Indian Journal of Geo Marine Sciences Vol. 48 (08), August 2019, pp. 1205-1209 Evaluation of coastal aquaculture ponds using remote sensing and GIS K. Nagamani 1* & Yasodharan Suresh 2 1 Centre for Remote Sensing & Geoinformatics, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai , Tamil Nadu, India 2 Department of Geography, Tourism and Travel Management, Madras Christian College, Chennai , Tamil Nadu, India * [E-mail: nagamaniloganathan@gmail.com] Coastal aquaculture is one of the fast growing food production sectors worldwide, contributing to more than half of the total volume of aquatic foods for human consumption, and offering great potential for global food security. Remote sensing and GIS technologies contribute to the mapping and monitoring of changes in aquaculture providing essential information for coastal management applications. The present study investigates the growth and expansion of aquaculture and its spatiotemporal dynamics in Nagapattinam district (from Vedaranyam to Vettar River) over the last decade. Multitemporal IRS 1C and IRS P6 remote sensing data were analyzed for detecting and assessing land use and land cover (LULC) change in the Nagapattinam area (Tamil Nadu). Visual interpretations have been made with the help of field surveys, primary data collected on field, and secondary data from government departments. LULC maps were prepared to identify changes in aquaculture areas. The classified area for aquaculture in Nagapattinam is 4.02 km 2 in 2006 and 9.80 km 2 in 2016. Similarly, the salt pan areaincreased from 0.53 km 2 to 1.53 km 2 in 2016. The coastal wetlands and marshy lands were used for aquaculture and salt pan activities during 2006 to 2016, providing a livelihood for the people in that area. The study will assist to identify change dynamics in environmental sustainability in the context of livelihood option/development activities. [Keywords: Pond aquaculture; Salt pan; Dynamics; Remote sensing; GIS] Introduction Aquaculture is growing more rapidly than any other segment of the animal farming industry 1 . In India, the annual fisheries and aquaculture production increased from 0.75 million tonnes in 1950-1951 to 9.6 million tonnes in 2013-2014 2 . Expansion of aquaculture is due to potentially high commercial returns and the ability to produce export earnings. The coastal belt of Nagapattinam is one such locale where aquaculture activity is expanding owing to the availability of land and water resources which are conductive for aquaculture development. These locations cannot be utilized for agriculture. Remote sensing has emerged as the most suitable tool for quantitatively measuring land-cover changes at the landscape scale 3 . Satellite images provide a synoptic coverage of the earth’s surface in spatial and temporal scale and help us to understand how the changes have happened in various parts of the environment including coastal waters 4,5 . An integrated Geographical Information System (GIS) and remote sensing technique deals with the spatiotemporal information of land use and land cover (LULC) features that are well recognized for decision making in the scientific realm 6,7 . GIS and remote sensing combines the multiple spatial datasets, such as maps, aerial photographs, and satellite images for preparing the quantitative, qualitative, and descriptive geo-databases for periodical changes of the LULC features 8 . More recently, the status of GIS, remote sensing, and mapping applications in aquaculture was reviewed from an ecosystem and management perspective 9 . Most of the existing LULC patterns replicate the interaction of human action with the environment, and because their magnitude and location can be heterogeneous, remote sensing techniques can be used for multitemporal monitoring, revealing the changes in the land cover and supplying important information on land-cover dynamics 10 . The present study has been carried out in Nagapattinam coast (from Vedaranyam Canal to Vellar River) of Tamil Nadu to ascertain the changes in LULC from 2006 to 2016 along with the growth and development of aquafarming practices. Methodology Study area Nagapattinam is located between 10° 40' 00", N 79° 45' 00" E and 10° 55' 00"N 79° 55' 00"E (Fig. 1). The total study area covers 71.71 sq. km.