eChapters

Plants are most important of all elements of the garden that influence design. Therefore, selection of variety of plants is required to exhibit different forms of growth, leaf texture, flowers and flower colour. Trees, shrubs, climbers, annuals, roses, bulbous and rhizomatous plants usually find place in the gardens along with other secondary groups. Every type of garden has enough scope to accommodate various groups of plants as per design.

Plants infuse life in the gradens and make the place living. Every feature of the garden has a separate requirement of plants. The right choice, therefore, complements the design and helps to create desired effects. Every plant species selected for planting should have sufficient reasons for its inclusion. May be, it has been selected considering particular flower colour, fragrance, curious structure, colour of the leaves, attractive fruits etc. Over and above, selection should be considering requirement of individual feature and its suitability. None other than plants influence the general apperance of the gardens besides giving them three dimensional look, enabling your plan into reality.

There are several approaches for selecting plants for the gardens. Preference should be given to the plants suitable for growing in local agro-climatic conditions for better performance. However, inclusion of new and novel type for creating special effects is always desirable. Selecting perennials and seasonals are, therefore, very much justfied in order to create desirable effects round the year. While using trees, emphasis should be given for selecting both foliage and flowering type, blooming in different season. Similarly, shrubs, climbers and other plant groups are added attraction of the gardens by their diversity of growth, foliage and flowers.

Selection of plants for the gardens needs careful consideration of vegetative, floral attributes besides growth habit and flowering for best use. Keeping this in view, basic information on various plant groups is provided under different categories.

Lawn is the basic feature of garden without which a garden is seldom complete. All other features are selected and placed considering lawn as a first primary feature. A well spread out land planted with uniform lush green grass of particular type serves as a heart of all gardens. Lawn with systematic planting of shrubs and seasonal flower beds along with well placed specimen plants is the most striking feature of the garden.

Developing a good lawn is not an easy task. One has to consider many things like selection of site, preparation of the land and type of grass to be planted besides its maintenance. Following points need to be considered while developing a lawn.

Site and Soil

Selection of site is an important primary factor. Under full or partial shade, a good lawn can not be developed. The part of proposed garden which receives full sunlight at least four hours a day preferably in the morning should be selected as a site for lawn. Planting of tall trees is to be avoided at the south and south-eastern side of the lawn which obstructs sunlight and provides shade.

There are several types of features and structures of the gardens. The design, material and placement varies from one type of garden to others. However, there are some basic requirements in every type of gardens. Common features and structures of the gardens are described hereunder for providing some basic information.

Boundary

Material and construction of the outer boundary is to be considered depending upon the size and type of garden. Protection, permanency and cost of construction are the main factors. It should be well designed and an architectural show piece co-relating with type and design of the garden. Ornamental creepers are planted along the boundary wall and trained over the same for further beautification purpose.

Successful designing of new gardens needs proper planning besides consideration of several things like type of garden, purpose, theme, users etc. The next phase is examining all necessary physical inputs and assessing feasibility of developing the particular type of garden. Advantages and disadvantages of the site are also to be considered before finally deciding the kind of garden to be developed. Every type of garden has a set of requirements and one has to evaluate critically all those things in detail, once the conceptualization is over.

Before taking up planning, the designer or the landscape architect should consider following basic points.

All over the world, garden designing has a historical back ground. Every continent has a definite style based on cultural heritage, agro-climate and the rulers. There are influences of one style over the other and subsequent change in gardening style also. However, there are some recognized orthodox styles like ‘English Garden’, ‘French Garden’, ‘Japanese Garden’, ‘Italian Garden’, ‘Dutch Garden’, ‘Mughal Garden’ etc. These are unique and true to their specific characters. Modern gardens all over the world have been greatly influenced by all these styles.

History and characteristics of these gardens are given below in order to make one acquainted with these styles.

Dutch Garden

Initially, gardening in The Netherlands was started in the form of abbey and monastery gardens (middle ages 500-1500 A.D.). Design of the medieval gardens usually was elongated rectangle, sometimes square, also divided with cross paths. These gardens were mainly meant for production of vegetables, medicinal herbs and fruits besides flowers.

During the Dutch renaissance (1500-1650 A.D.) further gardening activities initiated. After independence in 1609, it gained momentum and the change of garden style also noticed. Gardens became more open without walls. However, the basic design was on the basis of geometrical patterns - rectangular divided into small separate square. Axis of the garden was not in relation to the building. Leafy walk path (berceaux) was main structural elements created between various sub-divisions. Bulbous plants specially tulip was most preferred in the garden besides marigold, carnation, poppy, rose etc.

Garden designing has also got certain principles like other subjects. These help proper designing by selecting right garden features, plant species besides their placement, allocation of space, colour scheme etc. Moreover, style, elevation, harmonization, type of the garden etc. are also to be taken into account while designing gardens. The main purpose is to achieve an aesthetic effect in totality.

Keeping these in mind, the main principles are categorized into following two groups.

The history of gardening dates back to the history of human civilization. In order to meet various utility purposes, primitive people used to grow plants initially. Some of them had beautiful flowers and drew attention. Gradually, the importance of growing flowers / ornamental plants for worshiping Gods and Goddesses came into existence. The need for growing plants for aesthetic purpose came much later. Development of formal gardens also initially confined to temples and, thereafter, attached to the residential places. Concept of developing parks and gardens for beautification purpose exclusively for public use came much later during 17^th century. With the influence of different regimes as prevailed in India time to time, the gardening styles and plants also changed a lot for fulfilling new taste and need of the people.

Gardens have played a very important role in development of nations of the world. In fact, humanity started its cultural development from a garden rememberd as ‘Garden of the Paradise’. Gardens always occupied a prime place in our social and cultural life. Every race has its own idea of gardening and the characters of the nation is expressed in its gardens and parks.

Association of human beings with plants is much older than the dawn of civilization. Use of plants as source of food, cloth and shelter started first for fulfilling basic needs. Aesthetic use by way of growing flowers and ornamental plants came much later. Gradually, it was felt that ornamental plants need to be grown in a systematic manner and that yielded the concept of designing gardens. With the advancement of time, gardening styles metamorphosed in various ways influenced by climatic conditions, geographic locations, rulers and most predominantly by people. At present, plants and gardens are part and parcel of our daily life. The scope of developing gardens is simply enormous, be it home, office, institute, temple, factory, ‘samadhi sthal’ etc. Growing plants and developing gardens are now considered a necessity wherever scope exists.

ABSTRACT

The over extraction of water from the coastal environment, results in reduction of groundwater resources which has reflected in lowering of water level. In general, the depletion of water level enhances the landward migration of saltwater wedge. Pondicherry is one such region with recent alluvium as the major litho unit. A study has been attempted to calculate the extraction of water and to estimate the amount of recharge into this alluvial aquifer. The monthly water level fluctuation was observed for the study period in eighteen locations (20002002). The highest water level observed during 2000 was taken as the initial water level for the study and the subsequent decline in water level up to 2001 was monitored monthly until the rising trend was noted. This was taken as the fall in water level due to extraction. Keeping this as the initial value increasing trend was studied until there was a notice of decline in water level. This was taken as the rise in water level due to recharge. The spatial representation of these data in the above said eighteen locations were carried out by using GIS and the area occupied by different water level contours were calculated and the amount of water withdrawn was estimated. The maximum recharge was noted in the central and the northern part of the study area when compared to the other regions. Similarly, the maximum discharge was noted in the northern and the southern part of the study area.

Keywords: Rainfall, Recharge, Groundwater Budget, GIS.

ABSTRACT

Groundwater geochemistry is largely a function of mineral composition of aquifer through which water flows thus, differences in aquifer composition are reflected as differences in groundwater chemistry. To understand water quality and flow pattern multivariate statistical analysis are used due to its relative importance in combining chemical variables and organize voluminous data and group into variables of similar characters. R-mode factor analysis is used in the field of hydrogeochemistry to interpret complex hydrogeological process. A total of 216 samples representing complete lithology like peninsular gneiss, Charnockite and calc gneiss for four different seasons was collected and analyzed for major ions like Ca, Mg, Na, K, HCO₃, Cl, SO₄, NO₃, PO₄, F and H₄SiO₄. Correlation analysis reveals Mg, Cl and Na are spinal and others seasonal. Factor analysis indicates ascendancy of anthropogenic basis followed by lithological weight. Factor score superimpose indicate governing hydrogeochemical regimes spread in western and eastern part. In southern part the same has superior influence than northern part.

ABSTRACT

The study was aimed to identify and delineate the groundwater potable zone in and around Madurai region. The study area is composed of Charnockites and Khondalites of Archaean age. The information of lithology, geomorphology and land use/land cover was generated using the Resourcesat (IRS P6 LISS IV data) and Survey of India (SoI) toposheets of scale 1:50,000 and integrated them with GIS to identify the groundwater potable zones of the study area. On the basis of hydrogeomorphology, groundwater potential zones was identified and delineated. From the overlay analyses landuse and EC, it is inferred that, poor category groundwater is found in the scrub forest, current fallow, canal and scrub with land areas.

ABSTRACT

Topsoil erosion, loss of fertile soil and subsequent deposition in the reservoir as well as in the low-lying region are one of the major problems in the tropical mountainous region. Knowledge of sediment yield from the river basin is a prerequisite to address such issues. Rivers from the Western Ghat region of Uttara Kannada district bring lot of sediments causing siltation in their mouth. In the present study, sediment yield from a Venkatapur river basin in Bhatkal Taluk of Uttara Kannada district is estimated by Universal Soil Loss equation (USLE). Morphometric characteristics of the river basins that reflect sediment yield potential of the river basin are used to constrain the data obtained. Various parameters for USLE is derived from the IRS 1D LISS III image and data are handled in GIS environment. Sediment yields in the basin 101 tons/yr. Morphometric characters of the basin such as drainage density, bifurcation ratio, basin circularity (0.6) and form factor (0.43) suggest its low potential of sediment yield.

ABSTRACT

The present study reports shoreline changes at Gopalpur along east coast of India for 30 years during 1973-2003. In order to understand the trend of sediment transport, shoreline changes at the vicinity areas viz. Rushikulya and Bahuda estuaries are also discussed. Geomorphological investigation is also carried out to understand the processes acting on this system. One Landsat image (1973) and two IRS 1C/1D images (1993 and 2003) were used for the study. The data were subjected to digital analysis using ERDAS Imagine and management of information layers using ARC/INFO GIS software. The results of the study show that the changes occurred differently in three distinct spatial features namely, i) sand spit ii) beach and, (iii) channel zone. Changes documented in these imageries reveal that the lengths of NE spit and SW spit are increased and decreased respectively in thirty years. Areas of NE and SW spits are also showing the similar pattern. Beach is almost stabilised and a slight decrease of 0.28 km in length is observed. However, area has been increased in the southern beach. Towards north, the beach area is also increased over a period of thirty years. The change of width of the beach is not found to be significant. The mouth near channel zone is reduced to 70 meter from 135 meter during the period of study.

ABSTRACT

Remote sensing, especially high resolution satellite data has a major role to play in locating (localizing) mineral targets. The present study is carried out on exploration and discrimination of magnetite ore deposits of Tirthamalai region of part of Dharmapuri district, Tamil Nadu, India, using IRS P6 LISS IV high resolution satellite data. The applicable image processing techniques and associated put forth of field knowledge is used in the present study. The image processing classifications namely band rationing, principal component analysis and contrast enhancement are carried out in visualizing images using ERDAS Imagine 8.7 software. The visual interpretation of FCC of digital data shows that the raw pixel values of iron ore bands in the blue ranges 95 to 120, green ranges 85 to 125 and red ranges 55 to 75 and provided better delineation for iron formations.

The interpretation of satellite data shows that the iron ore band exhibits in dark color, linear shape, fine texture and sharp contact with associated rock types. To rectify and reduce misinterpretation all above image processing techniques are undertaken along with the detailed filed-check in the selected test sites using GPS 178 and delineated the in situ iron formations. The interpretations show that the occurrence of few more iron bands and weathered formations along with massive formations in the region traced on the imagery since the absorptions themselves are different. The availability spectral absorption of iron formation is inferred highly in visible and near infrared region (0.9-1 Ìm). Remote sensing high resolution satellite data proved that the satellite parameters are important criteria and play a vital role in mapping of low-grade iron ore deposits of the Tirthamalai region of Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu state.

ABSTRACT

Soil is the medium in which the plant growth and development occurs. Soil type might change with genesis of the parent material and with prevailing weather conditions. Dominant soils of Tamil Nadu are Black soil, Red soil, Laterite soil and Hill soils. Each soil type has an inherent potential to retain and release nutrients to plants. The availability of nutrients varies from place to place and hence spatial distribution of nutrients, quantity of nutrients along with plant available water determines phenological development of crops. Nutrients are broadly classified as Macro and Micro nutrients that are required for crops in large and small quantities respectively. Availability of both macro and micro nutrients and its spatial distribution has not been attempted so far at a regional level. Such regional level approach of nutrients would suffice the researchers and policy planners to employ these data as inputs to Crop Simulation Models (CSM) in forecasting productivity of crops.

Thiruvannamalai district in Tamil Nadu is divided into 6 taluks, 18 blocks covering an area of 6,31,205 haof land. The district lies between 12⁰ 00’ to 12⁰ 55’ N latitude and 78⁰ 37'to 79⁰ 45’ E longitude. Red loamy soil is predominantly prevalent followed by black loamy soils. Generally paddy, groundnut, sugarcane, millets and pulses are cultivated during fasli season. This district was chosen as our study area.

A study has been attempted to map micro nutrients of Thiruvannamalai district. Geo-referenced surface soil samples from eighteen blocks of Thiruvananmalai district covering maximum soil units of soil map were collected randomly as per procedure adopted by soil survey manual. Global Positioning System (GPS) were used to collect corresponding geographic coordinates from each soil sampling point covering the entire Thiruvananmalai district by using Rikaline Bluetooth GPS 6031- X7 model. Approximately one thousand five hundred surface soil samples were collected, air dried, powered and sieved as per standard conditions. Soil samples were analyzed for its physical, chemical and fertility properties. Fertility maps for Micro nutrients such as Zinc, Iron, Manganese, Copper and Boron were plotted in ARCGIS Desktop. Micronutrients maps form a part of base map in analyzing and preparing an aggregated fertility map of Thiruvannamalai district.

ABSTRACT

Mangrove wetlands are well known as the dominant feature of the intertidal areas of the tropical and subtropical regions. Ecologically mangrove forests are important for their inherent biological productivity in the habitat and also by exporting organic matter produced into coastal waters. Apart from that mangroves act as bioshield against natural coastal hazards like cyclones, storms and tsunamis. Remote sensing coupled with GIS is an important tool in monitoring the coastal areas such as mangroves, where the physical survey is difficult and time consuming. Remote sensing has a wide range of products with higher spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions, the combination of which can be applied in different themes based on the requirement. The present study used multispectral, multi-temporal and high-resolution remote sensing data to map and monitor the distribution of mangrove forest of Pichavaram, south India over a period of 30 years. The study shows that the mangrove area had decreased from 628 ha to 411 ha from 1977 to 1994 and increased to 858 ha in 2006. The high resolution remote sensing data with 4 m spatial resolution was used to prepare the mangrove wetland map in 1:5000 scale.

Keywords : Mangroves, remote sensing, visual interpretation, IRS, IKONOS

ABSTRACT

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images are being used more extensively than ever before for geosciences Applications in the moist tropics. With SAR's side viewing geometry, longer wavelengths, and almost all-weather sensing capability, SAR imagery has been extensively useful mapping tool for coastal geomorphology in the moist tropics. The purpose of this study to assess the use of Multitemporal C-band ENVISAT- ASAR data for identification of different coastal geomorphology in part of Tamilnadu coast. The orbital ASAR data was digitally geometric corrected (ortho-rectified) and filtered for speckle noise, and linearly stretched in order to enhance contrast between the coastal environment features. By using the methods of crisp enhancement, linear stretching and PCA, to show the various Coastal geomorphological units. The information extraction is based on recognition of the mechanism interactions occurring between radar signal and the target on the ground, represented by shallow water morphology in the intertidal conditions, coastal dunes, mangroves, marshes and highland. In an application perspective, Orbital ASAR data proved to be a fundamental source of information for both geomorphological mapping and land use pattern in moist tropical environments.

Key Words : ASAR, Geomorphology, Mangroves, Land Cover, Coastal mapping.

ABSTRACT

This work presents the results of multispectral analysis of TM (Thematic Mapper) sensor images on board the satellite LANDSAT 5 for discrimination of selected features of a Nainarmalai region of part of Namakkal District, Tamil Nadu using hyperspectral tools. The spectral classification was carried out using hyperspectral tools namely, a) spectral reduction by the Minimum Noise Fraction (MNF) transformation, b) spatial reduction by the Pixel Purity Index (PPI) and c) manual identification of the end members using the N-dimensional visualizer. The results of study shows that the kinds of features such as magnetite quartzite, sand, harvested land and vegetation area are discriminated well (as given in the figure) and show a strong correlation with landscape.

Keywords: Landsat TM Multispectral Images, MNF transformation, PPI, endmembers, Reflectance spectrum, ENVI software.

1. INTRODUCTION

With a multispectral analysis of an images collected by radiometers and detectors embarked on a satellite, one can make: “spectroscopy by satellite imagery”. Imaging spectrometers or “multispectral sensors” are remote sensing instruments that combine the spatial presentation of an imaging sensor with the analytical capabilities of a spectrometer. With a radiometer such as AVIRIS ”Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer” where the number of spectral bands exceeds the 200, and with a spectral resolution of the order of 10 nm or narrow, it can produce a complete spectrum for each pixel of the image. The case of this radiometer enters on the “Hyperspectral” field. In the case of our study, we are using the radiometer TM (Thematic Mapper), which is on board for the satellite Landsat 5, and which only has 7 multispectral bands, with a spectral resolution of the order of 100 nm. Like finale result, one using the spectroscopy by satellite imagery, we can identify the spectra of various materials which are on various terrestrial surfaces.

ABSTRACT

Coastal resources represents highly productive ecosystems and are under pressure on account of increased anthropogenic activity on the coast. There is an urgent need to protect coastal resources aiming at sustainable development. Management of coastal resources requires spatial information on land and water resources, processes, water quality in a repetitive basis. Availability of high resolution and very high resolution data made the spatial tools indispensable in planning and management of resources such as mangroves and coral reefs. Monitoring mangrove degradation and aquaculture development, land use pattern, site selection for developmental activities adhering to coastal regulation zone notification requires highly accurate spatial information that can be extracted from IRS, IKONOS data. Extensive applications of remote sensing were hindered by cost, lack of familiarity and expertise in the developing countries. A national frame work must be established involving all available spatial datasets to build up the technical capabilities and ensure sustained support.

ABSTRACT

Petroleum exploration is the art of searching hydrocarbon reserves in unknown regions by geological, geophysical and geochemical methods. The selection of effective exploration targets is an important step to achieve success in oil exploration and its selection also dependents on study of basic petroleum geological conditions. Petroleum geologists generally consider basins to be a basic geological unit for petroleum exploration and their main task is to find and determine various sedimentary basins. The remote sensing images have characteristics of really and macroscopic to provide accurate and visualization data for directly determining geometric shapes of sedimentary basins. Remote sensing techniques are more effective in understanding the study of basins in an out-of-the-way about mountains and remote deserts.

Key words: Petroleum Exploration, Sedimentary basin, geology, basin, geometry.