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Abstract Services-USA, Geo-Ref Information Services-USA 

ISSN 0974-5904, Volume 05, No. 05 (02) 

October 2012, P.P. 1464-1471 

An Effective Decision Support Study for Evaluation of 

Topographical Features using Remote Sensing & GIS 

P. V. S. VARA PRASAD 1 and S S. ASADI 2 

1 Dept.of. Civil Engineering,C.M.J.University,Shillong 

2 Dept.of. Civil Engineering, KL University, Green fields, Vaddeswaram-522502, Guntur (D.t), A.P, India 

Email: asadienviron.asadi@gmail.com 

Abstract: Land resources are required for agriculture, forestry, rangeland, urbanization and many other 

developmental activities satisfying human needs. creation of Landuse/Landcover mapthese resources information 

system with the help of Remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) tools could be helpful in getting 

the precise and valuable spatial information in understanding the present scenario contemplating with the past data 

and predicting the future trends. The main objective of the study is to evaluate and map the Land use/Land cover 

characteristics in the study area and to develop methods for its efficient utilization. The Land use/Land cover map of 

the study area was prepared from linearly enhanced fused data of IRS-ID PAN and LISS-III merged satellite 

imagery and Survey Of India (SOI) toposheets on 1:50,000 scale using visual interpretation technique using 

AutoCad and Arc/Info GIS software forming the spatial database.The study of topographical characterization of an 

area is useful to plan the basic minimum needs of farmers, thereby improving their socio-economic conditions and 

helps in evolving a broad national policy which can be applied by decision makers for sustainable development of 

any given area. 

Keywords: topographical futures, characterization, Land use /Land cover, Remote sensing, Geographical 

Information System. 

1. Introduction: 

Water is a vital natural resource, water is a key resource 

in all-economic activities ranging from agriculture to 

industry. Only a tiny fraction of the planet’s abundant 

water is available to us as fresh water (Hassan, A.A 

et.al, 1974). About 97% is found in the oceans and is 

too salty for drinking, irrigation, or industry. The 

remaining 3% is fresh water. About 2.997% of it is 

locked up in ice caps or glaciers or is buried so deep that 

it costs too much to extract. Only about 0.0035 of 

Earth’s total volume of water is available.In India of 

total available water resource 1869 bcm, the usable, 

water resources are only 1122 bcm, which consists 

surface water 690bcm, ground water 432 bcm, which 

the present per capita available water resources is 

1122cm and by 2050 it is likely to reduce to 748 cm. 

When the countries per capita water availability is less 

than 1700 cm it is considered as water stress country 

(Seetharaman.R, 2004). Andhra Pradesh being 

predominantly an agricultural state. Necessitates the 

practice of conjunctive use of surface and ground water 

in its deltas. Pennar river in Nellore district is no 

exemption of impact due to Land use/Land cover 

changes. Increasing population in Nellore and its 

surrounding areas are resulting in ground water 

consumption its effects the water quality and quantity. 

2. Description of the Study Area: 

The study area extends from the Nellore ayacut on 

Pennar upto Bay of Bengal about 25 kms downstream 

of Nellore.The area is included in SOI Toposheets 

66/B2andB3.The study area is underlain by alluvium of 

recent age. It includes all the areas irrigated by Pennar 

.The study area is a part of Nellore district, the southern 

most coastal district of Andhra Pradesh with a sea coast 

of 38.95 Km with a perimeter of 882.79 Km it is an 

agrarian district and agriculture is the mainstay for 

about 42 per cent of the population. (Census of India 

2001). The area under study extends from the Nellore to 

Bay of Bengal about 20 km down stream of Nellore. 

The extent to be covered all area is included in Surrey 

of India toposheets 66B/2 and 66B/3 on 1:50000 scales 

between longitude and latitude 80 0 0 ’ , 14 0 45 ’ NW 80 0 

15 ’ 14 0 25 ’ SE. 

#02050552 Copyright ©2012 CAFET-INNOVA TECHNICAL SOCIETY. All rights reserved.

1465 P. V. S. VARA PRASAD and S S. ASADI 

2.1 Study Objectives: 

To extract and understand the topographical 

characteristics of the study area for effective 

management and future development 

To create spatial digital database consisting of Land 

use/Land cover, Drainage, Watershed, Base maps 

using IRS-ID PAN & LISS-III merged satellite 

data, SOI toposheets and ground data on 

ARC/INFO GIS platform 

To generate attribute data base consisting of 

statistical details of each of the above thematic 

layers 

3.Methodology: 

3.1 Data collection: 

Different data products required for the study include 

Survey of India (SOI) toposheets bearing with numbers 

66B/2 and 66B/3 on 1:50,000 scale. Fused data of IRS– 

1D PAN and LISS-III satellite imagery obtained from 

National Remote Sensing centre (NRSC), Hyderabad, 

India. Collateral data collected from related 

organizations, comprises of demographic data. 

3.2 Data Creation: 

In GIS, topology is the term used to describe the 

geometric characteristic of objects, which do not change 

under transformations and are independent of any 

coordinate system. The topological characteristics of an 

object are also independent of scale of measurement. 

Topology as it relates to spatial data and non-spatial 

data consists of three elements, namely adjacency, 

containment and connectivity. Broadly, topology can be 

explained in two ways. Topology consists of metric 

aspects of spatial relations, such as size, shape, distance 

and direction. Many spatial relations between objects 

are topological in nature, including adjacency, 

containment and overlap. The geometric relationship 

between spatial entities and corresponding attributes are 

very crucial for spatial analysis and integration in GIS. 

In topology creation both the spatial and attribute data 

are linked from which different parameter maps are 

Figure 1: Location Map of Study Area 

generated. These maps depict the spatial distribution of 

non-spatial information on spatial locations. 

3.3 Digital Thematic Mapping: 

The procedure consists of a set of above image 

elements or characteristics which help in the 

recognition or interpretation of various land use /land 

cover, Drainage map, Watershed map, Base map 

features systematically on the enhanced satellite 

imagery during the classification of features (Lillesand, 

2000) The land use/ Land cover .The classification 

system used in this study is the system which is 

pioneered by United States Geological Survey (USGS) 

and is modified by National Remote Sensing 

Agency(NRSC) according to Indian conditions. The 

details of this LU/LC system is beyond this study and 

one can be referred NRSC, LU/LC book. A preliminary 

image classification key is prepared for the fussed 

pictorial data and is used during interpretation process. 

Using the image interpretation key, preliminary 

interpretation of satellite imagery is carried by 

transferring the features from base map on to the 

transparency. This transparency with base line data 

features is then overlaid on the satellite imagery. Then 

the features of LU/LC are extracted and transferred 

from the satellite pictorial data. 

The doubtful areas (due to similar spectral response and 

spectral signature) identified during the preliminary 

image classification are listed out before ground 

verification. After finalizing the ground traverse plan 

the doubtful areas are physically verified and field 

observation about terrain condition and land use pattern 

are noted. Ground photographs taken during field data 

collection is enclosed for understanding its use in image 

classification for Land use / Land cover system.Based 

on the ground information collected, corrections and 

modifications of miss classified land use/land cover 

details and doubtful areas are carried out on enhanced 

imageries for final land use/land cover classification. 

The final land use/land cover classes are separated by 

assigning standard colors with respect to each one of the 

land use/land cover classes. 

International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering 

ISSN 0974-5904, Vol. 05, No. 05 (02), October 2012, pp. 1464-1471



1466 

3.4 Data Integration: 

The work schedule gives the following principle steps 

involved. 

1) Collection of toposheet from survey of India 

(1:50000 scale). 

2) Collection of data from satellite fused data of IRS– 

1D PAN and LISS-III satellite obtained from 

NRSC. 

3) Delineation of the study area and conversion of 

raster data into vector data. 

4) Preparation of thematic maps with the help of 

secondary data and primary data. 

5) the above data is then exported to ARC/INFO and 

further processed in ArcView GIS software to create 

digital database for subsequent data analysis. 

6) Study of the Land use/Land cover ,Drainage, 

watershed, Base features and their influence on the 

study area 

3.5 Spatial Database: 

The spatial database relevant for this study are thematic 

maps of the present study area. 

1) Base map 

2) Land use / Land cover map 

3) Watershed map 

4) Drainage map 

4. Results and Discussion: 

4.1 Base map: 

Maps are representation of features on the surface of the 

earth drawn to a scale.A topographic map is a 

representation of the shape, size, position and relation of 

the physical features of an area. A base map consists of 

various features like the road network, settlements, 

water bodies, canals, railway track, vegetation etc. 

which are delineated from the toposheet. The map thus 

drawn is scanned and digitized to get a digital output.A 

map which depicts the outline structure of the district is 

called as base map. The base map is prepared using 

Survey of India (SOI) toposheets 66B/2 and 66B/3) on 

1:50000 scale and updated with the help of satellite 

imagery. The information content of this map is used as 

a baseline data to finalize all the other physical features 

of maps. The features included in the base map in 

general are district boundary, taluk/ block/mandal 

boundary, rivers / water bodies, district / mandal 

headquarters, major settlements, major roads, railways 

and other towns. The characteristic features of the study 

area are: 

• Major Roads 

• Settlements 

• Rivers 

• Water bodies 

Since the toposheets are very old and prepared long 

back, the major roads, railways and the other 

settlements which are recently developed are updated 

using satellite image and existing maps.The major 

settlements in the present study area are Nellore, 

Utukuru, Vidavalure,Chankacherla, Mudiratipalem, 

Gangapatnam etc. and the major water bodies 

represented in the base map include Penna river and 

Vidavalure tank. The south central railway line passes 

through the study area along with the NH-5.which 

connect different places. 

4.2 Drainage Network Map: 

The drainage map consists of all water bodies, rivers, 

tributaries, perennial & ephemeral streams, reservoirs, 

tanks, ponds and the entire drainage network from first 

order originating in the area to the last order joining the 

rivers, tributaries and tanks based on topography. 

Understanding the importance of drainage depends on 

the purpose and the objective of the project. For the 

present study purpose the following factors have to be 

understood and extracted from the study of the drainage 

pattern. Drainage network helps in delineation of 

watersheds. Drainage density and type of drainage gives 

information related to runoff, infiltration relief and 

permeability. In the study area has been observed 

Dendritic,Trellis,Rectangular,Parallel drainage patron. 

Dendritic drainage indicates homogenous rocks, the 

trellis, rectangular and parallel drainage patterns 

indicate structural and lithological controls. The coarse 

drainage texture indicates highly porous and permeable 

rock formations whereas fine drainage texture is more 

common in less pervious formations. Weathering profile 

controls of ground water and above all discharge of 

surface water along the major streams and rivers. 

Fractured pattern and other structural features control 

drainage pattern in hard rocks. Slope/gradient of area 

coupled with drainage density decides the weathering 

profile. These two factors synthesized with rainfall (of a 

given area) provide information on the ground water 

potential (weathering profile, structural factors) and 

discharge of surface water along streams. Weathering 

profile increases groundwater potential, slope/gradient 

together with runoff controls the thickness of weathered 

zone.Major faults, lineaments sometimes connects two 

are more watersheds and act as conduits 

(Interconnecting channel ways). Flow of groundwater 

along these week zones is an established fact. A proper 

understanding of the major faults, their influence of 

groundwater flow has to be understood from drainage 

system and its controls. The study of the drainage for 

the present purpose is to understand that, to what extent 

the ground water would be affected by the water 

pollutants. Survey of India topomaps, satellite data of 

summer season are the main input data for preparation 

of drainage map. The drainage map is prepared using 




toposheets of Survey of India in 1:50,000 scale and 

updated using latest satellite data wherever deviations 

and new developments are observed. Step I: All the 

rivers its tributaries and drainage network shown on the 

toposheets are captured. The boundaries of all 

rivers/water bodies with names appearing are captured 

from toposheets. The drainage is drawn from whole to 

part, i.e., from the rivers to tributaries to first drains to 

second order drains to third order drains. Step II: Based 

on the post monsoon satellite image extent of water 

spread and dry parts are updated. The water bodies 

which did not exist at the time of survey of toposheets, 

if any are also captured based on satellite imagery.The 

study area forms lower part of Pennar basin and the 

river Pennar flows through the middle of the area from 

western part, towards East. All these rivers and rivulets 

get dry for major part of the year and carry heavy floods 

during rainy season. The Pennar river is most 

important river, a boon to the eastern half of the taluks 

of Nellore and Kovvur. It flows for about 112 kms in 

the area through Atmakur and between Kovvur and 

Nellore and falls into the Bay of Bengal.The Penner 

river confluence with Cheyyeru three km before 

Somasila gorge and is traversed and enters the Nellore 

district. The Somasila anicuts is at this point the border 

of Nellore and Kudapa Dist. Flows slightly towards 

north east up to Sangam Anicut, The River turns in a 

south-easterly direction towards Nellore Anicut. A few 

kilometers below Nellore town, the course takes a sharp 

turn to the north-east and falls into the Bay of Bengal 

Sea at Utukur estuarine region. The Pennar Delta is 

having a four major, fourteen medium and forty-one 

minor drains. The main drain basins are Maldevi, the 

Alluri swamp, Nakklavagu and Paideru vagu. The 

Paideru traversing for distance of 43.2 Km joins the Sea 

at Ponnapudi village at Vidavaluru mandal. The rest 

three drains, River Pennar, Chippaleru and Uppateru, 

which finally empties into sea.The Penner and its 

tributaries are practically dry before the on set of SW 

monsoon and they begin to flow after the rains. The 

maximum flow in the river will be during the months of 

August, September and October. After December, the 

rivers are practically dry. It has two old anicuts 

constructed by British one at Sangam and the other at 

Nellore and a Major Irrigation project the Somasila 

constructed recently. 

4.3 Watershed Map: 

Watersheds are hydrological units that are considered to 

be efficient and appropriate for assessment of available 

resources and subsequent planning and implementation 

of various development programmes. The watershed 

map is prepared in accordance with the National 

Watershed Atlas (1990). India is divided into 6 regions 

out of which the present study area comes under 

Region-4 i.e. the river flowing into Bay of Bengal. The 

total area occupied by this region is 1130.48 lakh. 

Present study area falls under basin-C i.e. between 

Cauvery and Krishna basin which has a total area of 

14,606 hectares. The total catchment is divided as 3 and 

4 which includes Pennar (5740 ha) and Pennar Krishna 

(2426 ha). The 3 catchment is further divided into A, B, 

C, D etc sub-catchments. The sub-catchment-A i.e. 

Lower Pennar 536 ha consists of the present study area 

and occupies the 1(Right Bank Pennar) and 2 (Left 

Bank Pennar) watersheds. The 4 catchment is further 

divided into A, B, C, and D etc sub-catchments. The 

sub-catchment-A i.e. Maneru 479 ha consists of the 

present study area and occupies the 1(Bungale) and 

2(Upputeru) watersheds. For a detailed study the 

4C3A1, 4C3A2 and 4C4A1 watersheds are further 

divided into sub-watersheds (4C3A1a etc.), miniwatersheds 

(4C3A1a1 etc.) and micro-watersheds 

(4C3A1a1a etc.). 

Table: Land Use / Land Cover Classification 

Landuse / Landcover 

Double Crop 12305 

Single Crop 8615 

Aquaculture 10812 

Dry river 1921 

Scrub forest 831 

Land with Scrub 910 

Fallow lands 11 

Plantations 750 

Scrub forest 784 

Marshy/Swamp lands 220 

Saltpans 131 

Settlements 726 

Dry tank /River 1343 

River/tank with water 1546 

Sand area 775 

Water logged area 25 

4.4 Land Use / Land Cover Map: 

Area In Ha 

The LU/LC map (Fig.) of the study area is prepared 

from satellite imagery using visual interpretation 

technique. This technique consists of a set of image 

elements, which help in the recognition or interpretation 

of various land use /land cover features systematically 

on the enhanced satellite imagery during the 

classification of features (Lillesand and Kiefer 1994). 

A preliminary image classification key is prepared for 

the fused pictorial data and is used during interpretation 

process. The base map is overlaid on the satellite 

imagery. Then the features of LU/LC classes are 





1468 

extracted and transferred from the satellite pictorial 

data. The doubtful areas (due to similar spectral 

response and spectral signature) identified during the 

preliminary image classification are listed out before 

ground verification. The doubtful areas are physically 

verified by field observation, based on which, 

corrections and modifications of misclassified land 

use/land cover details are carried out for preparation of 

final maps so as to extract the entropy or information 

content in accordance with the above thematic maps. 

Land use / land cover map showing the spatial 

distribution of various categories and their aerial extent 

is vital for the present study. The spatial distributions of 

various land uses are interpreted based on IRS–1D 

PAN and LISS-III satellite data. The land use/land 

cover major categories such as built-up land, 

agriculture, forest, water body and wastelands has been 

observed on the study area. 

4.4.1Settlements: 

Figure 2: Pie Chart Showing Land Use / Land Cover Distribution 

It is defined as an area of human habitation developed 

due to non agricultural use and that which has a cover of 

buildings, transport, and communication, utilities in 

association with water, vegetation and vacant lands 

Settlements appears as dark bluish green in the core and 

bluish on the periphery on satellite imagery. It may be 

either big or small in size, irregular in shape with coarse 

or mottled texture. The total settlements area in the 

present study is about 726 Ha, which includes some 

parts of Nellore, Utukuru, Vidavalure,Chankacherla, 

Mudiratipalem, Gangapatnam etc. 

4.4.2Agriculture Area: 

It is defined as the land primarily used for farming and 

for production of food, fiber, commercial and 

horticultural crops. It include land under crops (irrigated 

and unirrigated), fallow and plantations etc. 

4.4.3Crop Land: 

It is evident from the study of the two seasons data that 

most of the double cropped area is seen under canal 

command or ground water irrigation area. The cropping 

intensity is high in these areas because of the physical 

factors like flat terrain, good alluvial soils, good rainfall 

and assured irrigation from delta canals of Somasila 

reservoir. Most of the double cropped area was found in 

both banks of Pennar river and area is estimated to be 

12305ha. Single crop area found to be 8615 ha. 

4.4.4Fallow Lands: 

Fallow land is described as agricultural land which is 

taken up for cultivation but is temporarily allowed to 

rest, un cropped for one or more seasons, but not less 

than one year. These lands are particularly those which 

are seen devoid of crops at the time, when imagine 

taken up for both seasons. The area under this category 

is estimated as 11 ha. 

4.4.5Plantations: 

It is described as an area under agricultural tree crops, 

planted adopting certain agricultural management 

techniques. It includes coconut, arecant, citrus, orchards 

and other horticultural nurseries. This mostly confined 

to the beach ridges, sandy areas and along river courses. 

Plantation can be seen very prominently on the imagery 

with a dark red to red tone, regular in shape, sharp edges 

and coarse to medium texture. Their size varies from 

small to medium. The area under this category forms 

750 ha. 

4.4.6 Scrub Forest: 

It is an area bearing an association predominately of 

trees and other vegetation types capable of producing 




timber and other forest produce. The scrub forest 

describes as a forest where the vegetative density is less 

than 20% of the canopy cover. It is the result of both 

biotec and abiotic influences. Scrub is a stunted tree or 

bush/ shrub. Most of the low lying hills are in degraded 

conditions consistingof mixed dry deciduous types of 

species and it appears as light green colour in satellite 

image. In the present study scrub forest identified as 

831 ha. 

4.4.7 Aqua Culture: 

Swampy areas and double cropped areas are converted 

into fish tanks by specially constructed ponds according 

to specifications for pisciculture. Due to its high 

economic yields, this culture is fast spreading in all the 

suitable areas. Most of the aquaculture activities are 

identified and mapped near the coastal marshy lands and 

right bank side of the Pennar, area under aquaculture is 

estimated 10812 ha. 

4.4.8 Marshy/ Swamp Lands: 

Marshy land is that which is permanently or periodically 

inundated by water and is characterized by vegetation 

which includes grasses and weeds. This category of 

land is estimated to be 220 ha. 

4.4.9 Land with Scrub: 

It is the land, which has an undulating topography with 

thin soil cover and scattered trees/ scrubs. These lands 

are being used for grazing and are ideal sites for 

plantations. 910 ha 

4.4.10 Water Bodies: 

The water bodies are identified based on their tone, 

regular to irregular shape & smooth to mottled texture 

on the satellite imagery. Surface water spread of the 

tank or lake varies from season to season. The major 

river present in the study area includes the Pennar river. 

It appears as long, narrow to wide feature on the 

imagery with an irregular shape and a smooth texture. 

The water bodies mainly tanks in the study area 

occupied 1546 ha and dry river and tanks estimated to 

be1343 ha. 

4.4.11 Sandy Area: 

These are the areas which have stabilized accumulations 

of sand in situ or transported in coastal or riverine areas. 

The sand area occurs in the form of sand dunes, 

beaches, channel islands etc. The sand area appears in 

satellite image as white colour and area estimated as 

775 Ha. 

4.4.12 Salt Pans: 

It is estimated131 Ha, observed in near brackish water 

areas. Saltpans appear as white and light bluish colour 

with regular pattern. 

4.4.13 Waterlogged Areas: 

Waterlogged land is that land where the water is at/ or 

near the surface and water stands for most of the year, 

such lands usually occupy topographically low lying 

areas. The area is estimated as 25 Ha. 

5. Conclusions: 

Comprehensive information on land use / land cover is 

the basic prerequisite for land resources evaluation, 

assessment, utilization and management. The land 

use/land cover Categories are Observed in the area. 

Land use / Land cover classes encountered in the study 

area During the Observation of Satellite data the major 

land use changes are as follow: 

• Changes from paddy to shrimp farming, 

• Changes from scrub to shrimp farming, 

• Changes from paddy to abandoned paddy 

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