Analysing Spectral Indices and Land use of Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala

Geospatial tools play significant role in forest ecology and management, where vegetation indices and transformations have been extensively used for vegetation characterization. Hence, in this study, an attempt has been made to characterize the various hydrologic regimes in Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, Wayanad district, Kerala using geospatial tools. The study area was focused on Muthanga , a part of the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary of Wayanad district, Kerala with an area of 87.13 km2, where the major vegetation types are moist deciduous with a few scattered patches of evergreen and forests plantation. Out of the many spectral indices employed in the hydrologic studies of the forest areas, tasseled cap wetness index, Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Normalised Difference Water Index NDWI were used in this study. Since topography also affects the hydrological processes by controlling the spatial distribution of soil moisture in a realistic way, some of the terrain indices, e.g., topographic wetness index (TWI) were also employed in the present study. Statistical analysis was conducted in order to unravel the relationship between vegetation types and hydrology. The results of the analysis suggest that geospatial tools are efficient in hydrological characterization of forested vegetation of the region, which compared the wetness of the region using a variety of parameters with their corresponding vegetation.