Uncertainty of soil erosion modelling using open source high resolution and aggregated DEMs

Digital Elevation Model （DEM） is one of the important parameters for soil erosion assessment. Notable uncertainties are observed in this study while using three high resolution open source DEMs. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation （RUSLE） model has been applied to analysis the assessment of soil erosion uncertainty using open source DEMs （SRTM, ASTER and CARTOSAT） and their increasing grid space （pixel size） from the actual. The study area is a part of the Narmada river basin in Madhya Pradesh state, which is located in the central part of India and the area covered 20,558 km2. The actual resolution of DEMs is 30 m and their increasing grid spaces are taken as 90, 150, 210, 270 and 330 m for this study. Vertical accuracy of DEMs has been assessed using actual heights of the sample points that have been taken considering planimetric survey based map （toposheet）. Elevations of DEMs are converted to the same vertical datum from WGS 84 to MSL （Mean Sea Level）, before the accuracy assessment and modelling. Results indicate that the accuracy of the SRTM DEM with the RMSE of 13.31, 14.51, and 18.19 m in 30, 150 and 330 m resolution respectively, is better than the ASTER and the CARTOSAT DEMs. When the grid space of the DEMs increases, the accuracy of the elevation and calculated soil erosion decreases. This study presents a potential uncertainty introduced by open source high resolution DEMs in the accuracy of the soil erosion assessment models. The research provides an analysis of errors in selecting DEMs using the original and increased grid space for soil erosion modelling.

GIS Based Approach to Determine the Changes of Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) Cover and Relation with Lesser Whistling Teal (Dendrocygna javanica) Assemblage at Santragachi Wetland, West Bengal

The present investigation is conducted to study the year wise (2011to 2018) changes of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) cover atSantragachi Lake a Wetland under National Wetland ConservationProgramme of India. Further the relationship between water hyacinthcover and the most abundant migratory waterbirds of Satragachi, LesserWhistling Teal (LWT;Dendrocygna javanica) is assessed because this birdspecies is prefer depending on water hyacinth mat for their roosting. Thestudy comprises of eight satellite images procured from Google earth (2011to 2018) to explore this relationship. A marked decline in the number ofLWT at Santragachi wetland is observed in the year of 2017 and 2018. Itis very interesting fact that from 2017-2018, the water hyacinth mat of thiswetland is almost cleared before winter and the result of cluster analysissupports this fact. Significant positive correlation is also observed withinLWT number and water hyacinth cover area (r = 0.7481 at p< 0.05) alongwith the total perimeter (r = 0.8648 at p< 0.05) of the water hyacinthislands at Santragachi wetland. However, open water area is also neededfor diving, swimming, food searching for the LWT and other waterbirds.Therefore, more study is needed to optimize the clearing operations,focused on optimizing the shape and size of water hyacinth islands forproper management of the waterbirds habitat.