Pratibha Prakash, Swadhina Koley, S. Naresh Kumar, R.C. Harit, Bidisha Chakrabarti and Manoj Shrivastava
Abstract
Studies on consistent and repetitive observations of surface water bodies over a vast semi-arid region are limited. Such studies are necessary for monitoring surface water dynamics, especially for the Bundelkhand region, a drought prone area. This study captured the availability of surface water for irrigation of rabi season crops such as wheat, mustard, and peas, which are mainly grown in the Bundelkhand region with irrigation. Landsat 8 images were used in this study to estimate the surface water area. The satellite imagery was processed on the cloud-based Google Earth Engine platform. The changes in land use and land cover in the Bundelkhand region for the rabi season were analyzed for 2013-2021 period. This temporal analysis identified patterns and trends in the agriculture, water body, and fallow classes extracted from the Land Use and Land Cover Change (LULC). The Modified Difference Water Index (MNDWI), a multi-band method utilizing spectral differences between two bands, was employed to calculate surface water area. The study concludes that during 2013 to 2021 period, the agricultural area expanded by over 25% and a substantial more than 50% decrease in fallow land during the rabi season. This indicated that increased water availability during winter season has caused an increase in cultivated area during rabi season in Bundelkhand region.