A Comparison of Change Detection Analyses Using Different Band Algebras for Baraila Wetland with Nasa’s Multi-Temporal Landsat Dataset

Abstract

Wetlands are those landscapes which are saturated with water or covered by water either perennially or for a major part of the year. Due to transforming nature of the wetlands from aquatic to terrestrial, the related physical features are not easy to be monitored. With the recent advancement in Remote sensing technique, the feature extraction of wetland with the help of different satellite derived band algebras including Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), Modified NDWI (MNDWI), Normalized Difference Moisture Index (NDMI) is being used by experts. The common diagnostic features of wetlands are surface water, swamps and aquatic vegetation. The present study is based on a comparison between these four indices. Baraila wetland of Vaishali district Bihar is selected as a site for the study because the surface water of this “BAT” shaped wetland has decreased rapidly in last half decade which is alarming for the related ecology and biodiversity.