calibration
Numerical simulations of tsunami impact require
three components: (1) a source, reflecting the
known geology and seismology of the event; (2)
ocean bathymetry and coastal topography, and (3)
a tsunami propagation and run-up model,
representing the relevant physics. Several different
global models are available for tsunami inundation
modeling and from that reviews of various
literature carried out under this investigation
unravel the fact that only two models, viz., TUNAMI
N2 and MOST are capable of modeling the entire
range of tsunami wave propagation starting from its
source till its inundation of the coast. The common
feature of both TUNAMI N2 and MOST is the use of
finite-difference (FD) algorithms to solve the non-
linear shallow water (NSW) equations. TUNAMI N2
and MOST differ in two ways. MOST uses a variable
computational grid, no friction factors, and its run-
up prediction is based on the elevation of the last
wet grid point the wave encounters as it propagates
up on the beach whereas TUNAMI N2 uses a fixed
computational grid, involves a friction factor, and
lets the wave advance past the initial shoreline.
Moreover, its maximum run-up prediction is based
on the maximum wave height at the shoreline.
Besides that, TUNAMI N2 gives more prominence to
fine grid data which is of utmost importance while
dealing with the run-up and inundation
Figure 1.Site Chosen for Model Calibration
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
characteristics of the coast. Apart from that,
TUNAMI N2 is more widely and globally accepted
for simulation of tsunami inundation. The Indian
Tsunami Warning Centre at Indian National Centre
for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS),
Hyderabad, is also relying upon this model for
providing early warning. Hence, this model was
chosen to simulate the tsunami propagation, run-up
and inundation along the South East Arabian Sea
(SEAS) and Kerala coast under this investigation.
As part of initial calibration of the model, a
mandatory requirement before applying it for
simulation studies, the model was run for the
Neendakara-Trikkunnapuzha coast of southern
Kerala (Fig. 1) by providing different manning
numbers which represent the bottom friction. The
topographic and bathymetric data for the coarser
grids were provided from the sources such as SRTM
(Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission), C-Map
(coastal map), NHO (Naval Hydrographic Office)
map and GEBCO (general bathymetric chart of the
oceans), and the field survey data was provided for
the finer grid. The C-Map has fine resolution data
when compared to NHO map. To minimize or
reduce the ambiguities/errors in this data, it was
compared with NHO map for rectification before
being fed into the model. The seismic parameters
relevant for the 2004 Sumatra earthquake were
given as input (Table 1). The run-ups for different
locations of the coast were noted from the
simulation. The field data for calibration and
comparison were taken from Kurian et al. [11]. The
predictions of the model were in good agreement
with the observed field data (Table 2).
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015 Praveen SS et al.

Table 1.Seismic Parameters in respect of 1945 Makran and 2004 Sumatra Earthquakes [4]

It was found that the simulations with a friction
coefficient of 0.01 gave best comparisons with the
field data with an average error estimate of around
9.22%. From the results, it can be seen that the
model has nearly reproduced what was observed in
the field for December 26, 2004 Tsunami. Hence, it
can be concluded that the model with a friction
coefficient of 0.01 is calibrated and can be used for
simulation of run-up and inundation in the rest of
the study area.
Study Area for Generating Future Scenarios
of Sea Level Rise
The simulation studies for the future scenarios of
tsunami inundation were carried out along entire
Kerala coast with specific reference for three
representative sectors pertaining to south, north
and central Kerala coast (Fig. 2) for three sources of
tsunami generation, viz., Sumatra 2004, Makran
1945, and a potentially worst case source.

Table 2.Comparison of Observed and Computed Tsunami Run-up (m) at Selected Locations on
the Coast of Kerala [14]

Rate of Sea Level Rise
The measurement of sea level was started in the
early 1870s. Initially, tide gauges which were
installed in harbors were used for this purpose. By
analyzing the past data, predictions of tides were
done which were used for navigational purposes.
For studying global and regional sea level rise, many
modelers and oceanographers used the website
(www.pol.ac.uk) of the permanent service for mean
sea level (PSMSL), of the Proud Man Oceanographic
Laboratory (PMOL), UK, for getting the monthly sea
level data for all the tide gauge stations over the
globe [7,20].
Church et al. [5] in the third assessment report of
the IPCC reported the sea level rise in the past
century to be between 1 and 2 mm/ year. Bindoff et

73 J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)

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Praveen SS et al.
al. [2] reported the estimated values of global sea
level rise close to 1.8 mm/ year for the period 1961
to 2003.
The sea level rise studies along the Indian coasts
were made by Emery and Aubrey (1989), Douglas
[7], Unnikrishnan et al. [18], and Unnikrishnan and
Shankar [19]. Studies were also carried out by
Clarke and Liu, (1994), Shankar [16], and Shankar
and Shetye [17]. Unnikrishnan and Shankar [19]
analyzed all the records in North Indian Ocean and
estimated SLR trends for Aden, Karachi, Mumbai,
Figure 2.Coastal Stretch Selected for Simulations of SLR
Table 3.Rate of Sea Level Rise along selected locations of Indian Peninsula [18]
Sea Level Projections for Simulations
The intergovernmental panel on climate change
(IPCC) in its third assessment report (TAR) predicted
that by 2100 AD, global warming would raise sea
level anywhere between 10 and 80 cm. The IPCC-
TAR considered all the relevant factors of thermal
expansion, mountain glaciers, glacial ice of
Greenland and Antarctica, ground water, and soil
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Kochi, and Vishakhapatnam. Their estimate of 12
mm/ year closely matches with the findings of
Church et al. [5]. The regional average SLR trends
obtained from the estimates for the above stations
are 1.29 mm/ year. Unnikrishnan et al. [18]
estimated SLR trends for different locations of
peninsular India. The SLR trends estimated by them
for different periods are reproduced in Table 3.
While Kochi records the highest rate of 1.14 mm/
year, Chennai records a reverse trend with a fall in
sea level of 0.65 mm/year.
moisture to arrive at their result. The IPCC has given
future predictions of sea level in three different
bands divided into low, moderate, and extreme
level (Fig. 3). The lowest level predicts a rise of 0.10
m, moderate level 0.45 m and the extreme level
0.80 m over this century. The numerical model
simulation for the estimation of tsunami inundation
in the SLR scenario was carried out for all the three
bands.
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Figure 3.Projections of Sea Level Rise for the Next Century [10]
The simulations were carried out for three different
scenarios of sea level rise with 0.10 m for the
lowest level, 0.45 m for the moderate level, and
0.80 m for the extreme level. In addition to the
Sumatra 2004 and Makran 1945 sources, the
hypothetical worst case was selected for model
computations taking into account the impact this
case has on the Kerala coast.
Simulation Results for Sea Level Rise
Scenarios
The simulation results show varying results for the
entire coastal stretch of Kerala. The model was
done for different permutations and combinations
of sea level rise scenario with various tsunami-genic
sources. The model predicted that there is not
much of significant inundation for low and
moderate sea level rise while comparing with that
of 2004 Sumatra tsunami inundation. But the
extreme rise shows significant inundation along the
coast. Tables 4-6 show the inundation pattern for
selected locations along southern, central, and
northern Kerala coast. The simulated inundation for
the 2004 Sumatra tsunami for Neendakara,
Kovilthottam and Alappad are relatively low at 150,
315 and 558 m respectively. When the extreme SLR
was coupled with that, the inundation of the above
mentioned locations increased to 250, 470 and 645
m respectively.
The extent of inundation at the above locations
increased for the hypothetical case with extreme
SLR. The increase in inundation value at
Neendakara was phenomenal while the other two
locations did not show that kind of an increase.
Cheriyazhekkal, which is close to the Kayamkulam
inlet, and which showed a high inundation of 2500
m for Sumatra 2004 does not show a proportionate
increase even in the extreme SLR case.
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Praveen SS et al.
The other locations north of this sector, viz.,
Valiyazhekkal, Trikkunnapuzha and Thottapally,
simulated an inundation of 3087, 966 and 913 m
respectively for Sumatra 2004 which got increased
to 3183, 1148 and 2593 m for the hypothetical case
with extreme SLR. Barring a few locations like
Neendakara and Trikkunnapuzha, where the
inundation multiplied a few times, the inundation
did not show a pronounced increase for the other
locations of the sector for the hypothetical case
with extreme SLR. The high backshore elevation
prevailing in the Thiruvananthapuram coast can be
attributed towards the absence of proportionate
increase in inundation even when coupling
potentially worst case tsunami-genic source with
extreme SLR scenario.
In the central Kerala coast, there is drastic increase
in inundation for all the three sources along the
Ernakulam coast, which can be attributed towards
the low backshore elevation. The inundation for the
potentially worst case with extreme SLR was 3000
m for Manasseri and Anthakaranazhi in Ernakulam
district. The same locations showed an inundation
of 3000 m when the Sumatra 2004 source was
coupled with extreme sea level rise scenarios. The
inundation was in the range of 2000 and 1100 m for
these two locations when simulated for the 2004
Sumatra tsunami. The other locations like
Puthuvypin and Njarackal inundated around 853
and 670 m for 2004 tsunami. These locations
showed a maximum inundation of around 2500 m
for the extreme cases. The modeling results clearly
showed the vulnerability and harbinger associated
with low lying beaches in the event of this climate
change scenario. So it can be concluded that sea
level rise can make pronounced increase in
inundation in some of the stretches where the back
shore elevation is comparatively low.
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Praveen SS et al. National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015

Table 4.Comparison of Tsunami Inundation at Different Coastal Locations of Southern Kerala for Different
Sources of SLR Scenario

Table 5.Comparison of Tsunami Inundation at Different Coastal Locations of Central Kerala for Different
Sources of SLR Scenario

For the coast of Thrissur, the Munambam-Valappad
sector of Central Kerala has very less inundation for
Sumatra 2004 with a maximum of 565 m at
Perinjanam North. However, when simulation with
the extreme SLR is done for both Sumatra 2004 and
hypothetical case, the inundations increased to
some extent. The maximum inundation is still
observed at Perinjanam with values of 595 and 764
m respectively for the extreme sea level rise
scenarios of Sumatra 2004 and hypothetical case.
The extent of inundation at Munambam, where it
was 208 and 225 m for Sumatra 2004 and Sumatra
with extreme SLR respectively, increased to 511 m
when the hypothetical source was coupled with
extreme SLR. The other locations like Palippuram,
Cheraman, and Valappad where no inundation was
visible for the Sumatra 2004, showed an inundation
in the range of 90120 m for the Sumatra 2004 with
extreme SLR and 341, 747 and 400 m respectively
when the extreme SLR was coupled with the
hypothetical source.

J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4) 76

ISSN: 2455-3190
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Table 6.Comparison of Tsunami Inundation at Different Coastal Locations of Northern Kerala for Different
Sources of SLR Scenario
Along the northern Kerala coast, there is no
significant inundation for all the three cases. Some
sectors pertaining to the northern Kerala are very
well known for the huge elevation in the forms of
cliffs and that attributes to the insignificant
inundation even for the potentially worst case
scenario with extreme seal level rise condition.
Conclusion
Climate change and associated sea level rise (SLR) is
a reality. All over the world, concerted efforts are
being made to understand, analyze, and combat the
effects of climate change. In this background, an
analysis of the tsunami inundation scenario in the
SLR scenario is felt very important and relevant. The
IPCCs projection of SLR for the next century [10]
gives the scenarios of sea level changes. Tsunami
mitigation measures taking care of the prospects of
enhanced inundation on account of SLR have to be
taken up. The numerical simulations of tsunami
inundation carried out for different bands of
projected SLR give valuable information to facilitate
mitigation measures. The simulation results show
that there is no significant increase in inundation
for the lower and moderate bands of sea level rise.
However, the potentially worst case scenario of
tsunami generation compiled with extreme sea
level rise can generate inundation many times
higher than the normal one at locations like
Neendakara and Thottapally, while the Kayamkulam
inlet area continues to be a high-risk zone with
inundation greater than 3 km irrespective of the
SLR scenario. From this investigation, it can be
77
Praveen SS et al.
summarized that sea level rise can definitely cause
manifold increase in inundation in some of the
stretches pertaining to southern and central Kerala
coast where the backshore elevation is
comparatively low. It would be highly essential to
carry out the numerical simulations for the extreme
SLR scenarios for the whole coast by providing high
resolution topographic grid for the coastal zone.
Acknowledgments
The Ministry of Earth Sciences is thanked for
funding a project under which the study was done.
The authors are grateful to Dr. TS Mury, Adjunct
Professor, University of Ottawa, Canada, and Dr. M
Baba, Former Director NCESS, for their guidance.
Special Thanks are due to Dr. MV Ramanamurthy
(Project Director, NIOT-Chennai), Dr. RS Kankara,
Dr. Tune Usha, and Dr. Pravakar Mishra of ICMAM
PD, Chennai, and Dr. TS Shahul Hameed (Former
Scientist, NCESS) for their effective contributions.
References
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[2] Bindoff NL, Willebrand J, Artale V et al.
Observations: Oceanic climate change and
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et al. (Eds.). Climate Change 2007: The
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Physical Science Basin. Cambridge University
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Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on
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[6] Donn WL, Farand WR, Ewing M. Pleistocene
ice volumes and sea level lowering. J Geol
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[9] Hughes T, Fastook JL, Denton GH. Climatic
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Antarctic ice sheet. Orano, Marine, University
of Maine, 1979.
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change. IPCC Third assessment report-The
scientific basis. The IPCC Secretariat,
Switzerland, 2001.
[11] Kurian NP, Baba M, Rajith K et al. Analysis of
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the tsunami of 26 December 2004 on the
Kerala coast of India-Part I: Amplitudes. Mar
Geod 2006b; 29: 265-70.
[12] Massachusetts, State of. 1981. Barrier
beaches: A few questions answered. Boston:
Massachusetts Office of Coast. Zone
Management, 1981.
[13] Mercer JH. The lower boundary of the
Holocene. Quat Res 1972; 2: 15-24.
[14] Praveen SS, Reshmi AK, Dhanya P et al.
Numerical simulation of 26 December 2004
Tsunami on the southwest coast and
Lakshadweep Islands of India. Mar Geod
(Spec. issue on tsunamis) 2011; 34: 59-67.
[15] Praveen SS. Numerical modelling of tsunami
propagation in the South East Arabian Sea
and inundation along the Kerala coast. PhD
Thesis. Cochin University of Science and
Technology, 2012.
[16] Shankar D. Low-frequency variability of sea
level along the coast of India. Unpubl. Ph. D.
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[17] Shankar D, Shetye SR. Why is mean sea level
along the Indian coast higher in the Bay of
Bengal than in the Arabian Sea? Geophys Res
Lett 2001; 28: 563-65.
[18] Unnikrishnan AS, Rupakumar K, Fernander SE
et al. Sea-level changes along the Indian
coast: Observations and projections. Curr Sci
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[19] Unnikrishnan AS, Shankar D. Are sea-level
rise trends along the coasts of north Indian
Ocean coasts consistent with global
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78
 Monitoring Capacity Loss of a Coastal Reservoir
using Satellite Data
S Saravanan*, VS Jeyakanthan**
Abstract
Periodic surveys of reservoirs are essential to evaluate the decrease in storage
capacity due to inflow and trapping of sediment. Conventional hydrographic surveys
are time consuming, labor intensive, and expensive. Satellite remote sensing
techniques provide time-and cost-effective estimation of the periodical capacity
surveys. Water-spread area, estimated from satellite data at different storage levels
in a hydrologic year provides an important input for estimation of the revised
capacity of a reservoir. In this study, Somasila reservoir located on Pennar river that
flows through Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, South India, has been chosen for
evaluating the capacity loss using satellite image data. Digital satellite data pertaining
to the years 2012 and 2013 was acquired for different reservoir elevations and the
revised water spread areas were extracted. Trapezoidal formula was utilized to
estimate the revised capacity of Somasila reservoir. The results show that the loss in
capacity is 31.16 M m3 during the period 1987 to 2013. If uniform rate of
sedimentation is assumed, in 26 years of operation of the reservoir, then the
sedimentation rate would be 1.19 M m3 per year.

Keywords: Reservoir, Water spread area, Satellite data, Capacity estimation.

Introduction
Sediment deposition and its accumulation in a
reservoir depends on the sediment load carried by
rivers and reservoir storage capacity respectively
(Phatarford, 1990). Rivers in India carry only 5% of
the global water runoff but they transport about
30% of the total sediment carried to the oceans
(Milliman and Meade, 1983). Sediment transport of
a number of Indian rivers has been reported by
several authors [1-3]. The transported silt
eventually gets deposited at different levels of a
reservoir and reduces its storage capacity [6, 7, 14].
Reduction in the storage capacity beyond a limit
prevents the reservoir from the fulfilment of the
purpose for which it is designed. Periodical capacity
surveys of the reservoir help in assessing the rate of
sedimentation and reduction in storage capacity.
The conventional technique such as hydrographic
survey and inflow-outflow approaches, for the
estimation of capacity of a reservoir are
cumbersome, time consuming, expensive and
involve more manpower. An alternate to
conventional methods, remote sensing technique
provides cost-and time-effective estimation of the
live capacity of a reservoir [7]. Multi-date satellite
remote sensing data provide information on
elevation contours, in the form of water-spread
area, at different water levels of a reservoir. Water-
spread area thus interpreted from the satellite data
is used as an input in a simple volume-estimation
formula to calculate the capacity of a reservoir.
Such works have been reported by Manavalan [11]
for Malaprabha reservoir in India, Goel [6] for Bargi
reservoir in India, and Jain [7] for Bhakra reservoir
in India. Apart from this, remote sensing-based
approach is economical and requires less time to
analyze the data, compared to the conventional
methods. To utilize these advantages, in this study
an attempt has been made to evaluate the loss in
capacity of Somasila reservoir, Andhra Pradesh, for
the period 1987 to 2013.

*
Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli, India.
**
Deltaic Regional Centre, National Institute of Hydrology, Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Correspondence to: Mr VS Jeyakanthan, Deltaic Regional Centre, National Institute of Hydrology, Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh,
India. E-mail Id: Jeyakanthan05@Gmail.Com

ADR Journals 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Saravanan S et al.
Study Reservoir
Somasila reservoir is located (Fig. 1) on the river
Pennar which flows through the Nellore district in
Andhra Pradesh. The reservoir is at a distance of
about 80 km from Nellore town which is also the
district capital. The river Pennar or the Uttara
Pinakini is the fourth largest river and is next to
river Cauvery that flows east and drains into the Bay
of Bengal. The Pennar rises at the Chinna Kesava hill
of the Nandidurg range in Karnataka State. The fan-
shaped basin extends over an area of 55,213 sq. km
and is bounded on the north by the Erramala range,
on the east by the Nallamala and Velikonda ranges
of the Eastern Ghats, on the south by the
Nandidurg hills and on the west by the narrow ridge
separating it from the Vedavati Valley of the Krishna
Figure 1.Location of Study Reservoir
Satellite Data Used
The image data used in this study were obtained by
the Landsat7 (ETM+) satellite which provides a
spatial resolution of 30 m and spectral resolution in
eight different bands (0.441-0.514, 0.519-0.601,
0.631-0.692, 0.772-0.898, 1.547-1.749, 10.31-12.36,
2.064-2.345, 0.515-0.896 m). The different dates
Table 1.Details of the Satellite Data Used and the Water Level during the Pass of the
Satellite over the Reservoir
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
basin. The other hill ranges in the basin to the south
of the river are the Seshachalam and Paliconda
ranges. The basin receives rainfall during both the
monsoon seasons (NE and SW) with major
contribution from the northeast monsoon. The
normal annual rainfall at Nellore is 988 mm. The
mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures
are 40.9 and 16.9 oC respectively. The principal soil
types in the basin are red loam, red sand, black
loam, and black clay. Red soils cover major portion
of the basin. The general crops grown in the basin
are paddy, groundnut, bajra, jowar, ragi, vegetables
and sugarcane. With the aforementioned
topography, rainfall and landuse, it is evident that
an appreciable amount of sediment is carried by the
streams in the basin into the Somasila reservoir,
thereby reducing its capacity.
of the satellite data used and the respective water
level during the pass of the satellite over the
reservoir are given in Table 1. Reservoir water level
data on the day of satellite pass and the available
hydrographic survey details have been collected
from the Somasila reservoir authority responsible
for maintaining and operation of the reservoir.
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Methodology
The changes in the water spread could be
accurately estimated by analyzing the areal spread
of the reservoir at different elevations over a period
of time using the satellite image data (Morris and
Fan, 1998; Smith and Pavelsky, 2009). Many
techniques (maximum likelihood, minimum
distance to mean classifier, sub-pixel classification,
support vector mechanism, etc.) are available to
extract the required information from the satellite
image data. One among them is band threshold
technique which is easy and require less
computational time have been used in this study to
extract the water spread area of the reservoir.
Estimated water spread areas were used in a simple
volume estimation formula (trapezoidal formula) to
compute the storage capacity of the reservoir.
Estimation of the water spread area and the
computation of the capacity of the reservoir are
discussed in the following sections. All the five
temporal images used in this study were free from
clouds, noise and geo-referenced with a pixel size of
30 m30 m. Analysis was carried out after
correcting the scan line anomaly.
Computation of Water Spread Area
Water reflects most of the visible wavelengths, but
the energy at the near-infrared (NIR) wavelength is
almost absorbed by the water, thus providing a
good contrast between land and water in the NIR
images [10]. Such a contrast helps in extracting the
water-spread area of the reservoir. Different
procedures have been adopted by many
Figure 2.Satellite Image Data and the Corresponding Extracted Water-Spread Area at Different Water Levels
of Somasila Reservoir
81
Saravanan S et al.
researchers [4,7,9,13,15] for water body
identification in wetland areas and reservoirs,
which adopt the per-pixel-based approach. Among
them the band-threshold approach is easy and valid
method for identifying the water body. Also it has
been suggested that this per-pixel-based approach
could give accurate estimates of the area of water
body if NIR band is used [5, 7]. Therefore, the band-
threshold technique was adopted to extract the
water spread area that corresponds to various
water levels of the reservoir. The following model
equation has been used in the image processing
software to delineate the water-spread area of the
reservoir. The adopted algorithm states that:
if
PV-NIR >TL-NIR and Eq. (1)
PV-NIR <TH-NIR, then
the pixel is in the water-spread area, where, PV-NIR is
the pixel value in NIR band, TL-NIR and TH-NIR are
lower and higher thresholds for the NIR band. Since
the absorption of electromagnetic radiation by
water is maximum in the NIR spectral region, the
digital number (DN) of water pixels is considerably
lower than that corresponding to other land cover
types. Even if the water depth is shallow, the
increased absorption in NIR band will restrict the
DN value to be less than the green and red bands. If
the soil is exposed (possibly saturated) at the
surface, the reflectance will be as per the signature
of the soil, which increases with wavelength in this
spectral range. Thus, following this algorithm
(Equation 1) water pixels that belong to a particular
water level of the reservoir were extracted. The
extracted water-spread areas are shown in Fig. 2.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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Saravanan S et al.
Computation of Volume between Successive
Water Levels
Traditionally, the reservoir volume between two
consecutive reservoir water levels was computed
using the prismoidal formula, the Simpson formula
or the trapezoidal formula (Patra, 2001). Of these,
the trapezoidal formula has been the most widely
used for the computation of volume [5,6,12,13].
The water spread area estimated using band-
threshold approach was used as an input to the
trapezoidal formula (Equation 2) to determine the
volume at consecutive water levels of the reservoir.
V=H*(A1+A2+(A1*A2))/3 Eq. (2)
where, V is the volume between any two
consecutive water levels, A1 and A2 are the water
spread areas at the reservoir water levels 1 and 2
respectively and H is the difference between these
two water levels.
Computation of Storage Capacity of the
Reservoir
The volumes computed (using Equation 2) between
different water levels (i.e., from minimum draw
down level (MDDL) to full reservoir level (FRL)) were
added together to calculate the cumulative or
storage capacity of the reservoir.
Computation of Capacity Loss
The difference between the original and revised
cumulative capacities represents the loss in capacity
of the reservoir. Capacity of the reservoir carried
out before impoundment of the reservoir
represents the original capacity whereas any
capacity survey carried out after the impoundment
of the reservoir implies the revised capacity of the
reservoir.
Results and Discussion
Five different water levels which vary from 82.77 to
95.29 m (near FRL) of the reservoir were selected
based on the availability of cloud-free satellite data
to estimate the water-spread of the reservoir. The
designed FRL of the reservoir is 100.584 m. To
extract the water pixels from the satellite image
data, band-threshold algorithm (Equation 1) was
used. It requires separate minimum and maximum
threshold digital number (DN) from the NIR band
for the five satellite images used in the study. With
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
the help of the algorithm, the pixels which contain
DN values between the identified minimum and
maximum threshold values were labelled as water
pixels. Basic statistical tools provided in the image
processing software were utilized to find out the
minimum pixel value of the water-spread area and
their locations on the water-spread area was also
verified, which showed that the pixels with low DN
were located at the central portion of the water-
spread area of the reservoir. The lower and higher
DN values among the five image data used were 10
and 32 respectively. The extracted minimum DN
were 10, 12, 15, 13 and 16 for the images
pertaining to the months March 12, April 12, April
13, March 13 and April 13 respectively. The
analysis of DN values of the water body showed
that the pixel value increases towards the periphery
of the water body and the border pixels have the
maximum DN. In selecting the maximum value of
the water-spread area, one has to examine the
pixels along the periphery of the reservoir. But it is
not an easy task to select the maximum threshold
value along the border of the reservoir area. For
example, at one location of the border area, one
may be satisfied with a pixel value of 38 but in
another location it may change up to a DN value of
45. Thus, the change in pixel value, over a large
range consumes enormous time to attain a
conclusion on the maximum threshold of DN that
has to be fixed-up to extract the water-spread area.
The extracted maximum pixel values were 31, 32,
28, 45, 30 and 32 for the images pertaining to the
month of March 12, April 12, April 13, March 13
and April 13 respectively.
The total number of water pixels that were
extracted were multiplied by the area (30 m30 m)
of a single pixel to compute the water spread area
pertaining to a single image. The same technique
was adopted to convert the extracted water pixels
into the water spread area in all five images used in
this study.
The water spread area thus estimated in each
image using the band threshold approach has been
used as an input to the trapezoidal formula
(Equation 2) to calculate the consecutive volumes
of the reservoir. The estimated cumulative capacity
of the reservoir at the water level of 95.29 m (near
FRL) using the band-threshold approach was
1245.45 Mm3. Thus, the satellite image data was
utilized to compute the capacity of Somasila
reservoir and shown in Table 2.
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Table 2.Calculation of Revised Capacity of Somasila Reservoir Using Satellite Image Data
Conclusion
This study has demonstrated that repetitive
imaging by remote sensing satellites can provide
significant information on the loss of capacity of the
reservoirs. The sediment evaluation of Somasila
reservoir using remote sensing data shows that the
average annual sedimentation rate during the
period 1987-2013 is 1.19 Mm3/year. The loss in
capacity can be accurately estimated by
incorporating satellite data pertaining to full
reservoir level (FRL) and minimum draw down level
(MDDL) and also that the difference in water level
among the satellite data used is maintained a
minimum one. However, getting the satellite data
of a particular reservoir depends upon many factors
such as presence of cloud above the reservoir,
availability of satellite data in a water year, size of
the reservoir, etc. Usually it is a practice to compare
the results of remote- sensing technique with the
hydrographic survey conducted, but the present
study could not be compared due to the reason
that no hydrographic survey was carried out in the
reservoir during the recent past.
Acknowledgements
The authors submit their utmost gratitude to the
USGS for providing the satellite data and also to the
Somasila reservoir authority for supplying the
reservoir details.
References
[1] Abbas N, Subramanian V. Erosion and
sediment transport in the Ganges river basin
(India). Journal of Hydrology 1984; 69: 173-
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[2] Biksham G, Subramanian V. Sediment
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controlling sediment discharge in the
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LISS II data. Asian Pacific Remote Sensing &
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sediment deposition rate in Bargi Reservoir
using digital image processing. Hydrological
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et al. Capacity evaluation of the Malaprabha
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Handbook. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co,
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approach for prioritization of reservoir
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84
 Morphological Changes Caused by Post-Tsunami in the Region
of Nagapattinam Coast, Tamilnadu, East Coast of India
R Karikalan*, T Kongeswaran*
Abstract
A series of gigantic waves triggered in a body of water by disturbance due to
earthquake vertically displaces water column and leads to wall of water, hitting
the shore with tremendous energy and leaving behind a trail of destruction. Such
an event occurred on 26th December 2004, which one is among the worst the
world has faced so far. Magnitude of 9 is the 5th largest earth quake ever
recorded in history. In many areas, the coastal topography formed over the years
provides significant protection from natural disturbances like cyclones and
tsunami. Pressure on the coastal environment arising from all kinds of human
activities is generally high because 60% of the worlds human population lives in
the coastal areas alone. Conversion of coastal sand dunes and plantations has
intensified dramatically after the tsunami, driven largely by the belief that bio-
shields mitigated tsunami inundation. The proposed Study area falls within the
Quaternary formation of the Nagapattinam district and forms part of northern
Tamilnadu coast, located in the east coast of India, bounded by the Bay of Bengal.
The study region has transitional landscapes of fluvial and coastal nature.
Between the fluvial and marine environment deltas, estuaries, coastal dunes,
beach ridges, mud flats, tidal flats, runnels, palaeo beach ridges, palaeo tidal flats,
creeks, backwater, and coastal plain etc., these make up the coastal landform
system in this area. The major rivers like Cauvery along with their tributaries drain
into the sea along this region. The coastal region is composed of sedimentary
formations. The coastal region of the study area was destroyed by the wave
action, the entire shoreline was changed. Understanding of the coastal
geomorphology helps the afforestation of the coastal areas, acts as a barrier
against wave action along the coastal areas, and prevents coastal erosion.

Keywords: Tsunami, Earthquake, Cyclone, Coastal erosion, Coastal

geomorphology.

Introduction
A series of gigantic waves triggered in a body of Sri Lanka. The Indian coast is bestowed with a
water by disturbance due to earthquake vertically wide range of coastal ecosystems like mangroves,
displaces water column and leads to wall of coral reefs, sea grasses, and salt marshes and
water, hitting the shore with tremendous energy geomorphological features like lagoons,
and leaving behind a trail of destruction. Such an backwaters, and estuaries. In many areas, the
event occurred on 26th December 2004, which coastal topography formed over the years
one is among the worst the world has faced so provides significant protection from natural
far. Magnitude of 9 is the 5th largest earthquake disturbances like cyclones and tsunamis
ever recorded in history (Gupta, 2005). This (Ramachandran, 2006). But these natural barriers
created series of massive ocean waves and could diminish or even be lost if they are not
caused devastating inundation in the south managed properly. Pressure on the coastal
eastern coastline of India and eastern coastline of environment arising from all kinds of human
*
Department of Oceanography and CAS, Alagappa University, Thondi Campus.
Correspondence to: Mr R Karikalan, Department of Oceanography and CAS, Alagappa University, Thondi Campus.
E-mail Id: ramasamykarikalan@rediffmail.com

ADR Journals 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Karikalan R et al.
activities is generally high because of this high
population density; i.e., about 60% of the worlds
human population lives in the coastal areas alone.
Conversion of coastal sand dunes and plantations
has intensified dramatically after the tsunami,
driven largely by the belief that bio-shields
mitigated tsunami inundation (Bhalla, 2007).
Understanding of the coastal geomorphology
helps the afforestation of the coastal areas using
mangroves (Baskaran et al., 2003). Even, coral
reefs act as a barrier against wave action along
the coastal areas and prevent coastal erosion. In
addition, coral reefs protect mangroves and sea-
grass beds along the shore (Thanickachalam and
Ramachandran, 2003). Chatenoux and Peduzzi
(2007) reported that the areas covered by sea-
grasses were less affected by tsunami waves.
Coastal afforestation with casuarinas, screw
pines, palms, bamboos, and mangroves can
protect the coast from erosion and indeed
protect other natural ecosystems
(Gopalakrishnan, 2007).
Figure 1.Base Map
Materials and Methods
Multitemporal satellite data of Landsat ETM
2001 and Landsat ETM 2007 images were used for
generate land use/ land cover map and
geomorphology map. The use of multitemporal
satellite data at a large scale poses a number of
challenges including geometric correction error,
noise erasing from atmospheric effect, error
arising from changing illumination geometer, and
instrument errors (Homer et al. 2004). In this
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Study Area
The proposed study area falls within the
quaternary formation and Nagapattinam district
forms part of northern Tamilnadu coast, located
in the east coast of India, bounded by the Bay of
Bengal. It extents between longitude 79o74 85
to 79o 95 13, latitude between 11o 74 85 to 10o
75 00. The study region has transitional
landscapes of fluvial and coastal nature. Between
the fluvial and marine environment deltas,
estuaries, coastal dunes, beach ridges, mud flats,
tidal flats, runnels, palaeo beach ridges, palaeo
tidal flats, creeks, backwater, mangroves and
coastal plain, etc., make up the coastal landform
system in this area. The major rivers like Cauvery
along with their tributaries drain into the sea
along this region. The coastal region is composed
of sedimentary formations like sandstone and
alluvium. The study area is subjected to natural
calamities like tsunami and floods. It is also noted
that the natural calamities are more frequent
disturbing the normal ecosystem in this region.
study, the geometric and radiometric errors were
rectified through image preprocessing
techniques. ETM images geometrically corrected
using ground control points (GCP) were taken
from the SOI top sheets with an RMS error of less
than 30 m by using nearest neighborhood
resampling method. The Landsat ETM 2007 image
was registered to the previously registered ETM
2001 base year image with UTM zone, Datum
WGS84. After the rectification process an area of
interest was selected and initial study sites from
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
both full scenes were sub-setted and designated
the ETM 2007 and ETM 2007 images. The FCC was
generated and enhanced through the histogram
equalization method to distinguish the land use/
land cover features. Different land use features
were mapped such as settlement, agricultural
land, river, land with and without scrub,
plantation, salt-affected land, waterlogged area,
marshy/ swampy land, mudflat/ tidal flat and
aquaculture and their changes were analyzed
with the help of GIS (Arc GIS 9.3) software
environment.
Significance of the Study
The planet Earth has enormous renewable and
non-renewable natural resources. But due to the
rapidly exploding population, man is
unscrupulously and haphazardly exploiting such
natural resources, thus causing an irreversible
depletion and damage to the environment. The
proposal originates from the field evidences and
articles that establish a link between land cover
pattern changes especially the coastal landforms
by natural (cyclonic effect and tsunami) and
anthropogenic processes (industrialization,
population, etc.) and its impact over the water
resources in the coastal region. Particularly, the
demand for water and land resources are
expanded with the increase of human activities in
coastal regions, which results in ecological and
environmental concerns (Al-Adamat et al., 2003).
Therefore, investigation on the impact of tsunami
and human activities on landform changes and its
consequences over the coastal system is
important for both economic development and
ecosystem protection in the proposed coastal
regions.
Result and Discussion
Coastal Geomorphology
The study area is a part of the Cauvery Delta; the
coastal landforms are not only of marine origin
but also of fluvial and fluvial marine. Though
major part of the area is covered by deltaic
alluvial plains, the shore zone part contains
marine-dominated landforms. As strong littoral
currents are prevalent in the near off shore
region, their effects are also observed in the near
shore landforms. As large thickness of sediments
from Gondwana to Recent constitute the coastal
plain, their relation with the hinterland rocks and
the isostatic equilibrium between them was the
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Karikalan R et al.
matter of concern for geomorphologists in early
1900. Hence in order to show a comprehensive
picture of the coastal geomorphologic setup with
the neighboring landforms, a brief description of
the regional geomorphology covering the
adjoining regions is given below. The terrestrial
morphodynamics of Tamilnadu has been a field of
major interest among geomorphologists, despite
the controversy whether the generation of
planation surfaces were formed by peneplanation
or pediplanation (Vaidyanathan, 1975; Babu
1975; Subramanian et. al., 1980; Radhakrishna,
1993).
The mesozoic and tertiary sediments in the
coastal sedimentary basins are ostensibly the
product of weathering and erosion of these
crystalline rocks. Oil and Natural Gas
Corporations bore well data in the Cauvery basin
indicates the occurrence of more than 6000 m
thick sediments ranging in age from late Jurassic
to Holocene. The resulting isostatic imbalance
created by the deposition of the huge thickness of
sediments in the Cauvery basin had been
responsible for the cratonic uplift in hinterland
regions in equal rate to the sinking of coastal
basins (Sastri et. al., 1981). The middle Jurassic
planation surface traced at an altitude of 2400 m
is considered as a result of this continental crustal
elevation. The continuation of such isostatic
movements in large scale even during tertiary and
quaternary are well indicated by the occurrence
of huge thickness of Cuddalore sandstones of
Mio-Pliocene period and deltaic and other
deposits of quaternary age along the east coast of
India. This sequence of tectono-geomorphic
events question the long considered view of the
tectonic stability of the Indian peninsula and it is
now becoming increasingly regarded that the
Archean cratonic shield also has had its
quaternary earth movements.
Coastal geomorphology is the study of the
landforms and physical processes of the coast. In
these coastal environments are rimmed with
various coastal geomorphic features, viz., beach,
beach ridge, paleo beach ridge, deltaic plain,
mud/ tidal flat, salt flat, flood plain, swale
complexes, etc. The regional assessment, the
geomorphology data were used as indices and the
detailed geomorphology as interpreted using
Landsat ETM 2007 data by zooming it to 1:10,000
scale and all the geomorphic features were
identified. The satellite data shows that deltaic
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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Karikalan R et al.
plain dominates in Nagapattinam coast (274.8
km2). Mud/ tidal flats covered an area about
30.63 km2 and they are always associated with
silted environments like estuaries, backwater and
other embankments. Coastal plain is an area of
flat, lowlying land adjacent to a sea coast and
separated from the interior by other features and
occupies about 33.7 km. Floodplains are active
geomorphic environments because of
sedimentation caused by flooding, erosion caused
by channel migration, and deposition of sand
blown off of barren river bars. The active flood
plains found adjacent to the water channels were
characterized by light grayish tone on the
imagery.
Figure 2.Coastal Geomorphology (Landsat ETM 2001) Figure 3.Coastal Geomorphology (Landsat ETM 2007)
Coastal Landforms
The study area has wide-ranging features of
fluvial, fluvio-marine to marine origin. Biogenic
and planation forms are also observed. The shore
zone part of the area consists of discontinuous
late Pleistocene and Holocene barrier beach
ridges. In between the beach ridges, swales,
linear depression with clay and silt enriched, are
found to occur. The barrier beach ridge complex
is bordered in the west by wide ranging coastal
landforms. As the coast is of open nature, wave-
dominated landforms are abundant. In order to
understand the morphogenetic set up of the
landforms and their evolution, coastal
geomorphology map of the study area was
prepared. Satellite images were interpreted to
prepare a base map for the field work. Special
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
The flood plain occupied in region about 11.78
km2 (2.7%). Beach ridges and paleo beach ridges,
frequent components of coastal plains, and
indicators of the positions of ancient seashores
and associated sea levels. The area covered by
paleo beach ridges and beach ridges has been
estimated about 42.85 km2 (9.7%) and 10.73 km2
respectively. The Nagapattinam coastline consists
of long, narrow, low and sandy beaches and
occupied about 5.42 km2. As seen in Table.1,
river/ canal (8.02 km2), salt flat (29.19 km2), and
swale (10.68 km2) constitute fare area coverage in
the study area [6].
attention was devoted to the identification and
classification of landforms. All the geomorphic
features interpreted from satellite imagery were
transferred to the base map. Coastal
geomorphology maps were prepared for each
segment of the study area. The geomorphic
features observed in the study area are beaches,
beach ridges, swales, delta plain, mudflats, rivers,
point bar, lakes and tanks, mangroves and
lagoons. Beach ridges and associated landforms
are found throughout the length of the shore
zone part of the coast. Beach ridges raised up to a
height of 6 m are observed. The deltaic alluvial
plain dominates the major part of the study area
and contains sediments derived from mainly by
Cauvery river from hinterland and weathered and
eroded materials of adjoining sedimentary rocks.
Each landform explicitly indicates the type of
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
natural processes involved in its formation and
distribution. Depositional landforms dominate the
region except low beach cliff observed in a few
places, which are product of erosion. Distribution
of landforms deltaic alluvial plain and beach ridge
plain cover major part of the study area. Beach
ridges are prominently well-developed in the
region of Nagapattinam. Beach ridge plain to a
width of 10 km is observed here. The width of
beach ridge plain decreases toward both the
north and south and a few narrow ridges are
noticed north of Nagapattinam. The occurrence
of younger beach ridges in this fashion gives
triangular shape to the region. Swales are present
in between the beach ridges. The lagoon is
bordered on the sea side by barrier ridges and on
the landward side by mudflats. Thick mangrove
vegetation is noticed around the lagoon. All the
features mentioned above are bordered in the
west by Cauvery deltaic alluvial plain that extends
inland up to 70 km.
Description of Landforms
Beaches
Beach ranges in width from a 1 km to 2 km are
noticed. Since the coast is open and wave
dominated, beaches are dynamic and subjected
to frequent changes in profiles. The dominant
wave actions with large amount of input of
sediments derived through long-shore littoral
currents make the beaches the most dynamic
landforms of the study area. Beaches are
generally made of medium to fine sand with
moderate to well-sorted characteristics. In some
places, beach sands overlie the delta plain
indicating that the beach sands have been laid
over them during the later transgression of sea
over the delta. Wide beaches are observed
around Nagapattinam. Alluvial and deltaic plains
are observed underlying these sandy formations
very near to the shoreline indicating that the sea
is under transgression making the older deltaic
plains to submerge under water. Beaches are
observed in small patches (1.5 km). Beaches are
continuous in the area of Nagapattinam region.
Here the beaches range in width from 0.5 km to
1.8 km.
Beach Ridges and Swales
Beach ridges are defined as linear sandy-shelly
swash deposits with intervening sandy plain or
swales occurring parallel or sub-parallel to the
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Karikalan R et al.
shore formed by periodic wave impounding
action [26]. Similar to beaches, beach ridges are
also found to occur as discontinuous ridges along
the entire coastal stretch of the study area. These
beach ridges ranging in height from 0.5 to 6 m are
noticed in the shore zone parts of the delta. The
width of the beach ridges plains varies from 2 to
10 km. The widest beach ridge plain is observed in
Nagapattinam region. In the area north of
Nagapattinam, a few ridges in discontinuous
patches are noticed. There are two sets of beach
ridges observed in the study area and they are
named as younger and older beach ridges.
The older ridges contain yellow color bleached
sand and occur along the land ward margin of the
beach ridge plain. The older beach ridges are
stabilized and flatted by the terrestrial processes.
The comparison of the alignment of configuration
of these older ridges with respect to the present-
day shoreline helps to trace the direction of
progradation of delta and evolution of the coast.
The younger beach ridges contain recent loose
sands and are unbleached unlike older beach
ridges. The older ridges have been dated to
125,000 years BP and younger ridges to 6000
years BP [2, 3, 16]. In between the older and
younger beach ridges, paleo lagoonal plains are
noticed. The width of the ridges range from 50 to
350 m and length extends up to 5 km. They are
bordered by mudflats in the seaward side and by
deltaic alluvial plain in the landward side. The
ridges align NE-SW direction and are more or less
parallel to the present shore line.
South of Nagore, a beach ridge to a length of 3.6
km and a width of 900 m is observed. The ridge
aligns in the NS direction and is parallel to the
shore line. In the area north of Nagore, a beach
ridge to a length of 6 km and to a width of 1.7 km
is observed. The ridge aligns N 12 W. The ridge
contains yellow color sand with medium to fine
size and moderately sorted characteristic. An
older ridge is observed around Thiruvattangudi. It
extends to a length of 16.8 km and the width
ranges from 1 km to 2.2 km. The ridge is found 2
km away from the shore line. The ridge aligns in
the NS direction. The ridge contains yellow color
bleached sands in fine size and well-sorted
characteristic. Around Tarangambadi, older beach
ridges are observed. Ridges to a length of 5.7 km
and width of up to 4 km are observed. The ridges
align NS direction and occur 3 km away from the
shore line. The ridges are bordered on all sides by
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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Karikalan R et al.
deltaic alluvial plain. The ridges occur over lying
deltaic alluvial plain. The ridges occur over lying
paleo lagoonal plains. They are bordered by paleo
lagoonal plains and younger beach ridges in the
seaward sides and deltaic plain in the landward
side. The ridges align parallel to the shore line.
The ridges extend to a length of 10 km and to a
width of 7 km. The alignment of older beach
ridges marks the direction of paleo shoreline
existing at the time of formation of the older
ridges. The shoreline of the past existed in these
places would have had the configuration similar
to the configuration of older ridges, i.e., the older
beach ridges denote strandline. The width of the
ridges around Nagapattinam is around 2.3 km. In
the area of Nagore younger beach ridges are not
found to occur. The younger beach ridges occur
0.5 km away from the shore line and extend up to
5 km. These ridges align parallel to the shore line.
The width of the ridges varies from 2.5 to 6 km.
The ridges are bordered by recent beaches in the
seaward side and paleo lagoonal plain in the
seaward side. The ridges contain buff colored
sand in fine size and well-sorted nature.
Delta Plain
In broader terms, a delta can be defined as the
coastal deposits, both sub-aqueous and sub-aerial
derived from river-borne sediments. Also
included are those sedimentary deposits molded
by various marine agents such as waves, currents
and tides that are found within the deltaic plain
(Coleman, 1981). As the delta development is
controlled by various agents like river, waves,
tides, currents, and wind, wide-ranging
geomorphic features are usually associated with
the delta plain. A large deltaic alluvial plain
interspersed with distributaries and abandoned
channels covers major part of the study area. The
plain is made up of a large thickness of alluvial soil
that makes the region fertile, mainly for the
cultivation of paddy, sugarcane, banana, and
coconut plantation. The delta plain forms more or
less a horizontal to very gently inclined surface.
The alluvial plain extends up to the shore in the
region of Nagapattinam. The beach ridge plain is
narrow in this region. It is surmised that the
transgression had submerged the beach ridges
formed earlier and made beach ridge plain
narrow here. It also denotes that the delta had
extended for beyond the present limit into the
sea during the regression of the sea following
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
middle Holocene transgression. The network of
abandoned channels and other related features
like flood plain and natural levees indicate that
the development of modern delta commenced
along the south and southeasterly portions.
Shifting the domain of sedimentation towards
north successively, the river Cauvery changed its
deltaic regime from time to time.
Lagoons, Salt Marshes and Mangrove
Swamps
Lagoon is a shallow stretch of sea water, such as
channel, pond or salt-water lake, near the sea and
partly or completely separated from it by a low
narrow, elongate strip of land, such as a reef,
barrier island, sandbank, or spit. It often extends
roughly parallel to the coast and has a narrow
inlet.
Mud Flats
Mud flat is a flat area containing a fluid to plastic
mixture of finely divided particles of solid
materials mainly silts, clay, and water. They are
always associated with the sheltered environment
like lagoons, estuaries and other embayment. The
difference between the forms of sheltered
environment and open coast are not of
morphological changes, but of changes in
sediments. The mudflats are bordered in the land
ward side by younger beach ridges. Palk bay in
the region provides a sheltered environment with
low-energy waves and high tides. This condition
favors the formation of mudflats along the shore
zone part. The expansion of the lagoon during
earlier transgression, high tide and storm season
has favored the development of mudflats here.
Bordering the lagoon mangroves have grown and
salt marshes have developed.
The mudflat regions contain marine clay and silt
with lot of marine animals shells. While the
swales formed during the time of older beach
ridges have been made into paleo lagoonal plains,
the swales formed during the time of younger
beach ridges have been made into mudflats. The
swales that are found behind the recent barrier
ridges are made into lagoon. The barrier beaches
occurring in the seaward side of the backwaters
create a sheltered environment, which has
favored the development of mud flats. A small
patch of mudflat is present in between Nagore
and Karaikal in the middle part of the study area.
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Land Use/ Land Cover
The Land use/ land cover assessment based on
visual interpretation for the period 2001 and 2007
as derived from Landsat ETM satellite image
respectively. The results indicate that dominant
land use/ land cover category in 1999 was
agricultural land, which was occupied about
59.2% of the study area, plantation covering
19.2%, settlement occupying 4.1%, water logged
area and aquaculture covered 4%, 1.5%
respectively while river/ canal (9.1 km2), salt
affected land (6.78 km2), sandy area (12.92 km2)
land without scrub (14.02 km2) constitute fare
area coverage in the region. In 2007, the three
categories continued to dominate the area
(agricultural land 219.35 km2, settlement 57.35
km2 and plantation 48 km2), here plantation
decreased (8.3%) while settlement (housing,
industries, towns) increased (8.9%) due to the
change in population density, labor force in
agriculture and population growth. As evident
Figure 4.Land Use/ Land Cover Map (Landsat ETM 2007)
Conclusion
The present study has revealed that satellite data
has the unique capability to detect the changes in
land use/ land cover quickly and accurately.
From the analysis, it has been found that the
satellite data is very useful and effective for
getting the results of temporal changes; with this
effective data it has been found that the land use
changes are mostly caused by salt-affected area
imposed by aquaculture farm, backwater and
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Karikalan R et al.
from Fig. 4, rapid land use changes and massive
agricultural land loss in the region according to
the conversion matrix from the classification. The
proportion of land that underwent changes was
as high as 9.4% among the total land. There were
two major types of land use changes conversion
from agricultural land to builtup areas and
development sites, conversion from agriculture
land to aquaculture farm. In recent years,
aquaculture has become the largest growing food
industry in India. Interest in aquaculture farming
developed in the late 1980s and was inspired by
the huge success of shrimp production in 1990s in
the region. Vedaraniam canal and Cauvery
tributaries such as Vettar, Uppanar and Vellar
river surroundings are potentially suitable land for
brackish water aquaculture and also a number of
small-scale aquaculture farms established around
this area. The area changed for aquaculture was
6.61 km2 in 1999 this increased 2.0% and became
15.23 km2 in 2007 [6].
rapid population growth. Also, the satellite
imagery confirms that Nagapattinam coast still
retains more agricultural land when compared to
all other land use/ land cover features.
This will help in maintaining the ecological
balance and improving microenvironment of the
region. At same time, plantation of salt-tolerance
species like prosopis and casuarinas should be
taken up to stabilize the salt affected land and
shoreline.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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Karikalan R et al.
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[30] Vaidyanathan R. Evolution of landforms
over Precambrian terrains in India.
Reprinted from studies in Precambrian,
1971: 283-91.
[31] Vaidyanathan R. Morphology of east coast
modern deltas. In: Field seminar on recent
deltas. Geology Dept. Andhra University,
Vishakapatnam, 1990; 31-35.
[32] Vasudevan S, Arumugam M, Karikalan R et
al. Devastating tsunami strikes Cuddalore
beach of Central Tamil Nadu coast on 26th
December 2009, East Coast of India. Indian
Journal of Geomorphology 2007.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
 Remote Sensing and GIS Analysis on Cuddalore Coast
of Tamil Nadu, India
J Sriganesh*, P Saravanan**, V Ram Mohan***
Abstract
The highly populated world coastal zones were protected and could manage the
disasters by amour structures. The growth in fishing inhabitants and urbanization
resulted in intervention of ports, groins, seawall, breakwaters, and jetty along the
7500 km coast line of India during the last decade. The implementation of structures
with lack of understanding of natural local environmental conditions and
anthropogenic activities increased the shoreline erosion with the changes in coastal
hydrodynamics. This research focuses on the impacts of coastal morphology using
remote sensing and the rate of change of shoreline by GIS technique along the
Cuddalore coast of Tamil Nadu from 1972 to 2012. The coast is classified based on
the rate-of-change statistics from-1 to + 1 m/ year as stable coast, less than-1 m/
year as eroding coast and greater than + 1 m/ year as accreting coast. The results
shows that 9 km Cuddalore coast is stable, 25 km is undergoing erosion and
accretion is noticed along 10 km coast. The increase in erosion could be the
implementation of recent coastal structures. Though coastal structures (shore
parallel and perpendicular) protects from erosion, hinders fishing activities, tourism,
etc. Hence, alternative environment-friendly shore protections can be considered for
coastal zone management.

Keywords: Coastal management, Erosion, Remote sensing, Structures.

Introduction
The development along the world coastal areas has coasts where coastal erosion and accretion takes
increased extensively in the last two decades and place. The coastal zone undergoes tremendous
this trend is expected to increase and continue. developments especially along the sea ports. The
Shoreline is dynamic shaped by sediment flux, expansion of existing ports and establishment of
currents, waves and storms over long and short new ports along with other coastal structures
time scales (Cooper and Pilkey, 2004). Shoreline increased during the last decade with which the
erosion and accretion are natural processes which increase in the consequent urbanization around the
are anomalous and widespread in the coastal zones ports and harbors. Coastal structures constructed
of the world. Coastline retreat has resulted in over for port operations and coastal protection works
70% of the worlds beaches experiencing coastal interfere with the littoral transport are found the
erosion (Anthony, 2005). The erosion trend is most common cause of coastal erosion. The
expected to increase under the scenario of rising presence of the structure in surf zone has a series of
sea-level as a result of climate change. This presents effects such as accretion on the upstream side of
a serious hazard to many coastal regions, where it is the structure, erosion on downstream, large
estimated that about 25% productivity occurs and structures may also cause initial erosion on the
60% of the human population lives (Al-Tahil and upstream side, loss of sand to deep water, trapping
Asim, 2004). The dynamism is more in drift-aligned of sand in entrance channels and in fore harbors.
*
Center for Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, Sathyabhama University, Chennai.
**
Assistant Professor, Department of Geology, University of Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
***
Professor, Department of Geology, University of Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
Correspondence to: Mr J Sriganesh, Center for Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, Sathyabhama University, Chennai.
E-mail Id: sriganeshgeo@gmail.com

ADR Journals 2015. All Rights Reserved.

National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
These developments initiated coastal erosion and
increased the vulnerability and risk along the
coastal zones. All over the world, several researches
were undertaken to study the identification of the
cause and estimate the shoreline changes. Coastal
engineers and planners recognized that a
determination of the scope and magnitude of the
erosion problem was needed before any long-range
comprehensive planning. In general the natural
coastal processes involved in the coastal erosion
are sea level rise, tides, waves, currents, winds, and
storms but the anthropogenic interventions
increased the natural influences drastically
especially noticed all along the structures.
India has about 7517 km long coastline spreading
about 5423 km along the mainland and 2094 km
the Andaman and Nicobar, and Lakshadweep
Islands. The mainland coastline consists of nearly
43% sandy beaches, 11% rocky coast with cliffs and
46% mud flats and marshy coast. At present, about
23% of shoreline along the Indian main land is
affected by various degree of erosion varying from
minor, moderate to severe. As much as 1248 km of
the shoreline is getting eroded all along the coast.
It may be noted that the rate of erosion varies over
time and site to site, due to many factors such as
longshore current regime, erodibility of beach
material and its composition, nearshore seabed
shoals and slopes, storm wave energy and duration,
shoreline orientation, shore protection structures,
etc.
The article focuses on the 57 km Cuddalore district
coastline for the identification of locations of
shoreline erosion, the rates of shoreline retreat
based on the multi-temporal historical shoreline
positions which were extracted from different
satellites since 1972 and the identification of the
locations where significant erosion is currently a
serious problem by the coastal structures..
Study Area
The shoreline erosion assessment was carried out
for the Cuddalore district which is one of the 13
coastal districts of Tamil Nadu which falls in
between the latitude 11.45 N to latitude 11.78 N
and longitude 79.70 E to longitude 79.80 E. It is
located in the south-eastern part of Tamil Nadu
bounded by the Bay of Bengal in the east,
Nagapattinam district in the south, Perambalur
district in south-west and Villupuram district in the
north-west and Pondicherry Union Territory in the
95
Sriganesh J et al.
north. It forms parts of Survey of India topo sheet
bearing numbers 58M/ 9, 10, 11, 13, 14 and 15. The
Cuddalore Port and Parangipettai fishing harbor are
evidence for the well-developed small urban center
and fishing actions. The urbanization is more
extensive in Cuddalore new town and Parangipettai
where educational institutions, government offices,
and commercial establishments are housed. The
structural impacts for the coastal zones is carried
out from Subbauppalavadi village in north to Killai
Village in the south in Cuddalore taluk and
Chidambaram taluk of Cuddalore district which
comprises 18 coastal villages and the details are
shown in Table 1 and Fig. 1a. There are 23 fishing
hamlets located within this studied region.
The Cuddalore port is situated at the confluence of
the rivers Uppanar and Paravanar. It is an open
anchorage port located at latitude 11.706 N and
longitude 79.778 E with 200 m width opening into
the Bay of Bengal. This port entrance maintains its
opening by piled jetties on either side of the
Uppanar River with 300 m length on the north and
100 m length on the south with 10 m width. After
2004 IOT, breakwater was constructed north of
piled jetty about 200 m length and 20 m width.
Similarly south breakwater was strengthened about
250 m length and 20 m width. Both the breakwaters
are of hard rubble mounded rock blocks. Sea wall
(shore parallel hard structure) of length 800 m with
20 m width was constructed along the the
Devanampattinam village coast. In Thiruchopuram
village north of Chitiraipettai there is a 250 m long
jetty which was constructed during 2006 to 2008. In
south of Pettodai village, 400 m piled jetty was
constructed during 2011. On north of Pudukuppam
village, the 40 m opening into Bay of Bengal was
made by 60 m perpendicular length of structure on
either side for local fishing activities.
Parangipettai harbor is situated on the north
confluence of Vellar river which is a major fish
landing center next to Cuddalore port situated at
latitude 11.502 N and longitude 79.771 E near to
Center for Advanced Studies in Marine Bio-
Technology (CAS-MB) of Annamalai University.
Seawall of 1200 m length with 6 m width was
constructed with 600 m length towards south-east
direction and 600 m in the north-east direction. It
seems like the triangle-shape coastal land of 1800
sq. m of two side seawalls which is facing sea and
the other side seems the open sandy beach. It is
also making the Vellar river always open into Bay of
Bengal throughout the year.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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Sriganesh J et al. National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015

Figure 1.(a) Study Area Map with Coastal Village Boundary Cuddalore District (b) Cuddalore Shoreline
Analysis Index Map (left) and Overlay of Shorelines (right) Showing the rivers and Backwaters

S. No. Region Name of the Village Location (Degree Decimal)

Latitude Longitude
1 North Cuddalore Subbauppalavadi 11.7801 79.7932
2 Thazhankuda 11.7163 79.7774
3 Devanampattinam 11.6883 79.7699
4 Sothikuppam 11.6818 79.7706
5 Singarathoppu 11.6204 79.7435
6 Middle Cuddalore Pachaiyankuppam 11.6059 79.7568
7 Raasapettai 11.5870 79.7558
8 Reddiyar Pettai 11.5733 79.7247
9 Thammanampettai 11.5563 79.7233
10 Tiruchchopuram 11.5456 79.7431
11 Pettodai 11.5371 79.7586
12 Ayyampettai 11.5268 79.7615
13 South Cuddalore Reddiyar Pettai 11.5090 79.7676
14 Poochimeedu 11.4806 79.7418
15 Madavapallam 11.4920 79.7647
16 Kumarapettai 11.4812 79.7637
17 Samiyar Pettai 11.4618 79.7584
18 Villiyanallur 11.4668 79.7770
19 Pudukuppam 11.5263 79.7618
20 Chidambaram C. Puthupettai 11.5088 79.7643
21 Ariyagoshti 11.5018 79.7716
22 Parangipettai 11.4928 79.7569
23 M.G.R Thittu 11.4855 79.7806
Table 1.Cuddalore Coastal Fishing Hamlet Details

The morphology of the coast near river mouths is
distinctly different with development of canals,
channels, creeks, sand bars, spits, and eroded
channel bars. There are four major river drains, of
which Ponnaiyar, Gadilam, Uppanar drains on north
and the Vellar river drains on south. Partly the fifth
river named, Kollidam, is also flowing on the
southern Cuddalore. All these rivers flow from west
to east and joining into Bay of Bengal at different
locations. The Ponnaiyar, Gadilam and Uppanar

J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4) 96

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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015 Sriganesh J et al.

rivers which run close parallel to each other on the
north about 1 km before it reaches the sea
connected by buckingham canal of 3 km length
(Uppanar river runs sub-parallel to the coast in the
north-east) and the Vellar and Kollidam rivers run
parallel to each other in the south and are
interconnected with lagoon backwaters. The
southern part of Vellar and the northern part of
Kollidam is characterized by Pichavaram mangrove
forest. The influence of sediment input and
progradation is seen in Vellar and Kollidam rivers
with spits, barrier bars and other features
characteristics of delta. While Vellar is perennial
although with limited flow, Kollidam is a larger river
with heavy flow restricted to monsoon period.
Vellar river flows with meandering course in the
south-central part of the area and has the channels
of the river system and the Kollidam river forms an
extensive mangrove ecosystem in its southern side
forming the Pichavaram mangrove swamps. The
Kollidam river also has a meandering course in its
terminal portion and in its mouth spits are formed.
All these five rivers have changes their course
during the past as seen from the presence of paleo-
channels. The change in the course of rivers is not
only due to river piracy but also by tectonic uplift
and subsidence. These changes have influenced the
geomorphologic set up of the entire district and the
coastal zone in particular. The extensions of the
strandlines are found in lagoonal facies and also
along the settlements like Killai, Pichavaram and
T.S. Pattinam which are established along the relic
sand ridges.
Materials and Methods
The Cuddalore shoreline is divided into four zones
for the purposes of analysis and shoreline changes
were reported zone wise. Each zone contains
approximately 20 transects with 500 m transect
spacing. The changes that have taken place in the
Cuddalore coast were studied from the 1972 Survey
of India (SOI) topo sheet and multi-temporal
satellite data from United States Geological Survey
(USGS) 1972 to 2012. The USGS satellite data
products from Landsat 1, Landsat 3, Landsat 5 and
Landsat 7 of different periods have been acquired.
Each satellite image was carefully examined and the
shorelines were digitized as polyline shape file with
the most possible visual accuracy. The shoreline
was marked as the boundary between the land and
the maximum water seen in the satellite image. The
digitalization process was done for all six satellite
images and the details are shown in the below Fig.
2 and Table 2.

Figure 2.Satellite Images Used for the Cuddalore Shoreline Analysis

S. Year Month Date Scene Scene Satellite Sensor Pixel

No. Capture Capture Time Size
Time (UTC) (IST) (m)
1 1972 November 10 04:33:47 10:03:47 Landsat 1 MSS 60
2 1980 May 26 04:14:43 09:44:43 Landsat 3 MSS 63
3 1990 March 15 04:19:28 09:49:28 Landsat 5 TM 30
4 2000 October 28 04:49:14 10:19:14 Landsat 7 ETM+ 15
5 2006 August 18 04:48:33 10:18:33 Landsat 7 ETM+ 30
6 2012 March 19 04:53:02 10:23:02 Landsat 7 ETM 30
Table 2.Details of the Satellite Images Used for the Shoreline Analysis

97 J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)

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Sriganesh J et al.
Realizing need for assessing the change accurately,
USGS developed the Digital Shoreline Analysis
System (DSAS) as an extension for ArcGIS [3] which
is now widely used for calculating the change rate
of shoreline migration. The change rate using LRR is
calculated by fitting a least-squares regression line
to all shore points for each transects. The LRR is the
slope of the line. The method is more reliable as (1)
all data are used, regardless of changes in trend or
accuracy, (2) it is purely computational, (3) the
calculation is based on accepted statistical
concepts, and (4) the method is easy to employ [2].
Satellite Data Remote Sensing
The shoreline was delineated using the processed
NIR bands of Landsat MSS, Landsat TM and Landsat
ETM+. The image processing of the NIR bands
included Gray Level Thresholding and by Edge
Enhancement Technique (Lee and Jurkevich,
1990).
Geographical Information System (GIS)
Shorelines of Cuddalore coast were extracted in
ArcGIS software from six georeferenced Landsat
satellite images of 1972, 1980, 1990, 2000, 2006
and 2012 downloaded from USGS website. The data
Regions Number of Transects Length (km)
Zone A 1-20 10.0
Zone B 21-43 11.5
Zone C 44-65 11.0
Zone D 66-85 10.0
Table 3.Details of the Zones
The results are classified based on the migration
direction and rate. If the shoreline migration is
landward at a rate of more than-2 m/ year the
erosion rate is considered high and if the rate of
landward migration is between-2 and-1 m/ year,
the rate of erosion is low. If neither the landward
migration or seaward progression exceeds-1 m/
S. No. Rates Classification
1 -2m High Erosion
2 -2 m to-1 m Low Erosion
3 -1 to 1 m Stable Coast
4 1 m to 2 m Low Accretion
5 +2m High Accretion
Table 4.Shoreline Analysis Details of Rate, Classification and Symbol
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
for the analysis is managed in Personal
Geodatabase in UTM projection and the steps
involved are extracting the shorelines from satellite
data, appending the shorelines into a single file and
assigning attributes, generating a baseline and
assigning attributes. These steps are carried out in
ArcGIS for further work using DSAS. The steps
carried out in DSAS are casting transects, specifying
shoreline calculation setting, calculating change
rate statistics, joining the results to transect feature
class generated and displaying the results in GIS
map. All different shoreline features were
appended together into a single shapefile. A
landward baseline was created 500 m from the
actual most landward shoreline. This baseline is the
starting point for all transects cast.
Zones and Transects
The Cuddalore coast was divided into four zones of
approximately 10 km length and contains 85
transects with 500 m spacing and 1 km in length.
Transects are auto-generated by DSAS
perpendicular to baseline (mostly west to east
direction). Zone A is at the northern portion and
Zone D is at the southern portion of this study and
the details are shown in below Fig. 1b and Table 3
Coastal Villages
Subbauppalavadi and Cuddalore O.T
Pachaiyankuppam, Kudikadu, Thiyagavalli and
Tiruchopuram
Kayalpattu, Andarmullipallam, Periyapattu,
Silambimangalam, Villiyanallur, Kottattai and
Ariyagoshti
Prangipettai, Killai and Pichavaram
year to +1 m/ year, the coast is considered as stable
and if seaward shifting of shoreline is at a rate of +1
to +2 m/ year and more than +2 m/ year, the coasts
are accreting or prograding coasts and status are
low accretion and high accretion respectively (Table
4).
Ranking Symbols
1
2
3
4
5
98
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Results
The shoreline dynamics is altered by the changing
environmental conditions and human activities.
Here shoreline is extracted from satellite images
and the development of GIS, all the data brought to
a common projection. The coastline of Cuddalore
was discussed in general terms of the hard
structures exist.
Zone-A
This is the northern part of the study area with a
coast length of 10 km. This zone coastal orientation
is about N 15E. This zone contains 20 transects
starting from 1 to 20 and the details of transects are
shown in Table 5. Subbauppalvadi and Cuddalore
villages are located in this zone. Subbauppalavadi
with a shoreline extending for 1.8 km is covered
from transect 1 to 4. Transects from 5 to 19 cover
the Cuddalore old town. The coastal length is 7.1
km and four coastal hamlets, viz., Thazhanguda,
Devanampattinam, Sonagakuppam, and
Singarathoppu are located on this stretch of coast,
two rivers, Gadilam and Uppanar Rivers confluence
with the sea in the village and Cuddalore port is
located in Uppanar river mouth. A seawall of 800 m
length was constructed to protect Devanampattiam
village and two jetties of 200 m length and 200 m
apart from each other are erected to facilitate
passage of barges and fishing boats in Cuddalore
port.
The overlay of extracted shorelines of different
Figure 3.Linear Regression Line for (a) transect 3 in Subbauppalavadi and (b) transect 11 of
Devanampattinam
While considering the shoreline dynamics in the
vicinity of coastal hamlets, the highest impact is
noticed in Devanampattinam village and to save the
houses located in the shorefront, seawall was
constructed. The results show that areas where
99
Sriganesh J et al.
years shows major fluctuation in the Ponnaiyar,
Gadilam, and Uppanar river mouths. The results of
analysis using DSAS (Table 5) show that between
1972 and 2012, the coast of Zone A has undergone
significant erosion. The shoreline shift in
Subbaupplavadi village ranges from-2.47 to-0.82 m/
year with a mean-1.39 m/ year. The erosion
estimated along the transects passing through the
coastal hamlet in Subbapuualavadi village is 0.82
and-1.14 m/ year indicating that the coastal hamlet
is relatively on a stable. The erosion rate along
Ponnaiyar river transect is-2.47 m. The R2 value for
the linear regression line ranges from 0.36 to 0.76
averaging 0.6 in Subbauppalavadi village. The
highest R2 value is obtained for the transect along
Ponnaiyar River. The linear regression line for
transect 3 of Subbaupplavadi is given in Fig. 3a.
The shoreline migration values for Cuddalore OT
ranges from-3.71 to 1.45 m/ year with an average
of-0.87 m/ year. Negative values are found along 13
of the 16 transects in the village. Transects along
which accretion is noticed are located in the
southern part near Cuddalore port and are due to
the accretion of sediments on the southern side of
the jetty erected for Cuddalore port. High erosion is
observed in three transects in the southern part of
Devanampattinam and Gadilam river mouths. The
corresponding values range from-3.71 to-2.59 m/
year. The R2 values of these three transects are
from 0.18 to 0.81 and the high averaging 0.81
indicating progressive erosion of the shoreline (Fig.
3b).
sandy beach are found have shoreline migration
rates ranging from-1.05 to 0.42 m/ year indicating
that the geomorphic unit plays a role in the stability
of shoreline.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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Sriganesh J et al. National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015

Transect No Coastal Morphology Details Coastal Length (km) LRR

1 Sandy Beach 0.0-0.5 -1.11
2 Subbauppalavadi 0.5-1.0 -0.82
3 1.0-1.5 -1.14
4 Ponnaiyar R. 1.5-2.0 -2.47
5 Thazhankuda 2.0-2.5 -1.99
6 2.5-3.0 -0.88
7 Sandy Beach 3.0-3.5 -0.10
8 Creek 3.5-4.0 -0.05
9 Devanampattinam 4.0-4.5 -0.89
10 4.5-5.0 -2.59
11 5.0-5.5 -3.71
12 Gadilam R. 5.5-6.0 -2.92
13 Sandy Beach 6.0-6.5 -1.33
14 6.5-7.0 -0.50
15 Sonagakuppam 7.0-7.5 -0.56
16 7.5-8.0 -1.02
17 Singarathoppu 8.0-8.5 0.13
18 8.5-9.0 0.51
19 Uppanar R. 9.0-9.5 1.45
20 Sandy Beach 9.5-10.0 0.56
Table 5.Zone A of Cuddalore Coast Transect Details.

High Low Low

Stable
Erosion Erosion
The villages close to the river mouths face the
threat of erosion as seen from the situation in
Devanampattinam. The results show that erosion is
consistent due to the effect of even two natural
hazards, viz., the IOT in December, 2004 and
Cyclone Thane in December, 2011 and also by the
High Accretion
Accretion
man-made hard coastal structure along the
Devanampattinam village. The southern part of the
zone is characterized by accretion which can be
attributed to the trapping of littoral drift by jetties
constructed for Cuddalore Port (Fig. 4. Left and
Right).

Figure 4.Results of Zone A LRR for Cuddalore Coast 1972-2012 (a) LRR Rate, (b) Shoreline Rank on Satellite Image

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Zone-B The DSAS LRR results for this zone are shown in
Table 6 and the shoreline is stable in
This is the second zone of this study of about 11.5 Pachchyankuppam village and ranges from 0.04 to
km length full of sandy beach and settlements. This 0.19 m/ year and in Kudikkadu village, the change
coastal stretch is orientation about N 12 E. This rate varies between-1.10 and-0.45 m/ year. Though
zone contains 23 transects starting from 21 to 43 change rate along the transects can be classified as
and the details of transects are shown in Table 6. low erosion as the rate of erosion do not exceed-1.0
This zone covers the Pachchyankuppam, Kudikaddu, m/ year, the erosion rate is insignificant. In
Thiyagavalli and Tiruchopuram villages. Pachchyan Thiyagavalli village, the change rate varies between-
kuppam village is almost of 1.6 km coastal length 2.20 to 0.031 and the average shoreline change rate
and Satiikuppam fishing hamlet is located in the is-1.35 m/ year which is higher than Kudikkadu (-
southern part of the village. The Kudikaddu village 1.01 m/ year) and Pachchyankuppam (-0.38 m/
located south of Pachyankuppam also has a coast year). Very high erosion is observed in traverse 32
line of 1.6 km and Rajapettai is the fishing hamlet located in the northern part of the Chitiraipettai
located in the northern part of the village. village. The average erosion rate of-1.87 m/ year
Thiyagavalli is larger than the other two villages and calculated in the 5 transects in the northern part of
has a coast length of about 6.6 km and contains the village is higher than the change rate of-1.04 m/
Chitrapettai and Thammanampetttai hamlets. The year which is measured in 8 traverses in the
last village in this zone is Tiruchopuram which is southern part. The change in shoreline erosion may
about 1.2 km in length and Periyakuppam is the be due to the construction of a piled jetty in the
fishing hamlet located in the village. One of the area north of Chitiraipettai (Fig. 5). The Nagarjuna
important coastal structures in this zone is the 200 Oil Corporation a major industry is covering the
m length piled jetty one on the north of Chitrapettai entire Thiruchopuram village except the coast
village. This was constructed by M/ s Chemplast where the fishing hamlets are located. Three
Sanmar Limited during 2006 to assess the Marine transects in the village are characterized by erosion
Terminal Facility (MTF) which was located 1 km ranging from-1.57 to-1.41 m/ year indicating the
inside the sea of about 10 m water depth. dominance of erosion.
Transect No. Coastal Morphology Details Coastal Length (km) LRR
21 Sandy beach 10.0-10.5 0.19
22 Sandy beach 10.5-11.0 0.04
23 Sattikuppam 11.0-11.5 0.05
24 Raasapettai 11.5-12.0 -0.45
25 12.0-12.5 -0.75
26 Sandy beach 12.5-13.0 -0.94
27 Sandy beach 13.0-13.5 -1.10
28 Sandy beach 13.5-14.0 -1.35
29 Sandy beach 14.0-14.5 -1.75
30 Sandy beach 14.5-15.0 -1.46
31 Sandy beach 15.0-15.5 -1.91
32 Sandy beach 15.5-16.0 -2.20
33 Sandy beach 16.0-16.5 -1.03
34 Sandy beach 16.5-17.0 -0.31
35 Chitraipettai 17.0-17.5 -0.55
36 Sandy beach 17.5-18.0 -0.80
37 Sandy beach 18.0-18.5 -0.33
38 Thammanampettai 18.5-19.0 -0.56
39 19.0-19.5 -0.84
40 Sandy beach 19.5-20.0 -1.20
41 Sandy beach 20.0-20.5 -1.48
42 Periyakuppam 20.5-21.0 -1.41
43 Sandy beach 21.0-21.5 -1.57
Table 6.Details of the Zone B Transect

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Piled Jetty

Transect 33

Figure 5.Piled Jetty between Transect 33 and 34 in Thyagavalli Village (Source: Google Earth)

The R2 values range from 0.67 to 68 representative
regression line for two transects which are shown in
Fig. 6 left and right. The stable coast and segments
where erosion is taking place are illustrated in Fig.
7. The variation in shoreline dynamics assessed for
Pachchyankuppam to Tiruchchopuram Cuddalore
shows alternating accretion and erosion in the
coast. While Pachchyankuppam, Kudikadu and
northern part of Thyagavalli witnessed accretion,
the southern part of Thyagavalli and Thiruchopuram
villages experienced erosion in the period from
1972 to 2012. The erosion trend continues in this
zone.

Figure 6.Linear Regression Line for (a) transect 39 at Thammanampettai, (b) transect 42 at Periyakuppam

Zone
-10 B: 1972
-5 - 2012Distance
0 5(m) 10
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
Transect ID

30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
Figure 7.Shoreline Migration by LRR Method for Zone-B for 1972-2012 (a) LRR Rate (b) Shoreline Rank on
Satellite Image

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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Zone-C
This stretch is about 11 km coastal length with full
sandy beach. This zone contains 22 transects
starting from 44 to 65 and covers seven villages and
the details of transects are shown in Table 7. Total
seven coastal villages of which the 2.5 km
Kayalpattu village is located in the north with the
transects 44 to 48. Andarmullipallam,
Silambimangalam and Kottadai villages are
approximately with the shore length of 1.5 km each
and covered by transects 49 to 51, 54 to 56 and 59
to 61 respectively. Periyapattu (transect 52 and 53)
and Villiyanallur (transect 57 and 58) villages are
about 1 km long. The extension of Nagarjuna Oil
Corporation Ltd (NOCL) in Kayalpattu and IL&FS
3600 MW coal-based thermal power plant under
construction in Kottadai and Ariyakoshti villages
make these villages industrial centers. The
industries have erected piled jetty and marine
pipeline outfalls into the sea. The results of analyses
show that the shoreline shift ranges from 3.22 m/
year to-1.79 m/ year with a mean and standard
deviation of-0.72 m/ year and 1.33 m/ year
respectively. Among the various villages, Kayalpattu
village is affected by erosion (Fig. 8) due to the
construction of jetty by NOCL. The variation in
Figure 8.Pettodai Fishing Hamlet and Coastal Structures (Source: Google Earth)
103
Sriganesh J et al.
shoreline dynamics assessed from Kayalpattu to
Ariyaghosti coastal stretch shows erosion on the
north and stable at the middle and accretion along
the south. The shoreline along the Kayalpattu
village is showing erosion with the ranges from-1.79
to-0.38 m/ year with an average of-1.18 m/ year.
There are two fishing hamlets located along this 2.5
km stretch, namely Pettodai and Ayyampettai.
Pettodai fishing hamlet located at the northern side
of this stretch which is noticed erosion of about-
1.79 m/ year. The high resolution satellite images
from google earth (Fig. 8 top) visually makes it clear
that during 2010 the Pettodai village was with
natural sandy beach, during 2011 there was a
construction of the jetty of about 200 m in length
and the same was extended up to 400 m during
2012 at the south of the village. Similarly, the closer
view of the Pettodai village (Fig. 8 bottom) shows
there was a natural sandy beach during 2010 and
there is a childrens park during the 2012. But the
satellite image of 2012 shows that the childrens
park eastern wall was eroded and the field
photographs (Fig. 9) also convey the same. The
Ayyampattai fishing hamlet is noticed stable as-0.77
m/ year. It is clearly noticed that the fishing hamlets
located on the northern side are undergoing
erosion.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
Sriganesh J et al. National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015

The Andarmullipallam village of 1.5 km long varies
between 0.01 to 0.25 m/ year with a mean of
0.13m/ year which shows that this coast is stable.
The Reddiyarpettai fishing hamlet located on the
northern side is noticed 0.01 m/ year. Similarly, the
Pochimedu fishing hamlet located southern side is
noticed 0.14 m/ year. The transects 49 to 51
observations makes clear that this stretch of coast
is almost in a stable condition. The Periyapattu
village is 1 km long where the rate varies between
0.11 to 0.83 m/ year. The Madavapallam fishing
hamlet noticed 0.11 m/ year whereas the
Kumarapettai fishing hamlet noticed 0.83 m/ year.
Overall the mean of 0.47 m/ year convey that this
stretch of coast is stable in nature. The
Silambimangalam village of 1.5 km long noticed
0.61to 1.01 m/ year with the mean of 0.81 m/ year.
Within this village, Samiyarpettai fishing hamlet of
about 1 km long is observed about mean of 0.81 m/
year convey that this stretch of coast is stable. The
Villiyanallur is about 1 km long noticed 1.55 to 1.75
m/ year with the mean of 1.65 m/ year convey that
this stretch is accreting. The Velingarayanpettai
fishing hamlet is observed the mean of about 1.65
m/ year confirms that this stretch is accreting. In
Kottadai village 1.25 to 1.73 m/ year with the mean
of 1.49 m/ year convey the accretion. The
Pudukuppam fishing hamlet located in this stretch
observed about the mean of 1.37 m/ year confirms
that this is accreting coast. In Ariyagoshti village
1.90 to 3.22 m/ year with the mean of 2.57 m/ year
confirms that this stretch of coast is accreting. The
C. Pudupettai fishing hamlet noticed the mean of
2.11 m/ year. The Chinoor fishing hamlet noticed
3.03 m/ year. Both the fishing hamlets observed
high accretion.

Figure 9.Field Photograph of Pettodai Village Childrens Park (Source: Google Earth)

Transect No. Coastal Morphology Details Coastal Length (km) LRR

44 Pettodai 21.5-22.0 -1.79
45 Sandy beach 22.0-22.5 -1.48
46 Sandy beach 22.5-23.0 -1.47
47 Ayyampettai 23.0-23.5 0.77
48 Sandy beach 23.5-24.0 -0.38
49 Reddiyar Pettai 24.0-24.5 0.01
50 Pochimedu 24.5-25.0 0.14
51 Sandy beach 25.0-25.5 0.25
52 Madavapallam 25.5-26.0 0.11
53 Kumarapettai 26.0-26.5 0.83
54 Samiyar Pettai 26.5-27.0 0.80
55 27.0-27.5 0.61
56 Sandy beach 27.5-28.0 1.01
57 Villiyanallur 28.0-28.5 1.55
58 28.5-29.0 1.75
59 Pudukuppam 29.0-29.5 1.49
60 29.5-30.0 1.25
61 Sandy beach 30.0-30.5 1.73
62 C. Pudhupet 30.5-31.0 2.32
63 31.0-31.5 1.90
64 Sandy beach 31.5-32.0 3.22
65 Sandy beach 32.0-32.5 2.84
Table 7.Details of the Zone C Transect

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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015 Sriganesh J et al.

The eroding coastal segments along the north and range from 0.75 to 0.26 and representative
segments where accretion is taking place along the regression lines for two transects are shown in Fig.
south were illustrated in figure 10. The R2 values 11.

-10 0 Distance (m)10

Zone C: -5
1972 - 2012 5
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
Transect ID

53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
Figure 10.Results of Zone C LRR for Cuddalore Coast 1972-2012. (a) LRR Rate (b) Shoreline
Rank on Satellite Image

Figure 11.Linear Regression Line for (a) Transect 44 at Pettodai (b) Transect 47 at Ayyampettai

Zone-D creek openings at the middle of this zone. The zone

Remote sensing images of 20 to 30 m resolution are
good enough in mapping the shorelines of estuaries
and rivers of 200 to 600 m width (Gilvear et al.,
2004) as that of the Vellar estuary in this region.
This stretch is about 10 km in coastal length and
extends from transect 66 to 85. The general
coastline orientation is about N 335 E. The Vellar
river is joining at the northern end and Pichavaram
mangrove forest at the southern end with two
contains 20 transects from 66 to 85 and the details
of transects are shown in table 8. Transects 66 to 67
covering the Vellar river open into the Bay of
Bengal. Transects 68 to 74 covers the Old M.G.R
Thittu Island which is of sandy beach. The transects
75 to 78 considers as the creek openings in
seasonal. Transects 79 to 85 shows the Pichavaram
mangroves region. The overall eroding coastal along
the south illustrated in Figs. 12 and 13 with the R2
values ranging from 0.59 to 0.94.

Figure 12.Linear Regression Line for (a) Transect 73 at Creek (b) Transect 82 at South
Pichavaram Mangrove Forest

105 J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)

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Sriganesh J et al. National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015

Transect No. Coastal Morphology Details Coastal Length (km) LRR

66 Vellar R. 32.5-33.0 1.56
67 Vellar R. 33.0-33.5 -0.49
68 Sandy beach 33.5-34.0 -0.49
69 Sandy beach 34.0-34.5 -0.83
70 Sandy beach 34.5-35.0 -0.76
71 Sandy beach 35.0-35.5 -1.07
72 Sandy beach 35.5-36.0 -1.25
73 Sandy beach 36.0-36.5 -1.44
74 Sandy beach 36.5-37.0 -2.95
75 Creek 37.0-37.5 -6.69
76 Creek 37.5-38.0 -7.38
77 Creek 38.0-38.5 -6.66
78 Creek 38.5-39.0 -6.97
79 Sandy beach 39.0-39.5 -7.33
80 Sandy beach 39.5-40.0 -7.19
81 Sandy beach 40.0-40.5 -7.93
82 Sandy beach 40.5-41.0 -7.78
83 Sandy beach 41.0-41.5 -7.72
84 Sandy beach 41.5-42.0 -7.39
85 Sandy beach 42.0-42.5 -7.22
Table 8.Details of the Zone D Transect
The results of analyses show that the Cuddalore promote erosion (Pilkey and Theiler, 2002; Frihy,
coast has undergone significant erosion. The 2001). Accretion of the sand in the river line can be
shoreline shift ranges from 1.56 m/ year and-7.93 caused due to land runoff, whereas, in the coastal
m/ year with a mean and standard deviation of-4.39 areas toward the sea, littoral drift causes the
m/ year and 3.3 m/ year respectively. The major deposition of the sand. Due to narrow mouth, the
natural hazards experienced in this region are fishing vessels are unable to navigate inside the
Tsunami in 2004, Nisha Cyclone in 2008 and Thane estuary. As a result these vessels anchored nearby
Cyclone in 2011. Spit formation was observed in the fishing harbors posing enormous hardship to fishing
Vellar river mouth, caused due to the siltation by community. An extensive study was conducted by
the northerly littoral drift, resulting in the complete ICMAM PD and IIT Madras. It has suggested
closure of the Vellar estuarine mouth (Murthy and dredging as the only viable option to keep the
Pari, 2009; Pari et al., 2008). Construction of dams mouth open, as the other alternatives such as
and bridges in the river can also alter the flow of training jetties will cause severe erosion on the
water and hinder the path of the river that can northern side of the mouth.
cause changes in the direction of water flow and
-10 D: 1972
Zone -5 - 2012Distance
0 5(m) 10
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
Transect ID

74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
Figure 13.Results of Zone D LRR for Cuddalore Coast 1972-2012 (a) LRR Rate (b) Shoreline
Rank on Satellite Image

J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4) 106

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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Conclusions
Remote sending data provides valuable information
about the changes and rate of changes of shoreline.
Medium erosion was observed south of Vellar river
mouth at Pichavaram and between Uppanar and
Gadilam rivers in the north. It appears that river
mouth dynamics determine the erosion/ accretion
pattern along this section of the coast. High rates of
erosion were observed along the shores of
Pichavaram Mangrove reserve forest, probably due
to reduced inflow from the Kollidam river, a major
tributary of the Cauvery. There are groynes/
breakwater lining the south and north of Uppanar
river mouth leading to the old Cuddalore port
obstructing the movement of sediments towards
north. Littoral drift is predominantly toward the
north and thus sediment accretion occurs on the
southern side of the breakwater with erosion on
the northern side limiting long-shore sediment
transport and reshaping the coastline over time.
The rain water received in the coastal zone drains
into the sea during monsoon carving channels.
These channels form weak zones where seawater
inundation takes place during, swell waves, storm
surge and tsunami facilitating flooding behind the
dunes which protect the coast. There are about 38
such weak zones which are breached during
extreme events between the Uppanar and Vellar
Rivers. It makes clear that these weak zones play a
role in natural hazards facilitating inundation of sea
water. It is interesting to note that between Vellar
and Kollidam no weak zones are noticed.
Coastal engineering structures that exist all along
the Cuddalore coast affect the rates of shoreline
change, which vary substantially along the coast. It
is difficult to isolate the influence of structures on
the regional long-and short-term rates. The rates of
change presented in this article represent
conditions up to 2012 shoreline data and therefore
are not intended for predicting future shoreline
positions or rates of change as the coastal
geomorphology will change by the river (fluvio) and
human interventions rapidly.
The study can be a comprehensive analysis to
determine the location of erosion and accretion.
The Cuddalore coastal zones are diverse and natural
calamities occur frequently, causing
multidirectional impacts on natural and socio-
economic conditions. In particular, coastal erosion
generates many difficulties for the coastal
107
Sriganesh J et al.
population. Erosion mitigation measures currently
in use are hard structures, soft structures and a
combination of two. The effectiveness of each
mitigation measure can only be analyzed on a case-
by-case basis.
This study used the historical satellite images for
the identification of erosion locations and rate of
changes which greatly improve understanding of
historical shoreline changes. The plantation of trees
can be considered to prevent coastal erosion and
stabilize shoreline areas by consolidation sediment
and building up land instead of hard coastal
structures. Extreme erosion in north and south of
Cuddalore depends on several factors that should
be further investigated in order to respond in an
effective manner. But in general, the erosion on the
northern and middle Cuddalore is by the alteration
of natural processes by the man-made structures
whereas the erosion in the southern Cuddalore is
mainly by the change in coastal hydrodynamics by
nature.
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108
 Seawater Intrusion Studies in Part of Araniyar and
Korattalyiyar River Basins of Thiruvallur District Tamilnadu
K Jothi*, B Gowtham*, S Senthil Kumar*
Abstract
The present study area focused on part of Araniyar and Korattalaiyar which is on
coastal part of Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu, India. Geographically, the area lies
between 12 54 00 and 13 24 00 North latitude and 80 10 00 and 80 20 00
East longitude and covered in the topo sheets 66C/3, C/4, C/7 and 57 O/16. Entire
area is covered by alluvium of both rivers and has good groundwater potential. This
has resulted in heavy pumping of groundwater to cater habitants of sub-urban areas
of Chennai for more than three decades. Due to heavy pumping, groundwater levels
have declined and seawater has intruded around Minjur. The average annual rainfall
of the study area is 1291.2 mm. An attempt has been made to study the
hydrogeochemistry of the study area. Fifty groundwater samples were collected and
analyzed for major cations and anions, viz., electric conductivity, pH, total dissolved
solids, total hardness, Ca, Mg, Na, K, HCO3 , CO3, Cl, NO3 and SO4 using the APHA-
AWWA (1995) method during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon of the year 2014.
Analyzed groundwater is digitally classified with respect to various uses using HYCH
program. High TDS groundwater is noticed along the coastal regions. Most of the
locations away from the coast are occupied by low to moderate TDS groundwater
during both the seasons. A few high salinity zones seen in the interior regions may be
due to the upcoming of saline water as a result of over exploitation. From the
present study, it is inferred that brackish salt water is seen near the coast. Fresh
water occurs along the western part of the study area. Most of the central region is
occupied by fresh brackish water which will be converted into brackish water, if no
proper management strategy is adopted.

Introduction
Water is the most important natural resource,
which forms the core of ecological system.
Recently, there has been overall development in
various fields such as agriculture, industry, and
urbanization in India. This has led to increase in the
demand for water supply which is met mostly from
exploitation of groundwater resources.
Hydrochemical study is a useful tool to identify the
suitability of the groundwater. The physical
parameters taken into consideration in the present
study are color, odor, turbidity and temperature.
The chemical parameters taken into consideration
are hydrogen ion concentration (pH), specific
conductance (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), total
hardness (TH) and all major cations and anions.
Various workers in our country who have carried
*
Department of Geology, Presidency College, Chennai.
Correspondence to: Mr K Jothi, Department of Geology, Presidency College, Chennai.
E-mail Id: jothigeo2014@gmail.com
out extensive studies on water quality have studied
groundwater chemistry of shallow aquifers in the
coastal zones and have concluded that groundwater
present in the shallow aquifers is poor in quality
and beyond potable limit as per the standard set by
WHO [2; Chidambaram et al. 2009). In many coastal
towns or cities, groundwater seems to be the only
source of fresh water to meet domestic, agricultural
and industrial needs. Groundwater is under
constant threat of saline water incursion, which
seems to have become a worldwide concern
(Rajmohan et al. 1997; Dar et al. 2011). Moreover,
high evaporation and low and erratic rainfall
depleted the groundwater level and available
groundwater quantity, especially in the coastal
areas, and resulted in seawater intrusion

ADR Journals 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Jothi K et al.
(Adepelumi et al. 2009, Rajmohan et al. 2003, Todd
1959). Consequently, several agriculture farms near
the coast are abandoned due to groundwater
salinity. Further, many inland farms have also been
abandoned and groundwater in most of the farms is
even not supporting date palms though date palms
are very tolerant to salinity (Rajmohan et al. 2003).
Hence, it is apparent that recent studies firmly
argue the effect of natural and anthropogenic
contamination sources on groundwater
composition, especially in coastal aquifers, and also
imply the necessity of groundwater contamination
studies in coastal aquifers. Consequently, several
agriculture farms near the coast are abandoned due
to groundwater salinity. In the present study, a
detailed investigation was carried out to evaluate
the geochemical processes regulating groundwater
quality in lower Korattalaiyar and lower Araniyar
basin of Thiruvallur district which are affected by
high population and agricultural activity of last
three decades. Anthropogenic activities can alter
the relative contributions of the natural causes of
variations and also introduce the effects of
pollution (Whittemore et al. 1989). The purpose of
the study is to understand the groundwater quality
in the coastal area and prepare the spatial
distribution map of various physico-chemical
parameters using the GIS.
Study Area
The study area, Korattalaiyar and Araniyar Basin of
Thiruvallur district is located in northern part of
Tamil Nadu with an aerial extend of 1635.77 Sq. km
(Fig. 1). This areas general slope is west to east
direction which is drainage pattern, is dendritic and
all the rivers are ephemeral in nature and carry
substantial flows during monsoon period. The main
geological formations occurring in the coast are
upper Gondwana consists of coastal alluvium, sand
and silts, sandstone, clay and conglomerate in the
east and central part of the study area. This basin
consists of alluvial formations of both rivers and
forms prolific aquifers. The groundwater of this
basin has been heavily pumped for drinking water
supply source to sub-urban areas of Chennai. Due
to heavy pumping, groundwater levels have
declined and seawater intrusion has taken place
beyond Minjur area. Rainfall data analysis shows
that the normal annual rainfall varies from 950 to
1150 mm. It is minimum around 982.1mm in the
south-eastern part of the study area. This formation
is underlined by tertiary formations of shale, clay
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
and friable sandstone whereas the average
thickness is about 15 m [3]. The district is mainly
dependent on agriculture with an average rainfall of
1291.2 mm per annum.
Methodology
Groundwater samples have been collected from 50
locations during pre-monsoon (May 2014) and post-
monsoon (January 2015). Electrical conductivity
(EC) and hydrogen ion concentration (pH) are
measured using digital portable meter in the field at
the time of sample collection. The pH meter has
been calibrated beforehand using 4.01, 7 and 10.01
buffer solution, and the EC meter has been
calibrated using 84 and 1413 S conductivity
solution. All collected samples are analyzed for
basic ions in the laboratory. Calcium (Ca2+),
magnesium (Mg2+), carbonate (CO32-), bicarbonate
(HCO3-) and chloride (Cl-) have been analyzed by
volumetric titration methods; sodium (Na+) and
potassium (K+) have been measured using the
flame photometer, sulfate (SO42-), nitrate (NO3-)
analyzed by spectrophotometric technique as per
the methods described by APHA 1995 procedure.
The spatial distribution for groundwater quality
parameters such as hardness, pH, TDS, HCO3, SO4,
NO3, Ca, Mg and Cl were done with the help of
spatial analyst modules in ArcGIS 9.2 software by
interpolation method called inverse distanced
weighted (IDW) method (Lee et al. 2006).
Seawater Intrusion Studies
Seawater intrusion is defined as the migration of
saline water from the sea into aquifers that are
hydraulically attached with the sea. Thus, seawater
intrusion leads to salinization of fresh water
aquifers along the coastlines. In highly populated
coastal regions with greater dependence on
groundwater, the withdrawal usually exceeds the
recharge rate which causes seawater intrusion.
Seawater generally intrudes upward and landward
into an aquifer and around a well, though it can
occur passively with any general lowering of the
water table near a coastline. The transition zone
(the interface where freshwater naturally mixes
with seawater as it is discharged to the sea)
naturally descends landward as a wedge within
aquifers along the coast line. The study area falls in
the coastal terrain. An attempt has been made to
study the impact of saltwater incursions into this
aquifer by using different methods.
110
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Figure 1.Location Map of Thiruvalluvar District
Cl/ CO3+HCO3 Ratio
The conservative Cl- ion and the HCO3 believed to
be contributed due to the leaching/weathering of
the minerals in the aquifer medium helps in
identifying the seawater intrusion by using the
variation of the conservative and non-conservative
ion. As chloride is the dominant ion found in
seawater while bicarbonate is present only in very
small amounts, the ratio between chloride and
(Total carbonate+bicarbonate) known as Simpsons
Figure 2.Sodium vs Chloride Ionic Relationship
of Pre- and Post-Monsoon
111
Jothi K et al.
ratio may be used (Todd 1959). It is important in
detecting seawater contamination of freshwater.
Simpson classification includes five classes: 0.5 for
good quality water, 1.3 for slightly contaminated
water, 2.8 for moderately contaminated water, 6.6
injuriously contaminated, and 15.5 for highly
contaminated water. Adopting this principle,
Johnsonbabu (2011) has been identified saline
water intrusion along the Nagapatinam coast, Tamil
Nadu.
Figure 3.Sodium vs Bicarbonate Ionic Relationship
of Pre- and Post-Monsoon
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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 Jothi K et al.
Figure 4.Relationship between Ca+Mg and
HCO3 of Pre- and Post-monsoon
Figure 6.Cl+SO4VsNa+K ionic Relationship of
Pre- and Post-Monsoon
The spatial distribution map of Cl/HCO3+CO3 ratios
have been prepared for both pre-monsoon and
post-monsoon periods (Figs. 5.30a and 5.30b). The
ratios of Cl/HCO3+CO3 ranged between 0.3 and 23.2
and had strong positive linear relation with Cl
concentrations (Fig. 8). This linear relationship
indicates simple mixing of fresh groundwater with
saline waters. Effect of salinization could be
classified using the Cl/HCO3 ratios (Todd 1959).
Considering the threshold value of Cl concentration
(35 mg/L) and the ratio of Cl/HCO3+CO3, 26% of the
Figure 8.Relationship of Mole Ratio of Cl/HCO3 to Cl in Groundwater of Pre- and Post-Monsoon
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Figure 5.Relationship between Ca+Mg and Total
Cations of Pre- and Post-monsoon
Figure 7.Relationship between Na+K and Total
Cations of Pre- and Post-Monsoon
groundwater was strongly affected by the saline
water and 74% was slightly or moderately affected
during pre-monsoon season. During the post-
monsoon season, 20 % of the samples are strongly
affected by saline water intrusion and remaining
samples are slightly to moderately contaminated.
The high ratio in groundwater around
Rakkampalayam, Minjur and Kummanur (Loc. Nos.
6, 25, 32) during post-monsoon season may be due
to the upcoming of saline water, indicating over-
exploitation of groundwater.
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Chadha Plots
Chadha [4] proposed hydrochemical diagram which
is used to interpret the hydrochemical processes
occurring in the study area. The same procedure
was successfully applied by Karmegam et al. [5],
Thilagavathi et al. [6], Vandenbohede et al., 2010 in
a coastal aquifer to determine the evolution of two
different hydro geochemical processes. Data has
been converted to percentage reaction values (milli
equivalent percentages) and expressed as the
difference between alkaline earths (Ca+Mg) and
alkali metals (Na+K) for cations, and the difference
between weak acidic anions (HCO3+CO3) and strong
acidic anions (Cl+SO4). The hydrochemical processes
suggested by Chadha [4] are indicated in each of
the four quadrants of the graph and broadly
summarized as:
Field 1: Ca-HCO3 type of recharging waters
Field 2: Ca-Mg-Cl type of reverse ion-exchange
waters
Field 3: Na-Cl type of end-member waters
(seawater)
Figure 9.Chaddas Plot of the Sample during Pre- and Post-Monsoon
Results and Discussion
Groundwater quality parameters are pH, EC, TDS
and major ions (Na+, K+, Ca2+, Na2+, Cl-, HCO3-,
CO32-, SO42-, NO3-) during pre-monsoon and post-
monsoon periods. Results of the chemical
parameters for the groundwater samples were
compared with the standard guideline values
recommended by the Bureau of Indian Standard
(BIS, 1998). From the analytical results, were
determined in the seawater intrusion studies in the
study area.
113
Jothi K et al.
Field 4: Na-HCO3 type of base ion-exchange
waters
The diagram is shown in Fig. 2. The majority of
samples fall in Field 3 (Na-Cl) during pre-monsoon
season suggesting that the waters show typical
seawater mixing and are mostly constrained to the
coastal areas. Most of post-monsoon samples fall in
Field 1 which is recharging water type. When water
enters into the ground from the surface, it carries
dissolved carbonate in the form of HCO3 and the
geochemically mobile Ca. Most of the samples
during both seasons fall in Field 2 (reverse ion
exchange field), revealing that the waters are less
easily defined and less common, but represent
groundwater where Ca+Mg is in excess to Na+K
either due to the preferential release of Ca and Mg
from mineral weathering of exposed bedrock or
possibly reverse base cation-exchange reactions of
Ca+Mg into solution and subsequent adsorption of
Na into mineral surfaces [4]. Field 4 (Na-HCO3)
water is less prominent in the study area during the
both season.
References
[1] Adepelumi AA, Ako BD, Ajayi TR et al.
Delineation of saltwater intrusion into the
freshwater aquifer of Lekki Peninsula, Logas,
Nigeria. Environ Geol 2009; 56: 927-33.
[2] Amer AM. Salt water intrusion in coastal
aquifers. In: Proceedings of the international
on water resources management in arid
countries, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, 12-16
Mar 1995. 1995; 2: 521-29.
[3] CGWB (Central Ground Water Board). Central
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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Jothi K et al.
ground water boards district groundwater
brochure. Tiruvallur district, TamilNadu.
2007.
[4] Chadha DK. A proposed new diagram for
geochemical classification of natural waters
and interpretation of chemical data.
Hydrogeol J 1999; 7(5): 431-39.
[5] Karmegam U, Chidambaram S, Sasidhar P et
al. Geochemical characterization of ground
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
waters of shallow coastal aquifer in and
around Kalpakkam, South India. Res J Environ
Earth Sci 2010; 2(4): 170-77.
[6] Thilagavathi R, Chidambaram S, Prasanna MV
et al. A study on groundwater geochemistry
and water quality in layered aquifers system
of Pondicherry region, southeast India. Appl
Water Sci 2012; 2: 253-69.
114
 Socioeconomic Frame Work of Fish Farmers in Tamil Nadu
K Nagamani *, D Deboral Vimala**
Abstract
Livelihood generation through fish culture is an age old practice and especially so in
places where fish forms an integral part of both social and cultural life. In sequence
to socioeconomic framework of the fish farmer society forms a target for policy
formulation to enlarge this economically backward sector. Few studies have been
conducted on the socioeconomic aspect of fish farming. The study was conducted in
two districts such as Thiruchirappali and Karur districts of Tamil Nadu. The data was
collected for this study from 103 respondents of each district randomly sampled
through questionnaire survey and a structured interview schedule. The study area is
with abundant freshwater resources which can generate food and income if utilized
to full potential. This study attempts to the socioeconomic variables of fish farmers
on fish production. Socioeconomic profiles of Tamil Nadu fish farmers are presented.
The socioeconomic status of fish farmers has to be improved by bringing the new
innovative concepts of fish farming to the access way of farmers.

Keywords: Socioeconomics, Fish culture.

Introduction
Fisheries are an important sector in India-it
provides employment to millions of people and
contributes to food security of the country. With a
coastline of over 8000 km, an Exclusive Economic
Zone (EEZ) of over 2 million sq. km, and with
extensive freshwater resources, fisheries play a vital
role. Fish farming is an age-old activity and in
practice from ancient times. Fish farming can be
combined with agriculture and animal husbandry
which can lead to better use of local resources. Fish
is a component of the Indian diet and a source of
animal protein. The socioeconomic characteristics
pertaining to demography means of production and
investment, income and expenditure of people
living in a particular location strongly influence their
response to technological changes and participation
in development schemes [9].
Requirement of reliable information on
socioeconomic condition of the target group is one
of the serious barriers in the successful
implementation of developmental programs. In
fisheries sector, several socioeconomic surveys had
been conducted by various agencies and research
*
Scientist C, Centre for Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, Sathyabama University, Chennai.
**
Principle Scientist, Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA), Chennai.
Correspondence to: Dr K Nagamani, Scientist C, Centre for Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, Sathyabama University,
Chennai. E-mail Id: nagamaniloganathan@gmail.com
workers in different regions of our country to study
one or the other problem of fish farmer community.
In fisheries sector, information on socioeconomic
frame work of fish farmers plays a key role as
productive activities forms a good base for
successful implementation of developmental
program of the economically backward sector. This
study attempts to the socioeconomic variables of
fish farmers on fish production. Socioeconomic
profiles of Tamil Nadu fresh water fish farmers are
presented. A large section of the people depends
on fishery as their livelihood. 900 fish ponds have
been constructed and stocked with fish in
Thiruchirapalli, Thanjavur and Karur district. Some
of these are not utilized to their full potential.
Socioeconomic parameters such as age, educational
status, marital status, family type, family size,
occupational status, ownership of farm, experience
in farming, social participation, income, influence in
fish farming. Studies on these variables not only
explained the overall socioeconomic conditions of
the fish farmers, but also identified the constraints
faced by them.

ADR Journals 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Nagamani K et al.
Study Area
Tamil Nadu has bountiful natural resources with
regard to fisheries development and, if properly
managed and maintained, it can yield long-term
sustainable production for the benefit of the people
of the state. The state has both inland and marine
fishery resources with 1076 km long coastline and
608 marine fishing villages. There is a vast extent of
freshwater and brackish water resources
Figure 1.Location Map
Methodology
This study was conducted in Thiruchirappali,
Thanjavur and Karur districts of Tamil Nadu. These
districts were purposively selected, because of time
and resource constraints. All the beneficiaries of
Fish Farmers Development Agency (FFDA) during
2014-15 constitute the population of the study. List
of farmers was obtained from department of
fisheries and a random 39 farmers in
Thiruchirappali, 58 farmers in Thanjavur and 6
farmers from Karur district were drawn randomly.
The study was based on collection of primary and
secondary data. Primary data was collected from
fish farmers by the researcher. The secondary
information was collected from fishery offices.
Before collecting the primary data, a draft
questionnaire was developed which was pre-tested
with a few pond fish farmers. In the pre-testing,
much attention was given to any new information
in the draft questionnaire in order to reach the
objectives of the study. According to the experience
gained in pre-testing, the final questionnaire was
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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constituting the inland fishery resources in the
state. The area of the proposed study is
Thiruchirapalli, Thanjavur and Karur districts (Fig. 1).
Thiruchirapalli district is located in the central part
of Tamil Nadu, Karur district in the west and
Thanjavur district in the east. It lies between1033
and 1103 of the Northern latitudes and 7711 and
79 17of the eastern longitude in the central part
of Tamil Nadu.
improved, rearranged and modified. The final
question questionnaire was rearranged and
modified. The final questionnaire included the
questions on the socioeconomic condition, age,
educational status, marital status, family type,
family size, and occupational status, ownership of
farm, experience in farming, social participation,
income, and influence in fish farming. For
calculation of percentage, mean statistical tool like
MS-Excel was used.
Results and Discussion
Demographic Profile of Fish Farmers
Age: The data presented in Table 1 shows that the
percentage of fish farmers belong to middle-age
group followed by young age group (94 per cent)
and only 6 percent fish farmers belong to old age
group (Fig. 2). This indicates more involvement of
middle- and young-age group fish farmers in fish
farming in the study area. It could, therefore, be
inferred that fish farming practices fascinated the
attention of the younger generation.
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015 Nagamani K et al.

Figure 2.Age Distribution of Fish Farmers

Educational Status: Since the fish culture system is
a technical one, the fish culturists require collecting
knowledge on better fish culture technique. If the
farmers have some institutional educational
background, they can easily understand the system.
Literacy rate of pond fish farmers can play a vital
role in efficient management and operation as well
as in successful production of fish. Education and
farming efficiency are closely related and education
generally has a positive effect on farm productivity.
An educated farmer is more likely to adopt new
technology than an uneducated one (Meena et al.
2002). With regard to the educational status, it
could be observed that 29 percent had attained
primary education, 20 percent were high school
level of education, 46 percent were higher
secondary and 5 percent were under-graduates as
shown in graph clearly the variation of educational
status (Fig. 3).

Figure 3.Educational Status of Fish Farmers

Religious Status: The caste pattern of the environment of people in the given area. In Fig. 4, it
respondents shows that the majority of the was found that maximum fish farmers were Hindus
respondents were Hindus. This category plays a about 91percent while small proportions 6 percent
very important role in social and cultural were Christians and 3 percent were Muslims.

Figure 4.Religious Status of Fish Farmers

Marital Status status of fish farmers. This involves a clear

In case of marital status of fish farmers, 94 percent
were married, 2 percent were divorced and 4
percent were widowed (Fig. 5). There is an
important relationship between gender and marital
confirmation to the fact that marital status is
significant to the success of fish farming as family
members of married male and female are likely to
contribute in terms of labor for stocking, feeding,
management, harvesting, and sale of fish.

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Figure 5.Marital Status of Fish Farmers

Gender: Gender deals with the social relationship
between men and women and how these
relationships are negotiated in the production of
goods and services [3]. However, it is important to
note that such gender relationships exist among
rural fish farmers. Farmers personal characteristic
and socioeconomic status, which are determined by
gender, constitute critical factors in technology
utilization process [2]. Gender influences
knowledge, perceptions and needs of farmers as
well as their access to agricultural technologies [9].
Majority of the fish farmers were male (93%) while
the female were 7% (Fig. 6). This is an indication
that males participate more in fish farming than
females. This is an agreement with the findings by
USAID (2009) on the challenges facing women in
Burkina Faso which established that women were
constrained in terms of access to land, control of
production, decision making on use of assets (e.g.,
livestock) and control over household income. This
result can be justified by the assertion of Brummett
et al. [1] that fisheries activities are mostly
dominated by men (Fig. 6).

Figure 6.Gender Status of Fish Farmers

Family Type percent of farmers lived with nuclear families and

14 percent lived with joint families (Fig. 7).
From the survey, it was found that about 86

Figure 7.Family Type of Fish Farmers

Family Size
The family size was divided into two categories
according to the number of members in the family.
The data collected revealed that76 percent of the
fish farmers had small size of family consisting of
four to five members. And the rest 24% had large
family size consisting of more than six members.
Family size influences the fish production and the
family members were domestic laborers as shown
in Fig. 8. Present findings well correspond with
Pandey and Upadhayay [5].

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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015 Nagamani K et al.

Figure 8.Family Size of Fish Farmers

Occupational Status secondary occupation to secure their livelihood in

Results in Fig. 9 show that the majority of the fish
farmers were involved in fish farming as a principal
occupation (54 percent), followed by agriculture
and business and other services 46 percent (Fig. 9).
It was reported that only primary occupation was
insufficient for them to provide adequate means of
livelihood. Some of the respondents stated that
they were involved in fish farming as their
the year round manner while, 14, 26, and 6 percent
were occupied in business, agriculture, services and
poultry raising as the secondary occupation. Sarker
[7] found that 17, 52, 3 and 28 percent farmers
were related to agriculture fish culture, business
and others as secondary occupation in Habigonj
district. However, the results point out that a
considerable number of people are carrying out fish
farming in spite of being occupied by other
occupations.

Figure 9.Occupational Status of Fish Farmers

Experience in Farming approaches to fish farming business. The

The main source of fish farmers income is in fish
farming. 11 percent of response had over 12 years
of experience followed by 52 percent had 510
years and 37 percent had less than five years of
experience in fish farming (Fig. 10). As a result, the
respondents with the highest number of years of
experience should have good skill and better
respondents with longer years of the were also able
to forecast market situation in which they sell their
products at higher prices. Those with less years of
experience, especially with less than 5 years faced
many risks in the early days of their fish farming
business and they were encouraged by Department
of Fisheries, Thiruchirappali and Karur districts of
Tamil Nadu.

Figure 10.Gender Status of Fish Farmers

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Nagamani K et al.
Constraints
Major constraints faced by the fish producers of
Thiruchirapalli and Karur districts are presented in
Table 1. Fish farmers routinely borrow from private
money lenders at an exorbitant rate. On the other
hand, most of the farmers are defaulters in loan
repayment and hence nationalized banks do not
give any loan to them. Lack of lending institutions
like credit cooperative society has negligible
S. No. Constraints
Inadequate technical knowledge
1 Non-availability of fish seed
2 High cost of feed
3 Plurality of ownership
4 Poaching
5 Poisoning
6 Cost of inorganic fertilizers
7 Lack of access to credit 101 (98%)
*Multiple responses
Table 1.Major Constraints of Fish Farmers
Inadequate technical knowledge is the major
constraint in adopting fishery as a profession. Lack
of access to credit is reported by 88 percent of the
respondents as the major constraint. Poaching and
poisoning was also indicated by the farmers as
social problems, hindering aquaculture operation.
Chakaraborthy (1993) reported deliberate
poisoning and illegal poaching being encountered
by farmers of Burdwan, West Bengal. For fish
farmers, they would need information on fish
farming technologies, construction and
management, breeds and spawning, processing,
storage and marketing [4] and financing. Access to
information is very essential for increased
productivity by fish farmers and high price of inorg.
Farmers wanted quality of soil, water, fish seed and
fish food needs to be of reasonably good quality to
have better yields. Rahman [9] stated that the
major constraints of carp farming were lack of
money and higher production cost. The problems
encountered by the fish farmers in the surveyed
area are almost similar to those of Biswas et al.
(2001).
Conclusion
In view of different observations in the present
study, the study area was found to be potential
area for fish culture. In conclusion, it can be said
that fish farmers are supposed to be given facilities
on training program and input availabilities also be
provided with credit facilities, aggravated to exploit
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
presence in this area. On the other hand, most of
the farmers are defaulters in loan repayment and
hence nationalized banks do not give any loan to
them. Non-availability of hatchery-bred fish seed
was reported by 98% of farmers and exorbitant cost
of company feed by 94% of farmers. Plurality of
ownership is hampering for the progress of fish
production as revealed by 21 percent of the
respondents.
Percentage N=103
91 (88%)
97 (94%)
21 (20%)
19 (18%)
5 (5%)
79 (77%)
all types of water bodies for fish culture as well as
integrated culture must be adopted. In the study
area, all the water resources should be exploited for
fish culture, timely and regular trainings to be given
to get maximum production by using suitable
technology. Additional hatcheries should be
established, so that the fish farmers can get quality
seeds easily. If there is a technical support the
farmers can shine and it could be fruitful for their
livelihood.
References
[1] Brummett RE, Youaleu JLN, Tiani AM et al.
Womens traditional fishery and alternative
aquatic resource livelihood strategies in the
southers Cameroonian Rainforest. Fisheries
Management and Ecology 2010; 17: 221-30.
[2] Chukwu AO. Performance assessment of
research extension-farmer-input linkage
system in southeast agro-ecological zone of
Nigeria. Unpublished doctoral dissertation in
the Department of Rural Sociology and
Extension. Micheal Okpara University of
Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State Nigeria.
2007.
[3] Ironkwe AG, Unamma RPA, Nwosu AC.
Gender involvement in technology utilization
among small holder farmers in south-eastern
Nigeria. The case of yam Miwiset Technology.
The Nigerian Agricultural Journal 2011; 42:
190-201.
120
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
[4] Ofuoku AN, Emah GN, Itedjere BE.
Information utilization among rural fish
farmers in central agricultural zone of Delta
State, Nigeria. World Journal of Agricultural
Science 2008; 4(5); 558-64.
[5] Pandey DK, Upadhayay. Socioeconomic
profile of fish farmers of an adopted model
aquaculture village: Kulubari, West Tripura.
Indian Research Journal of Extension
Education 2012; Special Issue(2): 55-58.
[6] Sathiadhas R, Panikkar KK. Socioeconomics of
small scale fishermen with emphasis on costs
and earnings of traditional fishing units along
Trivandrum coast, Kerala-A case study. Sea
Food Export J 1988; 20(2): 21-36.
[7] Sarker C. Socioeconomic aspects of pond fish
cultured women in some selected areas of
121
Nagamani K et al.
Habigonj district. M.S. Thesis. Department of
Fisheries Management, Bangladesh
Agricultural University, Mymensingh. 2004.
[8] Gupta T, Dey M. Socioeconomic and cultural
profile of fish farmers: A study in and around
Lumding town, Nagaon district of Assam.
International Journal of Life Sciences,
Biotechnology & Pharm Research 2014; 3(4).
[9] Rahman SA. Gender analysis of labour
productivity in crop production in Nassarawa
state of Nigeria. In: Orhamata AM, Nwokoro
SO, Ajaji MT et al. (Eds). Agricultural, rebirth
for improved production in Nigeria.
Proceedings of the 39th Annual Conference of
Agricultural Society of Nigeria, held at the
University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria,
October 9 13 2005: 388-90.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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 Spatial Analysis to Ascertain the Induced Development in
the East Coast Road, Tamil Nadu
Janardhanan Gangathulasi*, KSA Dinesh Kumar**, S Karthigeswari***
Abstract
The infrastructure development and in particular road construction is said to be one
of the factors in promoting countrys growth and this road connectivity acts as an
important yardstick to gauge the economic growth of a country. Ultimately,
development should promote sustainability in all aspects. The preponderance of
empirical evidence to date suggests that the road-induced development is one of the
most troublesome in affecting the sustainability of the region and effects of induced
demand are substantial. Claims of induced demand have jeopardized road proposals
due to vulnerable effect on environmental. This article assesses the induced land use
effects on urban development patterns due to road construction along the coastal
line of Tamil Nadu. A set of temporal land use characteristics and spatial measures
are used as predictors to assess the development taken place prior to improvements
of the East Coast Corridor, and it was quantified by comparing with the baseline
development taken place during 1995 through measurable development indicators.
Land use dynamics (conversion and intensification) and population have a direct
relation and it is governed by many factors like availability of basic infrastructure
facilities, accessibility, and land suitability.

In this study, land use change detection a detailed GIS database of the land use,
transportation network and other features in the study area are produced. The
databases typically for different time periods are taken for analysis. A strip map of
the area of influence extending to 5 km on each side of the alignment was taken into
consideration. In addition to the linear chart of the characteristics, topography and
terrain adjacent to alignment is also studied to quantify the direct impact. The
methodology used in the study encompasses various steps, viz., data collection from
multiple sources, data processing such as image fusion and digitizing, temporal
mapping, evaluation based on spatial indicators and comparisons. The map and
database highlight the exponential increase and profound changes that have taken
place in land use after the infrastructure development. The percentage of change
taken place in the settlement, reduction in tank and tank with vegetation, change in
marshy land and increase in the salt pan is quantified in the article. Thus it quantifies
the urban sprawl along the coastal line using spatial analysis and develop predictive
model to better forecast future areas of urban growth along the coastal line without
deviating from the coastal zone regulation.

Keywords: Temporal urban mapping, Land use transformation, GIS, Remote

sensing, Induced development, Road sector.
*
Associate Professor & Head i/c, Centre for Environmental Management, National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and
Research, Chennai-600113.
**
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research, Chennai-
600113.
***
Project Officer, Centre for Environmental Management, National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research,
Chennai-600113.
Correspondence to: Mr Janardhanan Gangathulasi, Associate Professor & Head i/ c, Centre for Environmental Management,
National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research, Chennai-600113.
E-mail Id: jana@nitttrc.ac.in

ADR Journals 2015. All Rights Reserved.

National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Introduction
The coastal region is a place of blooming human
activity owing to urbanization and industrialization.
Thus, improved road connectivity along the coastal
region, within the principles of sustainability,
augments the economic growth of the country. The
stretch extending from Chennai till Cuddalore is
already established as a national highway (NH) and
many development measures have taken place
along this corridor. This well-established section has
led to development of IT companies and tourism in
Chennai city and also added fuel to the rapidly
evolving Chennai suburbs and sprawl of urban
landscape along the coastal region. Information
Technology (IT) services, IT-enabled services (ITES),
communication and healthcare besides others are
finding their new homes along the coastal region of
Tamil Nadu, since its contribution to IT industry is
significant. The key elements which have made
Tamil Nadu an important place in this area are
availability of skilled and educated manpower,
comparatively higher standard of educational
institutions, sound infrastructure, and lower cost of
operation (Action Plan report for Thiruporur IT
corridor, CMDA 2002). The plan to have a coastal
road augurs well in this context of such a longer
coast present in Tamil Nadu. This improved road
connectivity will provide access to all coastal
hamlets to an increased economic growth, boost of
tourism, and revive the fisheries industry. The
major towns and cities along the coastal route will
get direct access to Chennai city and improve the
livelihood of the people along the region. The
already existing road along East Coast Road
(Thiruvanmiyur to Cuddalore) has been in operation
over the last ten years. In recent years, the coastal
ecosystems are undergoing dramatic changes and
experiencing the impact of human activities like
pollution, siltation, erosion, flooding, salt water
intrusion, storm surges, etc. Land use/ land cover
changes are driven due to induced development
along the coastal region and have significant impact
on the human society. Remotely sensed data
acquired at the fixed time interval becomes an
important factor. Changes detected from different
temporal images usually reflect natural and human
activity which impacts each other and then can be
used to study how to form the regional geographic
feature. This article assesses the induced land use
effects on urban development patterns due to road
construction along the coastal line of Tamil Nadu.
123
Gangathulasi J et al.
Study Area
The study focussed on assessing the development
along the East Coast Road (ECR) from
Thiruvanmiyur Chennai and Cuddalore which passes
through four districts.
The entire road stretch is along the east coast on a
flat coastal plain and the Bay of Bengal lies to the
east and the coordinates of the region lies between
1302' N and 8014' E, 1140'N and 7945'E (Fig. 1).
ECR was originally commissioned in the year 1998,
by joining up and improving small village roads that
connected fishing hamlets along the sea coast of
Tamil Nadu; however, within two years of
commissioning, acute pavement distress started
appearing on the ECR, thereby adversely affecting
the driving comfort and safety of road users. In the
year 2000, the improvement of entire stretch was
made through Tamil Nadu Road Development
Company Ltd. Transformation taken place in the
study area during the year 1995, 2009 and 2014 are
taken up for analysis.
Methodology
In this study, land use change detection a detailed
GIS database of the land use, transportation
network and other features in the study area are
produced. The databases are typically for three
different time periods 1995, 2009 and 2014. A strip
map of the area of influence extending to 5 km on
either side of the alignment was studied. In addition
to the linear chart of the characteristics,
topography and terrain adjacent to alignment is
also studied to show direct impact. Methodology
used in the land use change analysis is shown in Fig.
2. The induced development due to the coastal
road is analyzed through change in land use and
land cover (LULC).
The investigation is carried out using GIS and multi-
temporal remote sensing information. Models of
land use and land cover change are powerful tools
that can be used to understand and analyze the
important linkage between socioeconomic
processes associated with land development,
agricultural activities, and natural resource
management strategies and the ways that these
changes affect the structure and function of
ecosystems [1].
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Gangathulasi J et al.
Figure 1.Study Area-East Coast Road
(Thiruvanmiyur to Cuddalore)
This methodology consists of several steps: data
collection from multiple sources, data processing
such as image fusion and digitizing, temporal
mapping, evaluation based on spatial indicators and
comparisons. Land use can be broadly defined as
the level of spatial accumulation of activities such
as production, transaction, administration and
residence with the relationships between them.
Change detection technique employed is based on a
pixel-by-pixel comparison of land cover derived
independently for each time period. This task of
change detection involves comparing imagery of
one date to a second date imagery.
The classified images of 1995, 2009 and 2014 are
converted into appropriate codes prior to the
overlay/ change analysis process. The land use data
pertaining to the years 1995, 2009 and 2014 has 16
land use classes derived from the combination of
satellite image interpretation and extensive field
study.
For studying the changes at different time periods,
cell by cell comparison was made using Arc view
software. Spatial urban models have specific
requirements in terms of data for parameterization,
e.g., data on urban extent, topography, land use, or
transportation networks. Since many land use
change models simulate both human and
environmental systems, the requirements placed on
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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Collection of Satellite Data
Landsat Satellite Data
1995, 2009 and 2014
Study area extraction and
base map preparation
Ground truth and ancillary data
Supervised Classification
Land Use / Land cover map
Change Analysis
Figure 2.Land Use Change Analysis
Methodology
the data are fairly complex and range from natural
and ecological variables to socioeconomic
information and detailed land use/ cover data with
appropriate spatial and temporal accuracy.
Important socioeconomic data sources include
census and various other types of governmental
data as well as data that is routinely collected by
local planning and administrative agencies. In the
course of interpretation, the first difficulty
encountered was the definition of spatial attributes
for digitizing. Figure 3 shows the land use change
that has been calculated and the attribute table is
provided in the Table 1which gives the land use
percentage.
The resulting table will have the previous land use
id, current land use id and number of pixels in the
changed category. It is necessary to conduct a
detailed inventory in the study area. As a part of the
project, detailed survey has been carried out from
Thiruvanmiyur to Cuddalore.
Therefore, analyzing urban growth should take both
into account and should also be based on
quantitative modeling. Recognition of this fact has
led to systematic efforts to map and monitor land
use changes using remotely sensed observations.
The spatial indicators used in this study, quantify
the structural and functional complexity inherent in
urban growth systems.
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015 Gangathulasi J et al.

Figure 3(a).Land Use/ Land Cover along the ECR Stretch-Year 1995

Figure 3(b).Land Use/ Land Cover along the ECR Stretch-Year 2009

Figure 3(c). Land Use/ Land Cover along the ECR Stretch-Year 2014

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Table 1.Land Use and Land Cover Studies along the ECR
Results and Discussion
Land use and Land cover variation in the study area
is used for interpreting the induced development
that occurred along the East Coast Road. The land
use pattern and its spatial distribution are the
prime requisites for the preparation of an effective
land use policy needed for proper planning and
management of any area. The different land use
land cover classes extracted from the satellite
imagery include built-up, vegetation, water bodies
and cultivated land and others. The classified map
of the study area along the East Coast Road showed
that majority of the land was occupied by dense
vegetation prior to road construction. Over the
years, there is 53% reduction in the dense
vegetation and it is converted to built-up area, thus
urban transition is visible. After the road
construction, settlement (dense) increase of around
18% was observed in the year 2009 and in the
subsequent year proportion of increase is
negligible. Coastal road facilitated in the increase of
salt pan industry owing to good connectivity, and in
statistical terms around 54% increase in the salt pan
area in the buffer zone. It is also showing some
positive land use analysis in which the wastelands
are getting reduced and are getting replaced by
vegetative area which is showing an increasing
trend over the years. With the increase in
urbanization, the urban vegetation is also increasing
by 30% with decrease in the open land. There is a
minor change in the area of streams. However, the
land use pattern analysis provided varied results in
different classes, but during the ground truth
verification in the year 2009, it is substantiated
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there is industrialization along the coastal road. On
the basis of mapping of different land use group
within the study region, better planning of land use
can be arranged through appropriate analysis of
different land use categories for a particular
development and preparation of better land
resources management plans.
Conclusion
Satellite-borne technologies are very helpful for
dynamic monitoring of the process of urbanization.
Land cover/ land use data can be extracted from
the satellite imagery by using a computer-assisted
image-processing approach. The remotely sensed
data with the aid of GIS can provide valuable data
for both quantitative and qualitative studies on land
cover changes.
The present work revealed that urban land use/
land cover increased from 1995 to 2014, which is a
major environmental concern of the area. Spatio-
temporal changes in the water bodies are also
observed in the area. The results observed from this
case study will be useful in developing policy
framework for the development along the coastal
region and in turn facilitate in future planning and
management of coastal regions by virtue of their
fragile ecosystem.
Acknowledgment
The authors wish to place on record and thank the
Director, NITTTR, Chennai, for providing conducive
environment to carry out this work.
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
References
[1] Turner BL, Meyer WB. Land use and land
cover in global environmental change:
Considerations for study. International Social
Sciences Journal 1991; 130: 667-69.
[2] Shu-Wei Huang, Hsiu-I Hsieh. The study of
the land-use change factors in coastal land
subsidence area in Taiwan. International
Conference on Environment, Energy and
Biotechnology IPCBEE. 2012; 33: 70-74.
[3] Khan NI. Temporal mapping and spatial
127
Gangathulasi J et al.
analysis of land transformation due to
urbanization and its impact on surface water
system: A case from Dhaka Metropolitan
area, Bangladesh. International Archives of
Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing 2000;
XXXIII, Part B7: 598-605.
[4] Brown DG, Pijanowski BC, Duh JD. Modeling
the relationships between land use and land
cover on private lands in the Upper Midwest,
USA. Journal of Environmental Management
2000; 59: 247-63.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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 Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Ground Water Quality
in Chennai City, Tamil Nadu using Geo Spatial Technology
T German Amali Jacintha*, J Sriganesh*, VE Nethaji Mariappan*
Abstract
Water is essential for sustenance of life. Emerging urbanization, industrialization and
population explosion in Chennai city are some of the factors for ground water
deteriorations. A study was taken with an aim to provide an overview on the current
status of ground water quality parameters such as Calcium, Magnesium, Sulfate,
Chloride, fluoride, pH, TDS, EC. Analysis of the spatial distribution of ground water
variables of Chennai city was performed using geospatial technology. The water
quality parameters pertaining to pre and post monsoon season (2012-2013) were
collected for 26 wells spatially distributed within Chennai City. A geo-database was
created for all well locations and spatial distribution map for ground water quality
parameters like Ca, Mg, SO4, Cl2, F, pH, TDS and EC were derived from spatial analyst
tool in ArcGIS software. Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) interpolation technique
was employed for spatial interpolation and spatial contour map was drawn for each
water quality parameter. The spatial output will aid policy planners and decision
makers for efficient management of the groundwater resources.

Keywords: Ground water quality, GIS, Spatial interpolation, IDW.

Introduction
Water quality describes the quality of the water,
including chemical, physical, and biological
characteristics, usually with respect to its suitability
for a specific purpose such as drinking or irrigation.
Over exploitation of ground water has become a
major challenge especially in urban regions of the
world. Emerging industrialization and existing
industries along coastal stretches of Chennai city
were prone to more groundwater exploitation.
Rapid industrialization, improper solid and toxic
waste management practices in urban areas like
Chennai, often lead to the degradation of
groundwater. Excessive pumping of ground water
may lead to sea water intrusion in coastal aquifer.
Ground water pollution not only affects the water
quality but also threatens human health, economic
development and social prosperity.[14] Water is
relatively more prone to pollution than air because
it is more viscous having lesser moment of inertia
possessing closer molecular distance than air.[18]
Assessing and monitoring the quality of
groundwater is important for ensuring
sustainability.[12,13] Groundwater quality mapping
will assist the planners to take suitable policy
initiatives to improve the groundwater quality in
contaminated regions.
Quality assessment of groundwater through Water
Quality Index (WQI) studies, spatial distribution
mapping for various pollutants utilizing GIS
technology and the resulted information on quality
of water could be useful for policy makers to take
remedial measures.[15,16,17]
Therefore the present study was undertaken with
an aim to provide an overview on the current status
of ground water quality parameters such as
Calcium, Magnesium, Sulfate, Chloride, Fluoride,
pH, TDS, EC and analyze their spatial distribution in
Chennai City using geospatial technology.

*
Centre for Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, Sathyabama University, Chennai.
Correspondence to: Mr T German Amali Jacintha, Centre for Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, Sathyabama University,
Chennai. E-mail Id: germanamali@gmail.com

ADR Journals 2015. All Rights Reserved.

National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Study Area
Chennai is the capital city of Tamil Nadu State. The
study area lies between 12o540 and 13o180 of m (22 ft), and its highest point is 60 m (200 ft). Two
the northern latitude and 80o12' and 80o19' of the
eastern longitude. It is bounded by the Bay of
Bengal on the East and on the remaining three sides
by land mass. Chennai is the fourth most populous
metropolitan area and the fifth most populous city
Figure 1.Chennai City map
Materials and Methods
Data Source
The Ground Water Quality data was collected from
Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage
Board (CMWSSB), Central Ground Water Board
(CGWB) and Groundwater wing of the state Public
Works Department form July, 2012 to March, 2013
(pre monsoon and post monsoon data). The Index
map of Chennai city was generated from Survey of
India topo sheets. Figure 2 shows the well locations
of the study area. The ground water quality
parameters such as Total Dissolved Solids, Electrical
Conductivity, pH, Calcium, Magnesium, Sulfate,
Chloride, and Fluoride were available on the reports
on daily basis. The geo coordinates of all the well
locations were collected from the reports and
plotted as point values in ArcGIS.
Interpolation in GIS
The Geo-database was created for all the well
locations and the spatial distribution map for
ground water quality parameters like Ca, Mg, So4,
Cl, F, pH, TDS and EC were derived from spatial
analyst tool in ArcGIS software. Inverse Distance
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Jacintha TGA et al.
in India. It has 25.60 km of sea coast which is flat
and sandy for about a km from the shore. The
average elevation along Chennai coast is around 6.7
rivers meander through Chennai, the Cooum River
(or Koovam) through the centre and the Adyar River
to the south. The Buckingham canal runs through
the city parallel to coast in the eastern side.
Figure 2.Location of Sample wells
Weighted (IDW) interpolation technique was used
for spatial modeling. IDW interpolation technique
explicitly implements the assumption that variables
that are close to one another are more alike than
those that are farther apart. To predict a value for
any unmeasured location, IDW uses the measured
values surrounding the prediction location. The
measured values closest to the prediction location
have more influence on the predicted value than
those farther away. IDW assumes that each
measured point has a local influence that
diminishes with distance. It gives greater weights to
points closest to the prediction location, and the
weights diminish as a function of distance, hence
named inverse distance weighted (ArcGIS 10.0).
Raster based surface maps were used to generate
contours for each variables. The correlation analysis
was carried out for each parameter for both the
seasons.
Result and discussion
Statistical Analysis of Variables for Pre and Post
Monsoon Seasons
Table 1 (pre monsoon) and Table 2 (post monsoon)
show the summary of the statics such as Min, Max,
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Jacintha TGA et al.
Mean, Standard Deviation and Skewness for the
water sample of each parameter. The pH of the
water samples lies within the range of 7.7
(Mylapore) to 8.7 (Villivakkam) for pre monsoon,
7.6 (Besant Nagar)-8.2 (Villivakkam) for post
monsoon. The Calcium concentration lies between
16 ppm (Egmore)-200 ppm (Koyambedu) for pre
monsoon and 28 ppm (Villivakkam)-176 ppm
(Velechery) for post monsoon. The overall
Magnesium concentration lies between 4 ppm
(Kotturpuram)-97 ppm (Vepery) for pre monsoon
and 8 ppm (Tondiarpet)-126 ppm (Velechery) for
post monsoon.
The range of TDS was in between 292 ppm
(Perambur)-2400 ppm (Besant Nagar) for pre
Table 1.Description of Statistics of water quality parameters for pre monsoon
Table 2.Description of Statistics of water quality parameters for post monsoon
Table 3.Correlation Matrix for groundwater quality parameters for Pre monsoon Season
Table 3 shows the correlation matrix for the
analyzed parameters for pre monsoon season.
Synergisms exist between Cl and TDS, Cl and SO4, Cl
and Ca, and TDS and SO4 (above 0.8).
Therefore this analysis proved that Chloride is one
of the critical parameters in ground water that
significantly contributes to increased concentration
of TDS and Sulfates during pre monsoon season.
Generally, groundwater level may go down in pre
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monsoon and 445ppm (Velachery)-2210 ppm
(Velachery) for post monsoon. The sulfate
concentration is in between 20 ppm (Villivakkam)-
427 ppm (Vepery) for pre monsoon and 22 ppm
(Chindadripet)-298 ppm (Tondiarpet) for post
monsoon. The Chloride concentration is between
32 ppm (Perambur)-560 ppm (Besant Nagar) for pre
monsoon and 12 ppm (Koyambedu)-780 ppm
(Velachery) for post monsoon. The Fluoride
concentration for most of the study area is 0; in
some places, it varies up to 0.85ppm (Vepery) for
both seasons. The EC value was within the range of
450 (Perambur)-3200 (Vepery) for pre monsoon
season and 685 (Tansinagar)-3400 (Velachery-
Forest Dept.) for post monsoon season.
monsoon period, whereby the concentration of the
variables might slightly increase from its normal
value that resulted in the increase in chloride
concentration in this study.[11]
Table 4 shows the correlation matrix of post
monsoon. Synergisms exist between Cl and TDS, Cl
and EC, Cl and Ca, Cl and Mg, and TDS and EC
(above 0.8). Therefore this analysis proved that
Chloride is one of the critical parameters in ground
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
water that significantly contributes to increased
concentration of TDS, EC, Ca and Mg during post
monsoon season.
Generally, groundwater level may increase after
post monsoon period, whereby the concentration
of the variables might slightly get diluted from its
normal value that resulted in the decrease in
chloride concentration in this study.[11]
Table 4.Correlation Matrix for groundwater quality parameters for Post Monsoon
Total Dissolved Solids (Tds)
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) comprise inorganic salts
(principally calcium, magnesium, potassium,
sodium, bicarbonates, chlorides and sulfates) and
some small amounts of organic matter that are
dissolved in water. The contributing factors for
higher TDS are natural sources (geogenic),
untreated sewage and polluted urban run-off.
Figure 5 & Fig. 6 show the contour of total dissolved
solids in the study area. The concentration of TDS is
above 1000 ppm in the areas such as
Virugambakkam, Chepauk, T. Nagar, Besant Nagar,
Vepery, Puliahthope, Egmore and Koyambedu areas
and low in Perambur, Kottupuram area in pre
monsoon season.
Figure 3.Contour Map of pH
Concentration for Pre monsoon
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Jacintha TGA et al.
pH
pH is a measure of the acidic or basic (alkaline)
nature of solution which is expressed in a scale
which ranges from 1 to 14. Figure 3 & Fig. 4 show
the pH value of the Chennai district. There was not
a significant difference in pH of pre and post
monsoon, where pH seems to be higher in pre
monsoon seasons. pH of Chennai region is relatively
at higher side.
In post monsoon season, the TDS value was found
to be above 1000 ppm in areas such as
Virugambakkam, T. Nagar, Tondiarpet, Chinna
Kodungaiyur, Royapuram, Pulianthope, Kolathur,
Villivakkam, Royapettah, Egmore, K. K. Nagar,
Kotturpuram, Little Mount, Besant Nagar,
Velachery, and Koyambedu. It was found low in
Chindadripet and Velachery Tansi Nagar.
The region that showed higher TDS for pre and post
monsoon seasons are Virugambakkam, T. Nagar,
Puliahthope, Kotturpuram and Koyambedu. A
continuous monitoring TDS for pre and post
monsoon for the aforementioned regions might
show TDS variability.
Figure 4.Contour Map of pH
Concentration for Post monsoon
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Jacintha TGA et al.
EC
Electrical conductivity (EC) is a measurement of the
dissolved material in an aqueous solution, which
relates to the ability of the material to conduct
Figure 5.Contour Map of TDS
Concentration for Pre monsoon
Figure 7.Contour Map of EC
Concentration for Pre monsoon
Calcium (Ca) Concentration
Calcium carbonate materials available in earths
surface dissolute with groundwater to leach
Calcium ions. This forms alkalinity and hardness in
ground water. Figure 9 & Fig. 10 show the contour
map of calcium concentration. In pre monsoon
period, the Ca concentration is very high in
Koyambedu, Royapuram, Besant Nagar and
Velachery and very low in Egmore and Eldams road
area. In post monsoon period, it is high in
Velacherry and Pulianthope area and very low in
Villivakkam.
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electrical current through it. It estimates the total
amount of dissolved ions in the water. Figure 7 &
Fig. 8 show the contour map of electrical
conductivity of the study area.
Figure 6.Contour Map of TDS
Concentration for Post monsoon
Figure 8.Contour Map of EC
Concentration for Post monsoon
Magnesium (Mg) Concentration
Magnesium is one of the major secondary mineral
dissolved from all solids and rocks, but especially
from carbonate rocks, magnesium (Mg) is found in
large quantities in brines. Calcium and magnesium
cause most of hardness and scale forming
properties of water. Figure 11 & Fig. 12 show the
contour map of Magnesium concentration. Mg
concentration, for post season is very high in
Vepery, Besant Nagar and Koyambedu; low in
Kotturpuram, Eldams road and China Kodungaiyur.
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Figure 9.Contour Map of Ca
Concentration for Pre monsoon
Figure 11.Contour Map of Mg
Concentration for Pre monsoon
SulFate (SO4) Concentration
Sulfate is dissolved from sedimentary rocks
containing gypsum, iron sulfides, and other sulfur
compounds. It occurs largely in oxidized form, it
may also be present as sulfides. Commonly present
in mine water and in some industrial wastes, large
amounts have a laxative effect on some people, and
in combination with other ions, give a bitter taste.
Figure 13 & Fig. 14 show the contour of sulfide
concentration. Sulfates are very high in Vepery,
Pulianthope, Besant Nagar and Velachery, and low
in Villiwakkam, Perambur and Thirumangalam area
for pre monsoon period. In post monsoon period,
sulfate concentration is high in Pulianthope, Besant
Nagar and Velachery, and low in Chindadripet and
Thirumangalam area.
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Jacintha TGA et al.
Figure 10.Contour Map of Ca
Concentration for Post monsoon
Figure 12.Contour Map of Mg
Concentration for Pre monsoon
Chloride (Cl) concentration
Chloride exists in all natural waters, the
concentrations vary and are maximum in sea water
(up to 35,000 mg/l Cl). The saltiness can be
detected when the concentration reaches above
250mg/l. In fresh waters, the sources include soil
and rock formations, sea spray and waste
discharges. Sewage contains large amounts of
chloride, as do some industrial effluents. Figure 15
& Fig. 16 show the contour map of chloride
concentration of the study area. The Chloride
concentration is very high in Besant Nagar,
Pulianthope and Chepauk area; and low in
Perambur for pre-monsoon season. In post
monsoon season the concentration found high in
Velachery, Besant Nagar and Pulianthope; low in
Koyambedu.
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Figure 13.Contour Map of SO4 Figure 14.Contour Map of SO4

Concentration for Pre monsoon Concentration for Post monsoon

Figure 15.Contour Map of Cl Concentration Figure 16.Contour Map of Cl Concentration

for Pre monsoon for Pre monsoon

Figure 17.Contour Map of F Figure 18.Contour Map of F

Concentration for Pre monsoon Concentration for Post monsoon

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Fluoride (F) concentration
Most of the fluoride found in groundwater is
naturally occurring from the breakdown of rocks
and soils or weathering and deposition of
atmospheric volcanic particles contains fluoride.
The fluoride concentration range between 0.6 to
1.0 mg/l is good for tooth and protects tooth decay.
Above 1.5 mg/l, it has negative impact on health.
Figure 17 & Fig. 18 show the fluoride concentration
of the study area. The concentration of fluoride is in
permissible limits of 0.1 to 0.8 in both seasons.
It was observed that a higher trend on water quality
parameters such as pH, TDS, Chlorides, Sulfates and
Magnesium was recorded in some parts of the
Chennai city.
Table 5.Water quality of WHO and Indian Standards
Table 6.Comparison of water quality parameters with WHO and Indian standard for pre monsoon and post
monsoon
The same trend prevails to the post monsoon maps
generated for TDS, EC and chlorine concentrations.
The present study can be improved with increase in
water sample collection of monitoring wells.
This study has to be extended for a minimum of
three years to derive clarity on spatial and temporal
distribution of water quality parameters.
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Jacintha TGA et al.
Conclusion
The spatial and temporal distribution of ground
water quality was mapped using GIS technology.
Interpolation techniques aid to derive spatial
distribution map of water quality parameters for
pre monsoon and post monsoon.
Higher pH values, TDS, Chlorides, Calcium,
Magnesium and Sulfates were observed during pre
monsoon and post monsoon within some pockets
of Chennai region. Analysis of calcium during pre
and post monsoon periods shows dilution of higher
concentration areas during post monsoon and also
increase in concentration in the hard rock areas
during pre monsoon.
Acknowledgment
Authors would like to thank Sathyabama University
for their support to carry out this research work.
The authors are grateful to Chennai Metropolitan
Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Central Ground
Water Board and Groundwater wing of the state
Public Works Department for providing data for the
study area.
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Jacintha TGA et al.
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phosphatic fertilizer plant. Indian Jour
Environ Prot 2001; 21: 355-58.
[17] SwarnaLatha P, NageswaraRao K.
Hydrochemical studies in an industrial area of
Visakhapatnam city, India a spatial
technology approach. Asian Jour Microbiol
Biotech Environ Sci 2007; 9(3): 533540.
[18] Trivedi PR, Raj G. Encyclopaedia of
Environmental Sciences: Concepts in
Environment. Vol. 1. Akashdeep Publishing
House, New Delhi, 1992.
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 Spatio-Temporal Variation of Phytoplankton Concentraton
using Remotely Sensed Data-Case Study
in Gulf of Mannar, Tamil Nadu
S Rebekah*, P Thiruvengadam*

Abstract

The Gulf of Mannar, subject both to one of the important bio reserve in India and to
increasing anthropogenic inputs, is an appropriate test site for observing the
phytoplankton movement. With this aim, the seasonal variation of the
phytoplankton of Gulf of Mannar is estimated in relation to the physico-chemical
environment. Temporal seasonal variability, biomass, Chlorophyll concentration and
their seasonal movement are also assessed. In the present work, satellite images
were used to estimate chlorophyll-a concentrations using regression analysis, it
enables comprehensive studies of seasonal variation of Phytoplankton movement in
Gulf of Mannar. The properties of physical environment (sea surface temperature,
salinity, wind direction, wind speed, wave direction) combined with that of
biological, reveal principle features of phytoplankton seasonal movement in ocean
environments. In this study, the factors influencing the phytoplankton growth,
movement and also the suitable season for the phytoplankton growth are discussed.

Introduction
This study describes the seasonal dispersal
phytoplankton (chl-a) variation along the Gulf of
Mannar, East coast of Tamil Nadu, India. In this
study, first chapter covers introductory part which
comprises the general background information on
the role of ocean in the coastal and oceanic studies
such as chl-a extraction and its seasonal variation
along with the influencing factors which include sea
surface salinity, sea surface temperature, wave
height, wind speed, littoral current. Much literature
has been studied to derive information for data
collection, method selection and procedure
demarcation process. The second chapter deals
with literature review on various topics related to
the proposed study including remote sensing
applications on phytoplankton dispersal, oceanic
studies, and physio-chemical characteristics of sea
water. The third chapter focuses on the geological
and geomorphological characteristics along with
geographical location of the study area. In chapter
four, the details of methodology are discussed step
by step. Based on the research articles published by
peer reviewed journals and scientific reports
collected from various reputed scientific
organizations around the world, the algorithm and
methods have been demarcated to extract chl-a
from multispectral remotely sensed images. The
fifth chapter discusses the results of chl-a
concentration and its dispersal during different
seasons, including pre-monsoon, post-monsoon
and monsoon. In the same chapter, the second part
explains about the influencing factors of chl-a
accumulation and movement during above said
periods. Finally conclusion and applications of the
study are described in the sixth chapter. Overall
observation reveals that the efficacy of remote
sensing technology in coastal studies and the
relative accuracy on qualitative and quantitative
estimation of chl-a, salinity, temperature and other
influencing factors prove the quality of the study.
Hence the advantage of remote sensing and GIS can
be suggested for coastal conservation and
management in local and regional scale.

*
M Tech (GeoInformatics), University of Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
Correspondence to: Mr S Rebekah, University of Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
E-mail Id: s.rebekah.geoinformatics@gmail.com

ADR Journals 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Rebekah S et al.
Problem Statement
Few procedures have been developed to ascertain
the concentrations of chlorophyll-a in large water
bodies using the relatively cheap and historically
available datasets of the Landsat Thematic Mapper
series of satellite imagery.
Though ground monitoring stations track temporal
changes taking place at specific points in large
water bodies, they cannot detail the characteristics
of those changes across the entire surface area of
the water body and may miss important details
regarding the spatial distribution of this important
water quality parameter.
Aims and Objective
To assess the movement of phytoplankton
concentration in Gulf of Mannar using Landsat
ETM + data and Buoys data for different
seasons.
To evaluate the physical and climatological
factors influencing phytoplankton (chlorophyll-
a).
To extract the suspended chlorophyll-a
concentration from satellite data for different
seasons.
Study Area
Geographic Location
Gulf of Mannar, extends 140 km in the SW-NE
direction between 78 5 and 7930 E longitudes regulated by the river discharge, local rainfall and
and 847 and 915 N, covering an area of about tidal amplitude. Species diversity usually becomes
10, 500 km. There are 21 islands, situated at an
average distance of about 8 km from the coast and
running almost parallel to the coastline. The Gulf of
Mannar is endowed with a combination of
ecosystems including mangroves, sea-grass,
seaweed and corals reefs. Gulf of Mannar exhibits
various types of reefs such as fringing, patch, and
coral pinnacles. The coast of Gulf of Mannar is
mostly underling by Quaternary to Recent
formation. The west of this coastal area is bound by
heavy crystalline metamorphic rocks of Pre
Cambrian and having breath of 10-100 km
(Ramasamy 1997).
Being a gradient coast, it has developed well
fabricated network of deltas, backwater, creeks,
protruding deltas, estuaries, back swamps and coral
reef etc.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
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Study Area Overview
Gulf of Mannar extends about 140 km in SW-NE
direction. It covers an area of about 10,500 sq km
and supports mostly marine life. There are 21
islands, situated at an average distance of about 8
km from the coast and running almost parallel to
the coastline. Gulf of Mannar is endowed with a
combination of ecosystems. It exhibits various types
of reefs such as fringing, patch and coral pinnacles..
The climate of the Gulf of Mannar is that of a
tropical one, consisting of relatively high
temperature from January to May, and heavy
rainfall due to monsoons. From Northeast
monsoon, the area receives a maximum rainfall
during October-
December whereas Southwest monsoon
contributes less in total rainfall. The tides of the
region are also considered to be rapid. The oceans
have periods of calm in the fall but are often
choppy in the late spring and through summer due
to storms. Inland on the coastal plains, the wind
velocity is usually high, which causes the tides to
occasionally be irregular.
Factors Influencing Chlorophyll-A
Concentration
Salinity
Two potentially important factors that can regulate
phytoplankton community and biomass are salinity
and pH. Salinity is a dynamic entity that is chiefly
very low at high salinities. It is reported that high
salinities can be a lethal limit for many
phytoplankton. In addition to that, it is reported
that the salinity change can result in osmotic stress
on cells, uptake or loss of ions and effects on the
cellular ionic ratio in phytoplankton. Maintaining
osmotic balance due to frequent alterations in
salinity level results in an increased respiratory
activity in phytoplankton. Inhibitory effects on
physiological processes of phytoplankton can follow
changes in salinity. Alterations in salinity level
frequently result in increased respiratory activity to
maintain osmotic balance. A rise in NaCl levels in
the medium has been shown to increase respiration
rate and decrease photosynthetic O2 evolution. Any
unnatural change in the salinity is strong enough to
affect phytoplankton and could irreversibly change
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
local phytoplankton community structure and
establish a new stable climax community. The
intrusion of saline water can change the
phytoplankton community structure which may
have serious ecological impact. In the study area,
the mean salinity ranges from 17 to 23 o/ 00.
Figure 1a.Study area location map
Methodology
Data Products
Satellite Digital data acquired by Landsat 7-ETM+
(Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus) is used as
primary data for this study. Characteristics of
LANDSAT 7-ETM+ Satellite Sensor and Image
Products are given in Table 1. LANDSAT-7was
launched on January 21, 2006. The Earth-Observing
instrument on-board this spacecraft is Enhanced
Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) with seven bands
such as visible, near-IR, mid-IR spectral regions at
spatial resolution of 30 m and a sixth thermal band
Table 1.Spectral and spatial properties of Landsat ETM+
Secondary Data
Survey of India (SOI) top sheets number are
used for the base map preparation and also to
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Rebekah S et al.
During pre-monsoon, salinity ranges from 17.04 to
28.67. During monsoon, the phytoplankton
concentration ranges from 18.22 to 23.97 o/ 00,
and during post monsoon, the salinity ranges from
11.36 to 23.17 o/ 00.
Figure 1b.Satellite imagery of Study
area location
is incorporated with a resolution of 60 m. The
system also includes a dual-mode solar calibrator,
in addition to the internal lamp calibrator. The
utility of Landsat image has been used in many
fields, such as agriculture, botany, cartography, civil
engineering monitoring forest, geography, geology,
land resources analysis, land use planning, water
resource analysis etc. In this study, Landsat ETM+
imagery is used to extract the chlorophyll
concentration of phytoplankton in Gulf of Mannar.
extract spatial resources such as road, water
body, and settlement.
Geological and geomorphological layers
prepared from the data provided by Geological
Survey of India.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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Rebekah S et al.
Post-Processing of Landsat Etm+
Sea Surface Temperature
Sea Surface temperature (SST) shows weak
relations as in the table. Probably, Landsat TM 6
(10.4-12.5 m) may be affected by the atmospheric
water vapor that absorbs radiation in the 8-12 m
wavelengths, and also the TM 6 may include both
emitted infrared radiation and reflected solar
infrared radiation during the daytime.
Using the quadratic regression (Baban 1993), the
SST was estimated by using the digital number
values of Landsat TM band 6.
SST = 36.3409 - 0.2613 (TM 6) + 0.0010 (TM 6)2
Figure 2.The correlation of TM 7 bands with sea surface
Chlorophyll-a Extraction Algorithm
The ratio function is meant to normalize the
magnitude of chlorophyll-a reflectance from the
water with the magnitude of the reflectance caused
by suspended sediment. Data output from the ratio
function was coupled with chlorophyll-a
concentration measurements taken from eight
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
With the coefficient of determination R2 = 0.157
and RMSE = 0.814 C.
Salinity
Salinity has no effect on water spectral
characteristics, as has been proved by laboratory
studies (Scherz et al., 1969). Nevertheless, salinity
has been successfully predicted from the spectral
data (Khorram, 1982; Baban, 1993). It is clear that a
correlated parameter highly associated with salinity
affects the optical properties of water. Salinity was
estimated by using the digital number values of
Landsat TM band 3.
Salinity = -102+98 x TM3
water quality-monitoring stations distributed across
the reservoir. These data couples were used in
forming regression models that predict the
chlorophyll-a concentration at any pixel location
based on the digital values of the processed image.
As described, the regression analysis for
chlorophyll-a showed good results for gap filled and
pre-processed data.
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Result and Discussion
General
The reflectance variation of surface water in Gulf of
Mannar is clearly visible in satellite imagery and this
undoubtedly indicates the presence of
Phytoplankton (chl-a) concentration in large
quantity along the offshore. In the Landsat ETM+
Figure 3.Reflectance characteristics of chl-a matter and clear water
Multi Spectral Image Reflectance Response
to Phytoplankton Concentration
The phytoplankton concentration in the coastal
water consists of organic matters derived from the
physical and climatological factors. The reflectance
of image pixel depends upon Chlorophyll variation
and that can alter the optical properties of the
water column. In general, the reflectance tends to
increase with the increase in chlorophyll
concentration in the visible spectrum (blue, green
and red bands) and decrease in the wavelength of
near IR and thermal IR bands. The chlorophyll
concentration has produced relatively nearest
reflection ranges from 0.05% to 0.25% within the
wave length of 400 nm to 1000 nm. So, the
separation of spectral curves within this wave
length is more difficult to distinguish chlorophyll
concentration from water content (Ramakrishnan
et al. 2013). This is due to the low amount of
backscattering by chlorophyll concentration present
in surface water. At the highest concentration of
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Rebekah S et al.
image, the phytoplankton concentration in the
coastal water can be characterized by absorption
(NIR) and reflection (Red) of maximum radiation
(Bhargava and Mariam 1991). On the basis of this
concept, the empirical algorithm executes the DN
values of all the bands of the ETM+ image to
produce the Phytoplankton concentration pixel
wise.
chlorophyll (33.33 g/ L) and above, it is observed
that the range of reflectance increases from 0.17 %
to 0.25 %. This analysis reveals that the response of
reflectance in the image tends to increase with the
increase of chlorophyll-a concentration in wave
length of all bands with a few mirror exceptions in
the near-IR spectrum. This is due to the wave length
of green (525 to 605 m) and red (630 to 690 m)
bands. Comparative analysis of reflection and wave
length at different chlorophyll concentration
produces non-linear spectral profile, which
indicates the distribution of phytoplankton
concentration in surface water. The spectral
response of different seasons is denoted in Figs. 4
and 5. Chlorophyll-a concentration often reflects
more radiation in the visible portion than in the
infrared portion including near-IR, mid-IR, SWIR and
thermal-IR bands. The variation in reflectance from
individual band of ETM+ image is attributed to
estimation of chlorophyll-a concentration and
dispersal.
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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Rebekah S et al.
Figure 4.Spectral reflectance of phytoplankton (chl-a) concentration in April-2013
Figure 5.Spectral reflectance of phytoplankton (chl-a) concentration in October-2013
Estimation of Phytoplankton Concentration
The reflectance variation of the surface water is
clearly visible in satellite imagery and this
undoubtedly indicates the presence of
phytoplankton in large quantity along the off shore.
In the Landsat ETM+ image, the chlorophyll
concentration in coastal water can be characterized
by absorption (near-IR) and reflection (Red) of
maximum radiation (Warricket al.2004). On the
basis of this concept, the empirical algorithm
executes the DN values of all bands of the ETM+
image to produce the chlorophyll concentration in
pixel scale wise.
In this study, Landsat ETM+ image is used to
estimate chlorophyll concentration using
multivariate regression algorithm. The results
reveal that the chlorophyll concentration along the
study area is estimated from 25.88 to 48.88 g/ L
during pre-monsoon, 26.85-36.2 g/ L during
monsoon and 17.1-33.33 g/ L during post
monsoon. Among them, coastal water surface
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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extends (8709 km2) with the distance of 1km from
the shore line. Less than 10 m depth to seabed has
been estimated with high chlorophyll concentration
as 48.48mg/ L.
Spatio-Temporal Variation of Phytoplankton
(Chl-A)
All species of phytoplankton are at the mercy of
oceanic currents for transport to areas that are
suitable for their survival and growth.
Thus, physical processes can play a significant role
in determining the dispersal of phytoplankton
species.Wind-driven physical processes are known
to contribute to variations in plankton over a range
of spatial scales in lake and ocean environments.
On large scales >1 km, variability in the dispersal
of phytoplankton in sea can be described by a multi
variation regression algorithm for three different
seasons. Temperature can also influence large-scale
distribution with phytoplankton accumulating at
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upwind or downwind sites corresponding to a
preferred temperature range. On smaller scales,
spatial patchiness of plankton can also occur due to
physical processes if water circulation patterns are
faster than plankton swimming speeds. For
example, physical aggregation of plankton is
Figure 6.Spatial variation of
phytoplankton (chl-a) concentration
during pre-monsoon in the study area
Factors Influencing Chlorophyll-A
Concentration
Salinity
Two potentially important factors that can regulate
phytoplankton community and biomass are salinity
and pH. Salinity is a dynamic entity that is chiefly
regulated by the river discharge, local rainfall and
tidal amplitude. Species diversity usually becomes
very low at high salinities. It is reported that high
salinities can be a lethal limit for many
phytoplankton. In addition to that, it is reported
that the salinity change can result in osmotic stress
on cells, uptake or loss of ions and effects on the
cellular ionic ratio in phytoplankton. Maintaining
osmotic balance due to frequent alterations in
salinity level results in an increased respiratory
Figure 8.Sea surface salinity during pre-
monsoon in the study area
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Rebekah S et al.
associated with physical factors. In addition,
gradients of light and nutrients enhanced by
internal waves have been shown to influence
photosynthetic activity and biomass in both models
and field experiment.
Figure 7.Spatial variation of
phytoplankton (chl-a) concentration
during post-monsoon in the study area
activity in phytoplankton. Inhibitory effects on
physiological processes of phytoplankton can follow
changes in salinity. Alterations in salinity level
frequently result in increased respiratory activity to
maintain osmotic balance. A rise in NaCl levels in
the medium has been shown to increase respiration
rate and decrease photosynthetic O2 evolution. Any
unnatural change in salinity is strong enough to
affect phytoplankton and could irreversibly change
local phytoplankton community structure and
establish a new stable climax community. The
intrusion of saline water can change the
phytoplankton community structure which may
have serious ecological impact. In the study area,
the mean salinity ranges from 17 to 23 o/ 00.
During the pre-monsoon season, the salinity ranges
from 17.04 to 28.67.
Figure 9.Sea surface salinity during post-
monsoon in the study area
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
Rebekah S et al.
Sea Surface Temperature
Phytoplankton growth and diversity may, besides
other factors, be controlled by seasonal
temperature changes and increasing water
temperatures. Phytoplankton patterns vary across
ecosystems, have large year-to-year variability, and significant influence on nitrogen uptake. In
show annual cycles of biomass variability and
recurrence of strength. Temperature is among the
major determinants to influence phytoplankton
growth rates, nutrient stoichiometry, and spatial
and temporal distribution. In addition to factors
such as nutrient availability, light, or grazing
pressure, phytoplankton taxa respond differently to
different temperature regimes. With global average
surface temperatures projected to increase by 1.1-
6.4 C within the next 100 years, water
temperatures will follow this trend, leading to
alterations in the thermal regime of many
freshwater habitats and will amplify changes in
Factors Influencing Dispersal of Chlorophyll-A Concentration
Figure 10.Sea surface temperature during pre-
monsoon in the study area
Wave Height and Direction
The wave height annually ranges from 2.7 to 5.155
m in Gulf of Mannar. The dispersal of
phytoplankton (chlorophyll-a) concentration
increases (33.33-48.48 g/ L) with the decrease in
wave height at 2.7 m and the dispersal of
phytoplankton (chlorophyll-a) concentration
conversely decreases (17.1-25.8 g/ L) with
increase in wave height at 5.155m.The wave height
influence corresponds to wave direction, so this
causes the wave height to increase along the deep
sea bed, and decrease along the shoreline.
Distribution patterns of plankton are known to be
patchy as a result of physical and logical processes.
Heterogeneous distributions of zooplankton
originate from various processes, some of which
can be attributed to internal factors; that is, they
are related to the activity and swimming behavior
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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both phytoplankton community structure and
distribution, especially in sensitive aquatic
ecosystems like small and shallow water bodies or
mountain lakes.
It has been recognized that temperature has a
particular, temperate marine diatom species may
be limited by their ability to acquire nitrate at
temperatures above approximately 16C. In the
study area, SST plays an essential role in seasonal
dispersal of phytoplankton (chlorophyll-a)
concentration. During pre-monsoon, the SST ranges
from 19.53 to 22.44 C. During the post-monsoon,
the SST ranges from 19.27 to 21.7 C. In this study,
Landsat ETM+ is used to estimate the SST using the
algorithm generated by Yuanzhi Zhang (2005).
Hence this algorithm is applied to estimate the SST
with relatively accurate scale.
Figure 11.Sea surface temperature during
post-monsoon in the study area
of the phytoplankton. Other causes are linked to
external factors, which force organisms to be
transported passively, such as by wind-driven
currents. Wind-induced lateral transport processes
were shown to account for bio 29-47% of basin
scale spatial variance of plankton. However, wind-
driven horizontal transport processes do have an
effect along the vertical axis, through up- or down
welling or the induction of internal waves.
Theoretical considerations showed that variations
in vertical distribution of plankton as a consequence
of internal waves can lead to biased estimates of
plankton abundance. Studies have indicated that
the vertical distribution of plankton is affected by
wind-induced internal waves.
Wind Speed
In coastal regions, sea breezes and land breezes can
be important factors in a location's prevailing
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
winds. The sea is warmed by the sun more slowly
because of water's greater specific heat compared
to land. As the temperature of the surface of the
land rises, the land heats the air above it by
conduction. The warm air is less dense than the
surrounding environment and so it rises. This
causes a pressure gradient of about 2 mill bars from
the ocean to the land. The cooler air above the sea,
now with higher sea level pressure, flows inland
into the lower pressure, creating a cooler breeze
near the coast. When large-scale winds are calm,
the strength of the sea breeze is directly
proportional to the temperature difference
between the land mass and the sea. If an offshore
wind of 8 knots (5 km/ h) exists, the sea breeze is
not likely to develop.
In the study area, the wind speed annually ranges
from 2.44 to 6.51 km/ hr in Gulf of Mannar. The
dispersal of phytoplankton (chlorophyll-a)
concentration increases (33.33-48.48 g/ L) with
the decrease in wind speed at 2.4 m and the
dispersal of phytoplankton (chlorophyll-a)
concentration conversely decreases (17.1-25.8 g/
L) with increase in wave height at 4.42 km/ hr. The
wind speed is influenced by the wind direction,
which causes the wind speed to increase along the
deep sea bed, and decrease along the shoreline.
Littoral Current
Littoral current in the study area is influenced by
Chlorophyll-A Concentration Vs Influencing Factors For Different Seasons
Figure 12.Mean Wave Speed of the study area
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Rebekah S et al.
numerous aspects of the coastal system, with
processes that occur within the surf zone largely
influencing the deposition and erosion of
concentrations. Long shore currents can generate
oblique breaking waves which result in long shore
transport. Littoral current can generally be defined
in terms of the systems within the surf zone. Littoral
current affects numerous concentration sizes as it
works in slightly different ways depending on the
concentrations (e.g. the difference in long shore
drift of concentrations from a sandy beach to that
of sediments from a shingle beach). Sand is largely
affected by the oscillatory force of breaking waves,
the motion of sediment due to the impact of
breaking waves and bed shear from long shore
current. Whereas because shingle beaches are
much steeper than sandy ones, plunging breakers
are more likely to form, causing the majority of long
shore transport to occur in the swash zone, due to a
lack of surf zone. In the study area, the littoral
current velocity annually ranges from 3.7 to 62.69
km/ hr in Gulf of Mannar. The dispersal of
phytoplankton (chlorophyll-a) concentration
increases (33.33-48.48 g/ L) with the decrease in
littoral current velocity at 10.72 m and the dispersal
of phytoplankton (chlorophyll-a) concentration
conversely decreases (17.1-25.8 g/ L) with
increase in littoral current velocity at 62.09 km/ hr.
The current velocity is influenced by the littoral
current, causing the current velocity to increase
along the deep sea bed, and decreasing along the
shoreline.
Figure 13.Mean wind Height of the study area
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Rebekah S et al.
Figure 14.Mean littoral current velocity of the study area
Table 2.Factors influencing chlorophyll-a
concentration in pre monsoon
Table 4.Factors influencing chlorophyll-a concentration in post-monsoon
Conclusion
Multispectral image of the coastal water comprises
spectral properties of chlorophyll-a along the water
contents. The variation of reflectance indicates the
presence of phytoplankton (chl-a) in the coastal
water and algorithm analysis of image provides a
quantitative estimation in pixel scale wise.
Chlorophyll-a is extracted from Landsat ETM+
image based on its spectral properties attributed to
phytoplankton concentration. Analysis of the total
range of wavelength is (0.450-1.0 m) in both
visible and near IR bands reveals that the blue
bands have no significant reflectance to various
chlorophyll concentration levels. Whereas, high
chlorophyll-a concentration produces maximum
reflectance in green and red bands, however, it is
limited to the volume of chlorophyll-a
concentration. At the low level, the reflectance is
poor in blue, green and red bands. This
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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Table 3.Factors influencing chlorophyll-a
concentration during monsoon
phenomenon is attributed to understanding the
relationship between spectral reflectance and
chlorophyll-a concentration of surface water.
Moreover, high phytoplankton (chl-a) is estimated
along the shallow depth in the natural area,
especially in the eastern part due to the large
quality of river discharge materials shoaling by
waves and current. Whereas, the water surface
away from the shore has been found to have
chlorophyll-a concentration, it tends to increase
depth and distance, the low amount chlorophyll-a
concentration only available to spread along the
vast water surface area. The dispersal of
phytoplankton concentration is due to the seasonal
variation because seasonal variation determines the
efficacy of the dispersal of chl-a concentration. The
result extracted from the implemented algorithm
describes the seasonal dispersal of chl-a along the
study area, from the result, it can be understood
that the dispersal of chlorophyll concentration is
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high during the period of post monsoon and low
during the period of pre monsoon and October due
to drastic seasonal variation. Hence, the variation of
phytoplankton (chl-a) is decreasing with the
decrease in depth and distance to the shoreline and
it concluded that phytoplankton (chl-a)
concentration is inversely proportional to the depth
and distance to the shoreline and also has direct
relationship with wave direction, littoral currents
and salinity prevailing over the study area. This
study demonstrates the efficacy of multi-spectral
optical image to estimate the chlorophyll-a
concentration based on its reflectance
characteristics and provides information for
understanding organic transportation and coastal
dynamic process for researchers and management
authorities.
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[8] Caljon AG, Cocquyt CZ. Diatoms from surface
sediments of the northern part of Lake
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56.
[9] Canter HM, Lund JWG. Studies on plankton
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special reference to lakes in the English Lake
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[10] Carpenter SR, Kitchell JF, Hodgson JR et al.
Regulation of lake primary productivity by
food web structure. Ecology 1987; 68: 1863-
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[11] Desortiva B. Relationship between
chlorophyll a concentration and
phytoplankton biomass in several reservoirs
in Czechoslovakia. Int Revue Ges Hydrobiol
1981; 66: 153-69.
[12] Diehl S, Berger S, Ptachnik R et al.
Phytoplankton, light and nutrients in a
gradient of mixing depths: field experiments.
Ecology 2002; 83: 399-411.
[13] Edmondson WT. Secchi disc and chlorophyll.
Limnol Oceanogr 1980; 25: 378-79.
[14] Elser JJ, Urabe J. Thestochiometry of
consumer-driven nutrient recycling: theory,
observations and consequences. Ecology
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[15] Falkowski PG, Raven OA. Aquatic
Photosynthesis. Blackwell Science Inc,
Malden, Massachusetts, 1997: 02148.
[16] Fee EJ. Computer programmes for calculating
in-situ phytoplankton photosynthesis.
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Aquatic Sciences No. 1740, 1990.
[17] Gasol JM, Garcia-Cantizano J, Massana R et
al. Physiological ecology of metalimnetic
Cryptomonas population: relationship to
light, sulphide and nutrients. Journal of
Plankton Research 1993; 15: 255-75.
[18] Geider RJ, MacIntyre HL. Physiology and
biochemistry of photosynthesis and algal
carbon acquisition in Phytoplankton
productivity. leB PJ, Williams DN, Thomas et
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[19] George DG, Heaney SI. Factors influencing
the spatial distribution of phytoplankton in a
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[20] Gervais F, Siedel U, Heilmann B et al. Small
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nutrients and sulphide below the oxycline of
a mesotrophic lake. Journal of Plankton
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[21] Harbott BJ. Studies of algal dynamics and
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J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
 Study on Error Matrix Analysis of Classified Remote Sensed
Data for Pondicherry Coast
K Nagamani*, K Jayakumar*, Yasodharan Suresh**, J Sriganesh*
Abstract
Error Matrix is an important step in the process of analyzing remote sensing data. It
determines the value of the resulting data to a particular user, i.e. the information
value. A classification error matrix typically contains tabulation results of an accuracy
evaluation of a thematic classification, such as that of a land use and land cover map.
For this study, number of synthetic images and one real image and some reference
data are used. The diagonal elements of the matrix represent the counts corrected,
and the usual designation of classification accuracy has been the total percent
correct. The non-diagonal elements of the matrix have usually been neglected. The
classification error matrix is known in statistical terms as a contingency table of
categorical data. As an example, an application of these methodologies to a problem
of remotely sensed data concerning two photointerpreters and four categories of
classification indicated that there is no significant difference in the interpretation
between the two photointerpreters, and that there are significant differences among
the interpreted category classifications. A coefficient of agreement is determined for
the interpreted map as a whole, and individually for each of the interpreted
categories. The error matrix reveals the kinds of errors generated by the
classification process, which may in turn permit improved interpretation of maps,
reliability and improved accuracy in future classifications.

Keywords: Land use and land cover, Error matrix, Classification scheme,
Pondicherry coast.

Introduction
There are several ways in which one can evaluate associated with the decisions based on these
classifications, but all involve comparing the results. Additional methods such as the standard
classification being evaluated with a reference. error matrix [5], the Monte Carlo Method [6],
When one is dealing with vector files, for example, geostatistics [10] and bootstrapping [15] have been
one can compare objects in the classified image developed overtime to improve the required
with objects in the same place, either on the statistical conditions. Despite these developments,
ground or in a reference image. validation of results is still a concern for projects
based on image analysis.[1,8]
The error matrix has become a standard in the
evaluation of remote-sensing results.[3,4,5,7,13] Accuracy assessment has, however, evolved
However, if the matrix is created without taking considerably. The history of accuracy assessment
into account statistical requirements, the validation reveals increasing detail and rigor in the analysis.
can be misleading.[12,14] Hammond and Verbyla Congalton (1994) identifies four major historical
[7] recommended inclusion of methodological stages in accuracy assessment. In the first, accuracy
details for the calculation of error matrix, namely assessment was based on a basic visual appraisal of
the sample size, sample plan, data and references. the derived map. The map would be considered
This way, the user will be able to evaluate the risk accurate, essentially, if it looked right or good.
*
Scientist, Center for Remote Sensing, Sathyabama University, Chennai.
**
Asst. Professor, Department of Geography, Madras Christian College, Chennai.
Correspondence to: Mr K Nagamani, Scientist, Center for Remote Sensing, Sathyabama University, Chennai.
E-mail Id: nagamaniloganathan@gmail.com

ADR Journals 2015. All Rights Reserved.

National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Clearly, such a highly subjective approach is often
inappropriate, particularly given the ability to derive
polished outputs from digital image processing
systems. The second historical stage was
characterized by an attempt to quantify accuracy
more objectively. In this, accuracy assessment was
based on comparisons of the areal extent of the
classes in the derived thematic map (e.g., km2 or %
cover of the region mapped) relative to their extent
in some ground or other reference data set. The
nonsite-specific nature of this approach is,
however, a major limitation as a map could easily
display the classes in the correct proportions but in
the incorrect locations, greatly limiting the value of
the map for some users. Thus, a major problem
with this approach to accuracy assessment is that
the apparent and quantified accuracy of the map
would hide its real quality. The third stage in the
history of accuracy assessment involved the
derivation of accuracy metrics that were based on a
comparison of the class labels in the thematic map
and ground data for a set of specific locations.
These site-specific approaches include measures
such as the percentage of cases correctly allocated
(sometimes referred to as overall accuracy).
The significance of the classified map is clearly a
function of the accuracy of the classification. A
responsible use of the stored geo-data is only
possible if the quality of these data is known. Then
accuracy assessment is an important step in the
process of analyzing remote sensing data. In the
conventional accuracy assessments, an error matrix
is established using some known reference data and
corresponding classified data and some accuracy
measures derived from it are used for accuracy
assessment. Assessing the accuracy of land use map
generated from remotely sensed data is expensive
in both time and money. Obviously, a total
enumeration of the mapped areas for verification is
impossible. Sampling, therefore, becomes the
means by which the accuracy of the land cover map
can be derived. Using the improper sampling
approach can be costly and yield poor results. To
wit, poor choice in sampling scheme can result in
significant biases being introduced into the error
matrix, which may over or under estimate the true
accuracy. In this article, the suitability of five
sampling methods including simple random
sampling, stratified random sampling, systematic
sampling, stratified systematic unaligned sampling,
and cluster sampling are investigated with some
synthetic images and one real image.In this study,
149
Nagamani K et al.
accuracy assessment matrix was performed for the
classified maps of Pondicherry area.
Research Objectives
The objective of this study is to evaluate the
confusion matrix for assessing the classification
accuracy of remotely sensed data using double
sampling.
To evaluate how fine a classification has
worked.
To know how to classify the usefulness of the
classification.
Study Area
Puducherry formerly Pondicherry, is a Union
Territory of India. It is a former French colony,
consisting of four non-contiguous enclaves, or
regions, and named after the largest region,
Puducherry. Puducherry consists of four
unconnected regions: Puducherry, Karaikal, and
Yanam on the Bay of Bengal and Mahe on the
Arabian Sea. Puducherry and Karaikal are by far the
larger ones, and are both enclaves of Tamil Nadu.
Yanam and Mah are enclaves of Andhra Pradeh
and Kerala, respectively (Fig. 1 and 2). The coastal
stretch lies between Bommiyarpalliam and
Malattar. This coastal stretch of about 17.5kms
covers part of Villupuram and Cuddalore coastal
districts of the state of Tamil Nadu and Pudhucherry
coastal district of the Union Territory of
Pudhucherry.
Methodology
In a statistical context, accuracy comprises bias and
precision and the distinction between the two is
sometimes important as one may be traded for the
other.[2,11] The column of sums on the right-hand
edge of the matrix gives total objects in each
category on the reference image; the row of sums
at the bottom shows total objects in each category
in the classified scene. These are known,
respectively, as row and column marginal. The
sequence of values that extends from the upper left
corner to the lower right corner is referred to as the
diagonal. These diagonal entries show the number
of correctly classified objects: barren land as barren
land, cropland as cropland, and so on. Each error
matrix contained count data that were converted to
a joint probability matrix for the purpose of
sampling and evaluating the accuracy of the
maps.[9]
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
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Nagamani K et al. National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015

Figure 1.Location Map

Figure 2.Land Use and Land Cover Classes

Class wise accuracy can be estimated in two ways:
ratio of correctly classified sampling units in that
class, i.e. the diagonal element, with respect to
total number of sampling units in the corresponding
column or row. An off-diagonal number along a
column indicates that of the total locations on the
ground belonging to that class, this number of
locations are excluded or omitted during
classification giving rise to omission error. The
ratio of correctly classified sampling units in a class
with respect to column total provides a measure of
omission error and is termed as producers
accuracy. It indicates how well or correctly the
producer or the analyst has interpreted that class.
The off-diagonal number along a row indicates that
of the total points on the map shown to represent a
particular class, these do not belong to that class
but are included or committed into the class due to
wrong classification. This provides a measure of
commission error. The ratio of correctly classified
sampling units in a class with respect to the row
total provides a measure of commission error and is
termed as users accuracy. For the user of the
map, it is the probability that a location classified on
the map actually represents that class on the
ground.

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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Results
Accuracy error matrix shows the land use classes
present in Pondicherry spread from
Bommayapalaiyam-Mallatar River (Table 1). Only 11
classes are doubtful so they are observed in the
imagery as shown in the Table 1. 3 were verified on
the ground. Error matrix is computed comparing
the result obtained by the image-interpretation as
columns and that obtained in the reinterpretation
as rows. We can notice that total 243 sample
locations are taken for the study in sector I in which
36 misclassifications (failures) are obtained for all
the 11 categories of land use. The mis-classified
polygons of each category of land use classes in
Sector I are also shown in Fig. 3.
The error matrix (Table 1) reveals that out of the
total sampling units i.e., 243 where observations
were made, classification was found to be correct at
207 sampling units, i.e., the sum of elements along
the main diagonal of the matrix. The overall
accuracy of classification for the Sector I, LULC
works out to be 85.19 per cent. The high
percentage of overall accuracy of the study area
implies that the LULC classification done by the
researcher is quite satisfactory.
Producers and Users Accuracies
The producers and users accuracies for different
classes as computed from the error matrix (Table 1)
are given. From Table 1, the producers accuracy
has been found as: Barren land (83.3%) , Crop land
(83.3%), Fallow land (81.5%), Gully land (83.3%),
Industrial area (92.9%), harbor (50%), Plantation
(92.9%), Sand (75%), Scrub land (90.9%), Village
Area (86.9%), and City Area (85%) respectively.
Similarly, users accuracy for these classes is 76.9,
86.2, 81.5, 83.3, 81.3, 71.4, 86.7, 93.8, 71.4, 86.9
and 100 per cent, respectively. These levels of
accuracy are satisfactory and acceptable.
Error of Omission
Non-diagonal values in each row give errors of
omission for row labeled categories as shown in
Table 1. Two polygons of barren land category were
misclassified in other categories as industrial area
(1) and harbor (1), for a percentage of about 16.7%.
Five polygons of crop land category were
misclassified in other categories as fallow land (1),
plantation (3), and scrubland (1), for a percentage
of about 16.7%. Five polygons of fallow land
category were misclassified in other categories as
151
Nagamani K et al.
cropland (2), plantation (2), and scrubland (1), for a
percentage of about 18.5%. One polygon of gully
land category was misclassified in other categories
as sand (1), for a percentage of about 16.7%. One
polygon of industrial area was misclassified in other
category as barren land (1), for a percentage of
about 7.1%. Five polygons of harbor were
misclassified in other categories as barren land (1),
industrial area (1), plantation (2), and village area
(1), for a percentage of about 50%. Five polygons of
plantation category were misclassified in other
categories as crop land (1), fallow land (1), harbor
(1) scrub land (1) and village area (1), for a
percentage of about 7.1%. Five polygons of sandy
area category were misclassified in other categories
as fallow land (1), gully land (1), plantation (1),
scrub land (1) and village area (1), for a percentage
of about 25%. One polygon of scrub land was
misclassified in other categories as fallow land (1),
for a percentage of about 9.1%. Three polygons of
Village area were misclassified in other categories
as crop land (1), fallow land (1) and plantation (1),
for a percentage of about 13.1%. Three polygons of
City area were misclassified in other categories as
barren land (1), industrial area (1) and plantation
(1), for a percentage of about 15%. These are errors
of omission because the image analyst has erred by
omitting true errors of barren land, crop land,
fallow land, gully land, and industrial area, from the
interpreted image.
From the errors of omission, it is clear that the
classifiers confusion of urban land and barren land
is a major source of error in the classification of
urban land use and the confusion of barren land
and industrial area is a source of error in the
classification of barren land use. In the same way,
from the other land use/ cover classes, it is clear the
classifier confusion is the major source of error in
the classifications.
Error of Commission
The non-diagonal values along the columns give
errors of commission, for labels at the tops of rows.
Error of commission (EC) has been caused by mis-
classification of three polygons of other categories
to barren land as industrial area (1), harbor (1) and
city area (1), for a percentage of about 23.1%. The
errors are found by reading the column (Table 1).
Four polygons were misclassified of other
categories to crop land as fallow land (2), plantation
(1), and village area (1), for a percentage of about
13.8%. Five polygons were misclassified of other
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
Nagamani K et al.
categories to fallow land as crop land (1), plantation
(1), sand (1), scrub land (1), village area (1), for a
percentage of about 18.5%. One polygon was
misclassified of other categories to gully land as
sand (1), for a percentage of about 16.7%. Three
polygons were misclassified of other categories to
industrial area as barren land (1), harbor (1) and city
area (1), for a percentage of about 18.7%. Two
polygons were misclassified of other categories to
harbor as barren land (1) and plantation (1), for a
percentage of about 28.6%. Ten polygons were
misclassified of other categories to plantation as
Table 1.Accuracy Error Matrix for Sector I (IRS P6-2012)
Conclusion
The relationship between the error of omission and
commission is that the barren land tends to be
classified as urban land, whereas urban land
classified as barren land. Classification accuracies of
the order of 85.19% were obtained for the majority
of the eleven land use and land cover classes to be
mapped. The addition of the ancillary data
substantially reduced the misclassifications incurred
due to the effect of shadow in the image and also
J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4)
ISSN: 2455-3190
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
crop lands (3), fallow land (2), harbor (2), sand (1),
village area (1) and city area (1), for a percentage of
about 13.3%. One polygon was misclassified of
other categories to sand as gully land (1), for a
percentage of about 6.2%. Four polygons were
misclassified of other categories to scrub land as
crop land (1), fallow land (1), plantation (1), and
sand (1), for a percentage of about 28.6%. Three
polygons were mis-classified of other categories to
village area as harbor (1), plantation (1) and sand
(1), for a percentage of about 13.1%. There is no
misclassification of other categories to city area.
due to the similarity in spectral characteristics of
some classes in coastal areas. The present study
thus highlights the effectiveness of integrating the
spectral data to enhance the quality of land use and
land cover classifications in and around
Pondicherry. The error matrix reveals the kinds of
errors generated by the classification process,
which may in turn permit improved interpretation
of maps, reliability and improved accuracy in future
classifications.
152
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015 Nagamani K et al.

Figure 3.Delineation of Land use and Land cover Classes

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Nagamani K et al.
References
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[2] Campbell JB. Introduction to remote sensing.
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[3] Congalton RG. Putting the map back in map
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[4] Congalton RG, Green K. Assessing the
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[7] Hammond TO, Verbyla DL. Optimistic bias in
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[8] Jensen JR. Introductory digital image
processing: a remote sensing perspective. 3rd
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River, 2005.
[9] Kalkhan M.A. Statistical properties of six
accuracy indices using simple random and
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stratified random sampling: An application in
remote sensing. Ph.D. Dissertation. Colorado
State University, 1994: 134.
[10] Kyriakidis PC, Dungan JL. A geostatistical
approach for mapping thematic classification
accuracy and evaluating the impact of
inaccurate spatial data on ecological model
prediction. Environmental and Ecological
Statistics 2001; 8(4): 311-30.
[11] Maling DH. Measurements from maps.
Oxford: Pergamon, 1989.
[12] Mowrer HT. Quantifying spatial uncertainty
in natural resources: theory and applications
for GIS and remote sensing. Mowrer HT,
Congalton RG (Eds.). In: Second International
Symposium on Spatial Accuracy Assessment
in Natural Resources and Environmental
Sciences. Sleeping Bear Press, Ann Arbor
Press, USA, 2000.
[13] Story M, Congalton RG. Accuracy
assessment: A users perspective.
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[14] USGS. Accuracy assessment procedures NBS/
NPS Vegetation Mapping Program. USGS
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25046 Denver, CO 80225, 1994. Available
from: http://biology.usgs.gov/npsveg/index.
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[15] Verbyla DL, Hammond TO. Conservative bias
in classification accuracy assessment due to
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with reference grids. International Journal of
Remote Sensing 1995; 16(3): 581-87.
154
 Superpave Bituminous Mixes for Coastal Areas
J Samuel Simron Rajkumar*, MM Vijayalakshmi**
Abstract
In India, the road network is about 4.2 million kilometers, which is the second
largest in the world. It includes 65 percent of the freight traffic and 87 percent of
the passenger traffic. However, National Highways (NH) constitutes about 70,934
kilometers which is only 2 percent of the total network. Road pavements in
coastal areas are a challenging design for the scientists, as it leads to the increase
in the life span of the road. The effective design of pavement is necessary, to
increase the strength of pavement which decides the suitability of bituminous mix
for coastal bed. All over the world, the researchers are trying several techniques
for construction of pavements in coastal areas with a high salt content, as salt is
one of the major harmful agents to the bitumen and bituminous mixtures. In
some places, the pavements are fully submerged or are partially under the water
for a long period of time. This causes severe damage to the pavement which is
attacked by saline water. The general results show that nearly 3% of sodium
chloride is deposited in adjoining areas. This salt intrusion will reduce the bonding
of the aggregates. This study is to find out the stability value of Superpave
bituminous mixes with different grading proportion with their bitumen content.
The objective of this research is to determine the proportion of aggregates
namely Flaky and Elongated aggregates along with the bitumen content, and also
the tolerance limit of the salt content preferably adjoining with material
properties specifically for coastal areas.

Keywords: Bituminous mix, Grading proportion, Flaky aggregates and elongated

aggregates.

Introduction
The road infrastructure is the back bone of our
country, which plays a vital role in all
transportation projects. All the government
sectors and researchers are developing a new
technique in accordance to the rate of growth of
the traffic. Highways are built either by Dense
Bituminous Macadam (DBM) concrete or
Bituminous Concrete (BC). In India, Marshall
Method is adopted for bituminous mixes and
specimens were prepared with Marshall hammer.
Mainly in coastal areas, the design mix is
prepared based on the climatic condition and
environmental factors. The selection of aggregate
is moderate for the design mix. The bituminous
mix is finalized by the level of water table. The
shape of the aggregate is the most important
*
Research Scholar, Sathyabama University, Chennai.
**
Professor & Research Head, Sathyabama University, Chennai.
Correspondence to: Dr J Samuel Simron Rajkumar, Sathyabama University, Chennai.
E-mail Id: samuelsimron@gmail.com
factor which has to be considered in coastal
areas, where the voids must be minimized
according to the binder content. It has a
significant influence on the performance of an
asphalt pavement.[1] The aggregate shape may
be cubical, flat or even elongated and hence it has
to be considered subsequently for the traffic
condition. The void present in a compacted mix is
purely dependant on the shape of the aggregates.
High angular, flaky and elongated aggregates
have more voids when compared to the rounded
ones. The presence of high percentage of flaky
and elongated aggregates makes the mix harsh
and difficult to work.[2] Hence it is very essential
to study about the role of the shape of aggregates
in bituminous mixes.

ADR Journals 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Rajkumar JSS et al. National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015

Superpave defines five mixture types as defined by their

nominal maximum aggregate sizes. They are as
Superior Performing Asphalt Pavements is a new shown below:
mix design and analyzed product established by
SHRP (Strategic Highway Research Program) in Superpave Nominal Maximum
the year 1987. They developed the mix for better Mixture Maximum Aggregates
performance and durability of United States Designation Aggregates Size Size, mm
roads. Superpave includes a new system for 37.5 mm 37.5 mm 50
selecting and specifying asphalt binder based on 25.0 mm 25.0 mm 37.5
the mineral aggregates requirements. It gives an 19.0 mm 19.0 mm 25
elaborate idea for selecting the traffic levels. It 12.5 mm 12.5 mm 19
was determined to be the most appropriate, cost 09.5 mm 09.5 mm 12.5
effective system to ensure reasonable pavement Table 1.Superpave Mixtures
performance.
Any cleaned aggregates of local origin that meets
Why Superpave? these criteria may be chosen as a candidate
material in the Superpave mix design system.
The concepts of asphalt mix design procedure
came about only with the increasing use of Pavement Layer Nominal Maximum
asphalt, but with the increasing demand placed Aggregates Size
on the mixtures by increases in traffic volume and Surface 9.5 -12.5 mm
loading. Even the materials were the same, but Binder 25.00 -37..5 mm
the increases in traffic load and volume were Base 25 -37.5 mm
pushing the need for a better understanding of Table 2.Maximum Aggregate Sizes
asphalt materials and pavement performance.
The Superpave mix design and analysis system Literature Review
increasingly uses rigorous degrees of testing and
analysis to provide a well performing mixture for After various investigations, it has been found
a given pavement project. In Superpave mix that the most suitable percentage of flaky and
design, various procedures are involved which elongated aggregates in bituminous concrete mix,
includes careful material selection and volumetric test result shows the optimum binder content
proportioning. The basic four steps involved in increases 10.5%-13.5% for 30% combined Index,
the Superpave asphalt mix design are as follows: 30%-40% for 70% combined flakiness and
elongation indices and tensile strength decreases.
1. Material Selection The equal amount of flaky and elongated
2. Selection of Design Aggregate Structure aggregates in the mixes gives better mix
3. Selection of Design Binder Content, and properties than other combinations of flaky and
4. Evaluation of the Mixture for Moisture elongated aggregates. [3] The effect of shape of
Sensitivity aggregates on the performance of bituminous
mixes in terms of permanent deformation
The guidelines and requirements for selecting the characteristics using 60/ 70 penetration grade
above basic steps of specific pavement bitumen. Different batches were used ranging
performance criteria are depending on the from 20% to 90%. They concluded that the
following: permanent deformation increases with increasing
combined flaky and elongation index.[4] The
1. Environment (Climate) effect of variation in shape of aggregates on the
2. Anticipated Traffic volume over the service mix properties among twenty different
life of the pavement, and aggregates were sieved for the study. The
3. Pavement structure fractions vary from 25-20mm, 20-16mm, 16-
12.5mm and 12.5-10mm respectively. The mixes
Suggested Maximum Aggregate Sizes were prepared in each sample at the gradation
The term used to describe the cumulative obtained corresponding to specified range of low,
frequency distribution of aggregate particle sizes mid and high values for bituminous concrete.
is the design aggregate structure. Superpave Marshall stability test and Indirect tensile test are
conducted and they conclude that respective

J. Adv. Res. GeoSci. Rem. Sens. 2015; 2(3&4) 156

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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
increase in combined flaky and elongated indices,
from lower values to higher values of gradation
ranges tends to increase stability, tensile
strength, tensile strain and retained strength and
further increase in voids.[5]
Objectives
The objective of the ongoing laboratory study
is to evaluate the effect of shape of
aggregates and percentage of flaky and
elongated aggregates in Superpave
Bituminous Mixes.
The laboratory mixes have been developed to
meet the following properties:
1) Optimum binder Content, 2) Volume of
Mineral, 3) Volume of Filled aggregates, 4) Air
Voids Stability, 5) Flow and 6) Indirect tensile
test.
Study Area
State Highway 49, also known as East Coast Road
(ECR) is a two lane highway in Tamil Nadu, India,
built along the coast of the Bay of Bengal
Figure 1.Satellite Image of Study Area-Bharathi Avenue
The places nearest from Injambakkam with their
respective directions are mentioned below:
East Bay of Bengal
West Karappakkam
North Neelankarai
South Panayur
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Rajkumar JSS et al.
connecting Tamil Nadu's state capital city Chennai
with Cuddalore via Pondicherry. The East Coast
Road mainly consists of village roads connecting
one fishermen hamlet to another. The road was
built in 1998 by interlinking and improving a
series of small village roads that connected the
fishing villages along the east coast. The idea was
to create infrastructure, facilitate inter-state
connectivity and boost tourist movement.
Injambakkam is located in ECR (East Coast Road)
which is in the southern part of Chennai and
census town of Kancheepuram district in the
Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Being a part of the
Walajabad block of the district, its panchayat is
part of Walajabad panchayat union. As per the
2011 census, Injambakkam had a population of
23,346. Coordinates for Injambakkam location is
12.9162 N, 80.2488 E. The below mentioned
figure shows the location of the study area, which
is marked with Red arrow line, starting from ECR
towards Bay of Bengal. This Bharathi Avenue is
located perpendicular to ECR. The traffic patterns
are described below.
Road Structure in Bharathi Avenue
The Bharathi Avenue road has deteriorated due
to the effect of salt content present in the water
table. Figures 2 and 3 show the various damages
of Bharathi Avenue.
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Figure 2.Entrance of Bharathi Avenue
Experimental Investigation
The mix design is selected for the present surface
layer of the respective study area. From
observation, the presence of deteriorated surface
layer can be clearly identified in Bharathi Avenue.
As per the AASHTO MP 2, Standard Specification
for Superpave Volumetric design mix, there are
five types of aggregate gradation ranging from
37.5mm (1.5 inch) Nominal size, 25mm (1 inch)
Nominal size, 19mm (3/ 4 inch) Nominal size,
Table 3.Gradation of 9.5 mm Nominal size
Physical Properties of Aggregates
The aggregates used in this study are coarse
aggregates, fine aggregate and filler aggregates.
Bitumen of Viscosity grade (VG 30) is used. Before
Table 4.Properties of Aggregates
Salinity Level
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Figure 3.Mid block of the Bharathi Avenue
12.5mm (1/ 2 inch) Nominal size and 9.5mm (3/ 8
inch) Nominal size, available for different layers.
Selected Aggregates
As per Asphalt Institute Superpave Mix Design,
Superpave series No.2 (SP-2), the Nominal and
Maximum aggregate size-control points are
selected in the ranges of proportions as shown in
Table 2. Table 3 shows the gradation of 9.5 mm
Nominal size.
using the materials, they are tested as per the
Indian as well as the Superpave gradation
parameters. The properties of the materials are
shown in Table 4.
Salinity or Total Dissolved (TDS) in water virtually
means the amount of all soluble salts. Salinity
level in the groundwater is surveyed along the
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015 Rajkumar JSS et al.

seashore lines and it was found that it is going
down rapidly and is getting worse day by day. The
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) exceed 500mg/ l.
Generally ground water has more TDS than
surface water due to the strong physical contact
with the soil. Further the upper layer of ground
water has lesser TDS than the lower one. From
the survey we found that the content of TDS is 35
mg/ l to 6470 mg/ l with a mean value of 1762
mg/ l. The TDS exceeded 500 mg/ l (desired limit
of TDS in drinking water) in 83% of the samples
and 72% of the samples contained more than
1000 mg/ l of TDS. About 38% of the samples
contained more than 2000 mg/ l of TDS. The
maximum permissible limit as per drinking water
specification, Indian Standard is 10500:1991. The
data is collected from Centre for Excellence of the
Ministry of Environment and Forests,
Government of India. Salt is the common name of
the chemical compound named as sodium
chloride. The presence of salt on the road for a
longer duration affects the strength of the
pavement.

Table 5.Classification of natural waters

This suggests a possible intrusion of nearby saline
water which has comparatively high
concentration of sodium and chloride. Water
Quality Index is less than 20% in 83% of the water
samples in Chennai city. Water quality in
Injambakkam is analyzed, calcium content is more
compared to the sodium content as well as Ca/
Na ratio is greater than 1 indicating that nature of
the place was hard rock interaction, but it has
high TDS content which may be due to the
anthropogenic activity. Overall, in Chennai, 50%
of the sampling station exists within the
permissible limit and they are converted into
brackish in nature. 35% of the sampling station
started to convert from fresh to brackish and the
remaining 15% of the samples are fresh in
nature.[6]

Table 6.Statistical Data of Ground water sample in Chennai (2014)Binder

For the laboratory study, VG 30 was considered in of binders are given below:
the present investigation. The physical properties

Table 7.Binder Characteristics

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Soil Sub Grade Data Standard proctor density (gr./cc) = 1.62 gm/cc

The soil is taken from the Injambakkam area on Observation during Penetration and
Bharathi Avenue 400m away from the Seashore Determination of CBR
line. The following tests have been done in the
laboratory. The CBR mould is prepared from the Optimum
Moisture content (19%) present in that soil. The
C.B.R of soil sub grade = 5% CBR value is to determine the Sub-grade soil. As
Modulus of sub grade Reaction K-value =2.89 per IS 2720 (part-16), it consists of mould, and
Kg/ cm2 detachable collar, having internal diameter
Liquid limit = 57% 150mm diameter and height 175mm. The spacer
Plastic limit = 23% disc is of 148 mm diameter with a height of
Plasticity index (PI) = 32% 47.7mm. The surcharge has a weight of 2.5 Kg
O.M.C = 19% each having a central hole of 53mm diameter.

Table 8.Determination of CBR value

The unit load carried by specimen at standard Avenue, the range is around 1 msa, hence the
penetration flexible pavement design is suggested for a length
CBR%= -------------------------------------------- x 100 of road of 0.480 Km.
Unit load carried by crushed stone at standard
penetration a) Traffic intensity as worked out = 50 CV/D
66.67 Average
b) Growth rate of traffic (assumed) = 7.5%
CBR% 2.5mm = ---------- x 100 =4.866 c) Total Period of Construction = 2 months
d) Design C.B.R. of Sub grade Soil = 5.00%
1370
CBR
92.66
The CBR value is 5% and Design traffic for 1 msa,
CBR% 5mm = ----------- x 100 =4.509
of IRC 37, 2001.The total thickness is 660mm.
2055
As per MoRTH Specification (IRC 37-2001 Page 24
The CBR value of 2.5mm should be greater than Plate 1)
the 5.0mm, and then it is used as a CBR for sub-
grade soil to determine the thickness of the Granular Sub Base = 300mm
flexible pavements. Base Course = 250mm
DBM = 70mm
Design of Flexible Pavement by CBR Data BC = 40mm
Total Thickness = 660mm
According to the volume of traffic at Bharathi

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Results and Discussion
In the above investigation, the aggregate, soil and
binder results are evaluated and analyzed for the
flexible pavement design. The result shows the
deterioration of surface layer in the study area-
Bharathi Avenue is more, hence the surface layer
should be laid based on the Superpave gradation,
to suit the Indian road requirements.
The Superpave gradation is used to provide a
greater strength for the pavement. Sodium
chloride has played an important role in
improving the different properties of the
bitumen. In this design mix, the gradation has to
be modified according to the availability of
aggregates. The salt content present in the water
table does not affect the surface of the pavement
rapidly, so there is a wide range of technique to
improvise the pavement strength by changing the
grade and bitumen content. The flaky and
elongated aggregate can be utilized in large
quantity to reduce the decay of pavement. But
sometimes it has negative effects and reduces the
strength of the bituminous mixes. In every case,
salt content should be less than the acceptable
limit. In previous laboratory study, the salt
content in the Bitumen is accepted only if its
below 4%. Hence the Superpave Bituminous mix
design of 660mm thickness for a length of
0.480km is suggested for the study area-Bharathi
Avenue in Injambakkam which is located in the
coastal area of Bay of Bengal.
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Rajkumar JSS et al.
References
[1] Patrick GL. Influence on the performance of
an asphalt pavement. Chapter 8. Spon
Press, London and New York, 2003.
[2] Bhuduru S, Mathew BS, Issac KP. Influence
of Flaky and Elongated Aggregates on the
Properties of Bituminous Concrete Mix.
IE(I) Journal-CV Nov 2006; 87: 54-58.
[3] Krisnamurthy A. Influence of coarse
aggregate shape factors on mixes. Indian
Highways 2004: 51-56.
[4] Sudhakarreddy K, Reddy MA, Amarkumar
et al. An Investigation on the effect of
coarse aggregate shape the performance of
bituminous mixes. Highway Research Board
2001: 1-187-1-192.
[5] Asphalt Institute. Superpave Mix Design.
Superpave series No. 2 (SP-2). 2696
Research park Drive Lexington.
[6] Annapoorani A, Murugesan A, Ramu A et al.
Hydrochemistry of Groundwater in and
around Chennai, India-A Case Study.
Research Journal of Chemical Sciences
2014; 4(4): 99-106.
[7] Federal Highway Administration NHI Course
#131053. Superpave Fundamental
Reference manual. National Highway
Institute, 2000.
[8] Volumetric Requirements for Superpave
mix design. NCHRP report 567.
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The Impacts of Development on the Landscape of the Coastal
Regions in Sholinganallur Taluk-A Geoinformatics Approach
Yasodharan Suresh*, K Nagamani**
Introduction
The present study aims to find out the impacts of
built up area development on the landscape of the
coastal regions in SholinganallurTaluk. The study
has made use of IRS LISS III and high resolution IRS
LISS IV pan merged satellite imageries for the years
2003 and 2013 to identify the impacts of
development and ERDAS image processing and
ArcGIS softwares are used to demarcate the
impacts. Most of the wastelands and wet lands in
the study area are converted to Information
Technology (IT) industries and residential
apartments. Residential areas along the side of Old
Mahabalipuram Road are converting to commercial
areas. Some of the commercial areas are converting
to IT industries.
Impacts of built-up area development on the
landscape of the coastal regions play a very
important role in the determination of mans
economic, social and cultural progress. The
globalization process has given an opportunity in
India to establish itself as a global leader in the
knowledge sector. By using the primary data and
the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority
data, the positive and negative implications caused
due to the concentration of impacts on land use are
identified in the coastal regions. Remote sensing
and Geographical Information System provide
consistent and accurate base line information than
many of the conventional surveys employed for
such tasks. Land use and land cover information,
when used along with information on other natural
resources like water body, soil, hydro-
geomorphology, etc. will help in the optimal land
use planning at the macro and micro level.
Study Area
The present study area is located between 12 50
*
Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Madras Christian College, Chennai.
**
Scientist C, Centre for Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, Sathyabama University, Chennai.
Correspondence to: Mr Yasodharan Suresh, Department of Geography, Madras Christian College, Chennai.
E-mail Id: ysdhrnsuresh@gmail.com
ADR Journals 2015. All Rights Reserved.
North to 13 00 North latitudes and 80 10 East to
80 16 East longitudes and it forms a part of the
Survey of India (SOI) 1:50,000 scale topographic
sheets 66 D/01 and 66 D/05. The areal extent of the
study area is 55 sq.km. The study area is bounded in
North by Chennai city, East by Bay of Bengal, South
by Chengalpattu Taluk and West by Tambaram
Taluk.
Materials and Methods
The study has made use of various primary and
secondary data. These include Survey of India (SOI)
topographic sheets (66/C4, D1 and D5) of 1:50,000
scale and satellite images. The (IRS) data were
visually and digitally interpreted by using the ERDAS
(for classifying the image) and ArcGIS software (for
processing, analysis and integration of spatial data)
to reach the objectives of the study. Adequate field
checks were made before finalization of the
thematic maps.
The main goal of this study is to find out the
impacts of built up area development on the
landscape of the coastal regions using multi-
temporal satellite data. As this is a topic of interest
and implication on globalization issues with
particular reference to the dominance of service
sector of which IT Industry forms a major
component in the study area. Hence, the second
part of the research involved carrying out a
literature survey which covers the larger issue of
globalization, its implications on cities and the
emergence of IT as a global industry which affects
the coastal regions.
Implications of IT industry on other built forms
traces the influence of IT industry on emergence of
built forms for residential, commercial and other
social infrastructure.
National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
Figure 1.Study Area
The physical manifestation of the IT industry and its
influence on other built forms are understood
through reports, data from various sources and
analysis. By primary survey, the data was collected
for physical aspect, social aspect, economic aspect,
environmental aspect and governance aspect. Final
stage leads to integrating and analyzing the
changing land use pattern, positive and negative
implications caused due to the concentrations of IT
industry with respect to coastal regions.
Results and Discussion
The Impacts of Development on the Landscape of
the Coastal Regions
Implications on account of development on the
landscape of the coastal regions are analyzed by
comparing before and after developments.
Implications are carried out in terms of physical,
social, economic, environmental and governance
aspects to each village by identifying variables
under each aspect. The restructuring as a process
can take place either as a private initiative as
response to the market demand or as a pro-active
move of the government. However, support from
the statutory authorities and planning agencies is
required, as it includes change in land use policies
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Yasodharan S et al.
and development regulations to promote the
intended developments in the coastal regions.
Physical Aspect
Changing Land Use Pattern
In the study area, before IT development, major
portion of the land was covered by agriculture, it
constituted a total area of 26.28 sq.km. The built-up
land covered an area of 8.19 sq.km, wasteland
constituted of 12.28 sq.km. and wet land covered
an area of 4.87 sq.km. But after IT development,
major portion of the land has been converted into
built-up land, constituting 35.45 sq.km. All the
other land uses have decreased, in which,
agriculture constitutes 9.85 sq.km, wasteland
constitutes 4.25 sq.km, water bodies cover an area
of 2.58 sq.km and wet land covers an area of 2.87
sq.km. After IT development, the places lying in
OMR are converted totally into commercial and
industrial areas. In places like Injambakkam,
Neelankarai, Perumbakkam and Uthandi, small
patches of land are used for agriculture. Major IT
industries are observed in Perungudi, Seevaram,
Okkiam-Thuraipakkam, Karapakkam and
Sholinganallur. Most of the wastelands are
converted into multi-storeyed residential buildings.
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Figure 2.Village wise Land use Changes

Table 1.Land Use Change

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Figure 3.Village wise Land use Changes

Conversion of Residential Houses are observed. The places like Neelangarai,

Before IT development, the residential houses
consisted 25% of thatched roof, 50% of tiled roof
and 25% of concrete roof. After IT development in
the villages like Perumbakkam, Arasankalani and
Ottiambakkam, only 5 % of thatched roof houses
Injambakkam, Uthandi, Semmenjeri, and
Karapakkam consist of 25% of tiled roof houses.
Places like Perungudi, Sholinganallur, Kottivakkam,
Palavakkam, Seevaram and Okkiam-Thuraipakkam
consist of 70% of concrete houses.

Table 2.Conversion of Houses

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Residential Structure Changes
Before IT development, 70% of the residential
structures had ground floor, 28% had ground floor +
1 floor, and 2% had ground floor +2 floors. But after
IT development, only 30% of residential houses
have ground floor, 54% have ground floor + 1 floor,
8% have ground floor +2 floors, 5% have ground
floor +3 floors, and 3% have ground floor +4 floors.
The land value has increased manifold, thus the
owners of the house have constructed 2 to 3 floors
and use it for renting. More number of multi floor
residential buildings is observed in places like
Perungudi, Kottivakkam, Palavakkam, Karapakkam
and Sholinganallur areas.
Physical Infrastructure
Before IT development, the physical infrastructure
like water supply, sewage, telecom and electricity,
solid waste disposal etc., in the study area did not
satisfy people with the basic infrastructure facilities.
Table 3.Family Structure
Migration
Before IT development, 70% of native people were
engaged in fishing, agriculture and other activities.
The outsiders constituted 30%, but after IT
development, the native people are only 42% and
the outsiders are 58%. After Tsunami, the native
people who are residing along the seashore areas of
Kottivakkam, Palavakkam, Neelangarai,
Injambakkam, Sholinganallur and Uthandi moved to
Source: Data Compiled from Primary Survey
Table 4.Migration
Social Aegregation
Before IT development, there was less social
segregation between the native people and
outsiders. But after IT development, there is more
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But after IT development, the Chennai Municipal
Corporation has handed over the water supply to
CMWSSB. After IT development, sewage, telecom
and electricity, solid waste disposal etc., have
developed and the people are satisfied with the
physical infrastructure.
Social Aspect
Family Structure
Before IT development, there was 75% of the
families were joint families and 25% were single
families. But after IT development, only 27% are
joint families and the single families constitutes
73%. In the recent years, most of the families are
living in a single family structure. The places along
the side of IT corridor, viz. Perungudi, Okkiam-
Thuraipakkam, Karapakkam, and Sholinganallur
consist of more number of single families. These are
the places where more number of outsiders are
living.
safer places and the people who were engaged in
agricultural activities shifted to secondary activities,
thus, they moved towards the city and other places
of CMA (Chennai Metropolitan Area). More number
of outsiders is observed in the Perungudi,
Thuraipakkam, Karapakkam and Sholinganallur. The
existing native people are observed in the villages
of Vengaivasal, Ottiambakkam, Arasankalani and
Sittalapakkam.
social segregation between the native people and
the outsiders. More social segregation is observed
in the places of Karapakkam, Sholinganallur,
Okkiam-Thuraipakkam, Seevaram and Perungudi.
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Shift in Occupation
Before IT development, 65% of population was
engaged in agricultural activities, 25% of population
was engaged as contract laborers (construction of
buildings, roads etc.) and 10% of the population
was engaged in other activities. But after IT
development, more number of population observed
are IT professionals constituting 38% and observed
in places like Perungudi, Seevaram, Okkiam-
Thuraipakkam, Karapakkam, Sholinganallur,
Semmanjeri and Ullagaram. The villages of
Vengaivasal, Ottiambakkam, Arasankalani and
Perumbakkam are the few villages practicing
Table 5.Agriculture Land Holdings
Rental Accommodation
Before IT development, only 10% of houses were
under the rental accommodation. But after IT
development, the rental accommodation has
increased to 65% because of increase in number of
outsiders. The villages have more number of rental
accommodations mainly in the places of Perungudi,
Okkiam Thuraipakkam, Seevaram and
Sholinganallur.
House Ownership
Before IT development, only 20% of the people had
their own houses. But after IT development, it has
increased to 55%. Due to high income for the IT
professionals, some of them own the house. Due to
increase in number of IT companies, the
infrastructure facilities are developed which has led
to increase in the rate of house ownership.
Social Infrastructure
Before IT development, the people were not
satisfied with the social infrastructure facilities like
education, hospital facilities and housing facilities.
There are lots of recreational activities observed
thus; the people are satisfied. After IT development,
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Yasodharan S et al.
agriculture, thus 2% of population is engaged in
agricultural activities. 15% of populations are
contract laborers (building construction, road
construction etc.).
Agriculture Land Holdings
Before IT development, the agriculture land
holdings are 47.23%. After IT development, it is
reduced and it constitutes only 13.61%. Most of the
land is converted into built-up land and other land
uses. The existing land holding places are observed
in the villages of Ottiambakkam, Vengaivasal
Arasankalani and Perumbakkam.
apart from housing facilities, the people are
satisfied with good educational facilities, hospital
facilities and recreational activities.
Economic Aspect
Land Value
Before IT development, the land value in the study
area was 50 lakh per acre, but after IT
development, the land value increased to 2-3 crores
per acre. Most of the vacant land and waste land in
Sholinganallur, Perumbakkam and Semmenjeri are
used by the real estate agents, which are further
used for construction of multi-storeyed residential
apartments and IT industries.
Income Status of People
Before IT development, 75% of the population
belonged to low income group (below 5,000 per
month). Medium income group (10,000-20,000 per
month) was 20% and high income group (more than
20,000) was 5%. After IT development, only 10% of
population is low income group (below 5,000 per
month). Medium income group (10,000-20,000 per
month) is 55% and high income group (more than
20,000) is 35%.
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Table 6.Income Status of the People
Environmental Aspect
Solid Waste Management
Before IT development, the solid waste
management was not in good condition, but after IT
development, the solid waste management was
satisfactory to the people. A separate disposal area
was in Pallikaranai where all the wastage (industrial
Table 7.Ground Water Depletion
Quality of Water
Before IT development, the quality of water was
good but after IT development, the quality of water
was slightly changed because of over pollution.
Governance Aspect
Before IT development, the local body status was
that of a Selection Grade Town. But after IT
development, the study area had rapid growth. In
the year 2004, it was considered as the Town
Panchayat, and in the year 2013, it was declared as
Taluk. In a short span of time, the study area has
developed manifold. The performance level of the
local body is reduced due to increase of population
and weak control over illegal construction in the
surrounding of the lake bunds and in Buckingham
canal. Developmental authorities (District Town and
Country Planning and Chennai Metropolitan
Development Authority) lacked co-ordination
amongst them. The study area lies inside the
Chennai Metropolitan Area and as well one of the
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National Conference on Coastal Environment 2015
waste, building waste, e-waste, hospital waste,
residential or house hold waste) in south Chennai
was dumped in the Pallikaranai solid waste disposal
area.
Ground Water Depletion
Before IT development, the ground water depletion
ranged from 5m to 7m, but after IT development,
the ground water depletion was more than 20m.
Taluk of Kanchipuram District therefore, both
authorities had the power.
Conclusion
In the present work, an attempt has been made to
analyze the impacts of built up area development
on the landscape of the coastal regions in
Sholinganallur Taluk using Geographical
Information System technique. Many
encroachments are observed along the side of
seashore due to that many unapproved layouts are
emerging and some of the residential guest houses
constructed near the seashore are coming under
CRZ. Agricultural fields are converted into
residential uses, only few agricultural lands are
available and many encroachments are observed
near the surrounding of lake bunds. Due to lack of
space in the core city, the IT developments and
construction of IT Parks developed in the peripheral
areas. The land use is restructured due to the
development of IT industries. Many wet land and
waste land converted to IT industries and in place of
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some of the waste lands, the real estate agent and
real estate companies are constructing their
projects.
Conversion of land uses from residential to
commercial should be controlled by local body and
the construction of new buildings should be as per
approved plan with adequate parking facilities with
open space and it has to be strictly monitored by
the local authority. Plan has to be formulated in
order to meet the deficiency of social and physical
infrastructure such as roads, drainage, health,
education, parks etc., and the characteristics of
slums are to be studied and further relocation/
rehabilitation plan should be prepared. To avoid
social segregation among native people and
outsiders, proper infrastructure facilities should be
provided. The affected farmers who are forced to
sell their agricultural lands have to be identified,
recognized and supported. Water bodies should be
protected by making the surrounding land into
accessible spaces like parks. This will also enhance
water recharging and prevent encroachments and
pollution. Proper drainage facilities should be
planned for the low lying areas and the
developments should not be allowed to disturb the
natural drainage. Entertainment stretch ECR, is
running parallel to the IT corridor, therefore the
connecting roads should be constructed with world
class standards. In the study area, some of the
villages fall under CRZ (Coastal Regulation Zone)
regulations and the lands up to 100 meters can be
used as open space and recreational zone and the
IT corridor can be brought under single control for
better development.
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Raj N. Land Use/ Land Cover Mapping of
Marudaiyar Basin, Tamil Nadu, Using Remote
Sensing. Eco-Chronicle 2008; 3(4): 269-74.
[3] Devakirajan D. Spatial Impact of Information
Technology Industries in Bangalore
Metropolitan Area. Unpublished M.Plan
Thesis, Anna University, Chennai, 2006: 37-
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[4] Jayakumar S, Arockiasamy DI. Land Use/ Land
Cover Mapping and Change Detection in Part
of Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu Using Remote
Sensing and GIS. Journal of the Indian Society
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Corridor, Chennai. Unpublished M. Plan
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[6] Prakasam C, Biplab Biswas. Land use, Land
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