Photonirvachak Journal of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing, Vol, 33, No. I, 2005 MAPPING AND CHARACTERIZATION OF INLAND WETLANDS USING REMOTE SENSING AND GIS G. MANJU, V. M. CHOWDARY*@, Y. K. SRIVASTAVA, S. SELVAMANI, A. JEYARAM AND S. ADIGA** Regional Remote Sensing Service Centre, Indian Space Research Organization, Kharagpur-721302, India ** National Natural Resources Management System, * Indian Space Research Organization, Bangalore - 560094, India @Corresponding author : chowdary_isro@yahoo.com ABSTRACT Sustainable management of wetland ecosystem is necessary as it serves the important functions such as food storage, water quality maintenance and providing habitat for different species of wildlife. Hence, an inventory of wetlands in any given area is a pre-requisite for their conservation and management. A study has been carried out to delineate the wetlands of east Champaran district of Bihar, India, using IRS ID LISS III data. The data for the pre and post monsoon seasons have been analysed and the wetlands have been qualitatively characterized based on the turbidity and aquatic vegetation status. The extent of water logging problem in the study area was inferred from the seasonal variation of waterspread during both the seasons. The three categories of wetlands (ponds/lakes, water logged areas and oxbow lakes) have been identified. From the analysis, it has been observed that the inland wetlands constitute 2.7% of the study area, of which 1.8% is subjected to water logging. Thus, this study highlights the usefulness of remotely sensed data for wetland mapping, seasonal monitoring and characterization. Introduction Wetlands play a significant role in maintaining environmental stability in a world where environmental degradation is increasing day by day. They render innumerable services like food storage, water quality maintenance and livelihood in terms of fisheries and recreation (Hollis and Acreman, 1994). It is therefore necessary to make an inventory of wetlands in an area, which will enable us to monitor the changes that are occurring due to human interference over a period of time. In some of the Received 31 December, 2003; in final form 25 January, 2005