Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was on course to getting high resolution satellite images with Cartosat-2E and Cartosat-3 during 2017-18 timeframe, for preparing and updating large-scale base maps for urban planning, infrastructure development, utilities planning and traffic management, said A. Arunachalam, Senior Scientist, ISRO, Bengaluru.
The high-resolution panchromatic and multispectral data was vital for effective urban planning through a precise understanding of the changes in the spatial extent of urbanised land areas. Applications of remote sensing and GIS technologies have progressively been expanded to cover agriculture, forestry, ecology, water resources, urban and regional planning, mineral exploration, and utilities planning, Mr. Arunachalam said at a National Seminar on ‘GIS Solutions for Highway Traffic Management’ organised by Department of Civil Engineering, Nandha Engineering College.
Delivering a talk on ‘Remote Sensing and GIS Solution for Urban Planning and Infrastructure Development’, Mr. Arunachalam informed that ePathai (electronic Project, Administration, Traffic, Highway Assets and Information Management System) conceived by Highways Department of Tamil Nadu has provided accessible, relevant and valid information on the road network and related infrastructure.
With ‘Road Management System’, ‘Geographic Information System’ and ‘Project, Human Resource and Finance Management System’ as major components, ePathai project had enabled effective decision making in planning, programming, funding, procurement and in the allocation of resources in road sector; effective prioritisation of works as well as reporting on its condition; improved support for decision making through GIS analytical tools; and evaluation of roads and related infrastructure for planning and programming purposes, Mr. Arumachalam said. K.Elangovan, Associate Professor, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, spoke on ‘Geographical Information System in Transportation’, and K.Gunasekeran, Associate Professor, Anna University, Chennai, on ‘Study on role of Road Environment in Accident Occurrence using GIS’ while E.K.Mohanraj, Dean-Civil Engineering, Nandha Engineering College, handled a session on ‘Remote Sensing and GIS Application in Civil Engineering’.
