Integrated Remote Sensing Indices for Assessing Pre-Monsoon Water Scarcity Vulnerability in a Semi-Arid Coastal Ecosystem: A Case Study of Barda Wildlife Sanctuary, Gujarat, India

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Year : 2026 | Volume : 17 | 02 | Page :
    By

    Dr. B. A. Jadeja,

  • Rekha G. Dhammar,

  • Jenish Bamaniya,

  • Kunal N. Odedra,

  • Kavan Shukla,

  • Riddhi Vala,

  1. Head and Principal, Department of Botany, M. D. Science College, Porbandar, India
  2. Research Scholar, Department of Botany, M. D. Science College, Porbandar, India
  3. Research Scholar, Department of Botany, M. D. Science College, Porbandar, India
  4. Research Scholar, Department of Botany, M. D. Science College, Porbandar, India
  5. Research Scholar, Department of Botany, M. D. Science College, Porbandar, India
  6. Research Scholar, Department of Botany, M. D. Science College, Porbandar, India

Abstract

Freshwater availability fundamentally shapes the structure and function of dryland ecosystems, where evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation for most of the year. Protected areas in semiarid regions face intensifying hydrological stress from climate variability, growing wildlife populations, and resident human communities, yet systematic spatial assessments of water scarcity remain scarce for many critical habitats. The Barda Wildlife Sanctuary in coastal Gujarat, India, has recently become a secondary home for the endangered Asiatic lion, but no comprehensive evaluation of water vulnerability exists for this landscape. Using satellite imagery, this study shows that over one third of the entire sanctuary functions as empty land with extreme drought conditions during pre-monsoon period (March-April, 2026), based on Multi-Index Remote Sensing Framework, while permanent surface water covers less than four percent of the area. Most significantly, even the most water-retentive areas contain only 15% of their total theoretical water storage capacity, indicating that natural water retention alone may not be enough to maintain the newly introduced lion population during the eight-month dry period. The findings of this research study indicate that the current state of the sanctuary is classified as a territorial habitat located on a wide variety of eco-regions, and includes areas with less than one-quarter of their typical seasonal surface water during the pre-monsoon dry season, in addition to a total loss of all available surface water during the last complete rainy season. The results show that seasonal availability of surface water is highly variable, and this variability can create significant problems for sustaining populations of wildlife and pastoralists without some form of adaptive water management intervention. The analytical workflow provides a replicable, lowcost template for identifying water stress hotspots across India’s semiarid protected areas, where the convergence of biodiversity conservation, religious tourism, and pastoral livelihoods demands evidencebased water management.

Keywords: Barda Wildlife Sanctuary, water scarcity, semiarid ecosystem, remote sensing, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), GIS

How to cite this article:
Dr. B. A. Jadeja, Rekha G. Dhammar, Jenish Bamaniya, Kunal N. Odedra, Kavan Shukla, Riddhi Vala. Integrated Remote Sensing Indices for Assessing Pre-Monsoon Water Scarcity Vulnerability in a Semi-Arid Coastal Ecosystem: A Case Study of Barda Wildlife Sanctuary, Gujarat, India. Journal of Remote Sensing & GIS. 2026; 17(02):-.
How to cite this URL:
Dr. B. A. Jadeja, Rekha G. Dhammar, Jenish Bamaniya, Kunal N. Odedra, Kavan Shukla, Riddhi Vala. Integrated Remote Sensing Indices for Assessing Pre-Monsoon Water Scarcity Vulnerability in a Semi-Arid Coastal Ecosystem: A Case Study of Barda Wildlife Sanctuary, Gujarat, India. Journal of Remote Sensing & GIS. 2026; 17(02):-. Available from: https://journals.stmjournals.com/jorsg/article=2026/view=246845


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Ahead of Print Subscription Review Article
Volume 17
02
Received 15/05/2026
Accepted 04/06/2026
Published 17/06/2026
Publication Time 33 Days
10

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