Module - 8 Lecture Notes - 5: Remote Sensing-Remote Sensing Applications Drought Assessment

Remote Sensing-Remote Sensing Applications
Drought assessment
MODULE 8 LECTURE NOTES 5

REMOTE SENSING APPLICATIONS IN DROUGHT ASSESSMENT
1. Introduction
Drought is a phenomenon of long-term moisture deficiency. It may be meteorological,
agricultural or hydrologic drought. Meteorological drought indicates deficiency in
precipitation, whereas agricultural drought indicates scarcity in plant water availability
leading to a reduction in crop yield. Hydrologic drought is defined using a combination of
factors such as stream flow, groundwater availability and reservoir storage. Remote sensing
methods have been used for monitoring both agricultural and meteorological droughts. This
lecture gives a brief introduction to the application of remote sensing methods for drought
monitoring, particularly agricultural drought monitoring.
The lecture also gives the details of the National Agricultural Drought Assessment and
Monitoring System (NADAMS) initiated by the National remote Sensing Agency (NRSA),
India.
2.
Remote sensing applications in drought assessment
Remote sensing applications in drought assessment involve monitoring of both the

meteorological conditions and the agronomic condition.
2.1 Meteorological condition
Remote sensing techniques have been used very effectively to estimate the rainfall and the
solar radiation, which are some of the essential informations for drought forecasting and
monitoring.
Remote sensing estimation of rainfall is based on the differentiation of precipitating clouds
from the non-precipitating clouds. Optical remote sensing techniques and microwave (both
passive and active) have been used for this.
Solar radiation is a major determinant of plant growth and evapotranspiration. Remote
sensing techniques are being used to measure the solar insolation through the measurement of
energy reflected back from the area.
D Nagesh Kumar, IISc, Bangalore
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2.2 Agronomic condition

Remote sensing data have been widely used to monitor the crop health condition. Remote
sensing derived indices such as NDVI are generally used for this.
In addition, the day-time and night-time thermal data have been used to find the thermal
inertia of the system and hence to interpret the moisture stress condition.
Another major application of remote sensing is in the estimation of soil moisture condition in
the fields.
3. National Agricultural Drought Assessment and Monitoring System (NADAMS)
National Agricultural Drought Assessment and Monitoring System (NADAMS) was initiated
in 1989 by the National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) under the Remote Sensing
Application Mission (RSAM) Drought Monitoring program. The project covers 14 states of
the country, which are agriculturally important and vulnerable to drought. The states covered
under NADAMS are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand,
Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttaranchal and
Uttar Pradesh (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1 States covered under the NADAMS
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NADAMS provides near real-time information on the prevalence, severity level and
persistence of agricultural drought at national/ state / district level during the kharif season.
Initial objectives of the program were to provide periodic drought monitoring at district level,
during the kharif season (June-October). With the advancement of technology, the objectives
have been modified, and currently the mission provides drought monitoring at district level
for the entire country. In addition, river basin-wise and crop-wise comprehensive drought
monitoring is also achieved under the mission.
The details of the NADAMS shown in this lecture are mainly from the work done by Dr.
A.T. Jayaseelan, and his colleagues in NRSA, Hyderabad.
3.1 Drought assessment under NADAMS
Fig. 2 shows the conceptualization of various droughts in the NADAMS. Accordingly,
agricultural drought is assessed by measuring the crop biophysical parameters and in turn the
vegetation index and yield condition through remote sensing.
Fig. 2 Conceptualization of drought in NADAMS
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In the NADAMS, vegetation indices (e.g., NDVI) derived from the remote sensing data have
been used to assess the drought severity. NDVI is also used to derive other relevant
parameters such as GNDVI (weighted average vegetation index over entire geographical area
of each district), MNDVI (weighted average vegetation index over vegetation area of each
district), VA (vegetation area) and Cl (the residual cloud cover).
Drought assessment in any reporting period is based on comparison of district NDVI profile
till then to the seasonal profiles of the normal year. For example, Fig. 3 shows the NDVI
profile for the Sikar District in Rajastan.
Fig.3. Typical NDVI profile for the Sikar District in Rajastan
Profile anomalies are interpreted in terms of moisture stress conditions and relative severity
level. The relative drought severity level (normal, mild, moderate and severe) is assessed on
the basis of criteria such as delay in vegetation growth (1 fortnight, 2 fortnights, 3-4
fortnights and more than 4 fortnights) and the VI anomaly, compared to normal year in
percentage: up to 10% low, 10-25 % low, 25-50% low and more than 50% low.
Drought assessment methodology of the NADAMS consists of two components or two
segments: ground segment and space segment.
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Ground segment
The ground segment consists of collection and aggregation of the ground based information
pertaining to the land use conditions, crop particulars such as cropping pattern, crop duration,
yield, irrigated and rainfed area identification. It also consists of the derivation of the
correlation between the vegetation indices and the crop yield.
Fig.4 shows the schematic representation of the ground segment of the NADAMS.
Fig.4. Schematic representation of the ground segment of the NADAMS drought assessment
program
Space segment
The space segment consists of generation of the NDVI images, district level statistics
extraction, drought assessment integrating the satellite and ground segment information etc.
Fig.5 shows the schematic representation of the space segment of the NADAMS.
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Fig.5. Schematic representation of the space segment of the NADAMS drought assessment
program
Remote sensing data used in NADAMS

In view of the whole country coverage and the periodic reporting of every fortnight,
NADAMS uses National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Satellite's
Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data that has 1.1 km spatial
resolution at nadir and everyday revisit capability. The AVHRR data is used for the drought
monitoring in the 10 states marked in Fig.1. The remaining 4 states are monitored by AWiFS
and WiFS data.
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Detailed drought analysis at sub-district level is achieved for four states (Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka, Haryana and Maharashtra) by using moderate resolution Advanced Wide Field
Sensor (AWiFS) of Resourcesat 1 (IRS P6), and WiFS of IRS 1C and 1D data.
The raw satellite data are collected from the respective organizations and the basic
corrections viz., geometric correction, radiometric corrections and panoramic corrections are
made. Further the data is used to extract the vegetation indices as well as the land surface
temperature.
The NOAA AVHRR data processing method with the sequence of steps on radiometric and
geometric correction, cloud masking and time composition algorithm was developed by
Jeyaseelan and Malleswara Rao (1987). Fig.6 shows the steps involved in the satellite image
processing in the NADAMS.
Fig. 6. Schematic representation of the algorithm used for estimating drought statistics from
remote sensing data
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Fig. 8 shows a sample VI image showing the color coded, final maximum value composite
for entire India, in September 2001.
Fig.7 Color coded NDVI image generated using remote sensing images
Once the parameters are extracted from the satellite images, the administrative boundaries are
overlaid over these images in a GIS framework as shown in Fig. 9-10. This helps to extract
the details for each administrative block and hence to derive the respective statistics.
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Fig. 8 Karnataka state maps with

district boundaries
Fig. 9. Karnataka state administrative

boundaries overlaid over the Color
coded Maximum value composite of
NDVI
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National level monitoring

NADAMS uses AVHRR data at 1.1 km spatial resolution to monitor the drought scenario in
the 14 states shown in Fig.1. For these states, using the satellite remote sensing data
NADAMS provide the following information.
Agricultural vegetation condition images at state / district levels
Products on drought related parameters- rainfall, crop areas etc.
Agricultural drought assessment maps
For each state, district level analyses are provided, as well as the summary report for the
entire state. These drought reports are disseminated fortnightly / monthly through post, e-mail
and DMS-VP network.
Biweekly bulletin contains vegetation index image, greenness comparison map and drought
assessment report and progressive drought status at district level for every state. Based on the
district level analysis, first cut drought alert is sent to the Central and State Govt.
Departments related with agriculture and revenue including district level officers through
telephone in 3-4 days. In addition, the printed bulletin is sent in 10 days.
Monthly bulletins contain district wise agricultural background, consolidated reports on rain
and agricultural operation, satellite based assessment on current vegetation development,
early warning on subsequent period condition, and expected reduction in yield from major
crops. These bulletins are sent to the Central and State Govt. Departments related with
agriculture and relief.
This information, provided in terms of bulletin in a periodic and time effective manner, will
help the resource managers in optimally allocating the financial and other resources to where
and when they are most needed.
Fig. 11 shows the NDVI maps of Maharashtra in 2001, and the drought condition estimated
based on the NDVI.
Tables 1 and 2 show the sample drought reports generated by NADAMS for Haryana state in
2001.
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Fig. 10 NDVI maps of Maharashtra and the drought severity map
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Table 1. District-wise drought assessment and early warning for Haryana as on 30/09/2001
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Table 2. Progressive drought status report of Haryana state up to 31/10//2001
The current NDVI is compared with the corresponding period of normal NDVI
* Cloud cover is more than 20% of the geographical area
Caution: The comparative condition need to be viewed with caution if there is significant residual cloud cover
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Regional monitoring
Detailed drought analysis at sub-district level is achieved for four states (Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka, Haryana and Maharashtra) by using moderate resolution IRS AWiFS, and WiFS
data.
Fig.12 shows the monthly composite NDVI image of agricultural area, India in September
2003, generated from the IRS WiFS data.
No Data
Fig.11. IRS WiFS monthly composite NDVI image of agricultural area, India, Sep. 2003
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At the regional level, NADAMS provides the following information for the kharif season.
Information by end of August
o Table showing sub-district cropped area till the end of July and August and crop
condition assessment
o Maps of cropped area and condition assessment for each district
Information by end of September
o Table showing sub-district cropped area till the end of September, crop condition
assessment and early warning
Information by end of October
o Table showing Mandal wise cropped area, crop condition assessment and early
warning on expected yield.
For each state, NADAMS generates monthly report at Mandal / Taluk (sub-district) level.
Crop condition is estimated using the NDVI estimated from the satellite imagery. Similarly,
crop moisture status is estimated using the index NDWI (Normalized Difference Water
Index) from satellite images.
NWDI = (NIR SWIR) / (NIR + SWIR)
For example, Fig. 13and 14 show the crop condition and crop moisture status, respectively in
Maharashtra in September 2006, derived using the NDVI and the NDWI from the AWiFS
data.
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Fig. 12. Crop condition status in Sept 2006 based on NDVI
Fig. 13. Crop Moisture status in Sept 2006 based on NDWI
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Principal users of the NADAMS drought monitoring reports
Central Agencies
o Dept. of Agriculture and Cooperation
o Planning commission
o India Meteorological Department
State Agencies
o State Relief Department
o State Agricultural Department
o State remote sensing application centers
District report
o
District Collectors(District administration)
Applications of the NADAMS drought bulletins

The drought warnings and the drought monitoring reports generated by the NADAMS have
been used as inputs to review the agricultural situations by the agriculture departments. They
have also been used as inputs for developing contingency plans, for estimating relief claims
and for relief management.
Satellite Remote Sensing and GIS can play a very important role in Agricultural Drought
Assessment and its mitigation
Bibliography / Further reading

1. Jeyaseelan, A.T. and Malleswara Rao, T.Ch. (1987). NOAA AVHRR data processing
method for vegetation index generation in the vax-11 system. A technical report,
water resources division, NRSA, Hyderabad, India.
2. Nagesh Kumar D and Reshmidevi TV (2013). Remote sensing applications in water
resources J. Indian Institute of Sci., 93(2), 163-188.
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