Rainfall Water Runoff Determination Using Land Cover Classification of Satellite Images For Rain Water Harvesting Application

In country like India where an amount of precipitation is limited to specific period (monsoon season) and if not utilized, water becomes a scary resource. At this same time the present statistics about the average water table in the country indicates a rapid fall in the level. There is an immense need to make a proper utilization of water and increase in ground water level by means of rain water harvesting techniques. This paper presents an approach for determining the water runoff from a particular built-up area based on the satellite image of that area. The process involves segmentation and classification of satellite images. The classification is mainly done using texture analysis techniques. The satellite image is classified into various classes like built up region, soil region, grass region and water region. The area under built up region is computed, then based on the relationships between the surface type and the rainfall, the water runoff is computed; which in turn is used for the design and development of rain water harvesting system.