DOI: 10.26650/ijegeo.1949488 ISSN: 2148-9173

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

B. Jadeja, Rekha Dhammar, Jenish Bamaniya, Kunal Odedra, Kavan Shukla, Riddhi Vala
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The amount of freshwater in a dryland ecosystem is one of the primary factors that determines the ecosystem's structure and function, especially since evapotranspiration is typically greater than precipitation over the course of a year in these systems. Semi-arid regions, including protected areas within semi-arid regions, are experiencing increasing hydrologic stress as a result of climate variability, increasing populations of wildlife, and the presence of human communities. However, systematic spatial assessments measuring water scarcity have been performed for just a few critical habitats. The Barda Wildlife Sanctuary has only recently become home to a now-endangered Asiatic lion population. As such, there have been no comprehensive water vulnerability assessments done for this landscape. For this study, we will utilize a single, cloud-free Landsat 8 satellite image acquired in March/April (pre-monsoon) of 2026 (a period of time when the majority of annual water stress occurs) to analyse spatial vulnerabilities to water scarcity for the first time at the Sanctuary. This study provides a baseline snapshot of dry-season conditions for 2026. Characterizing inter-annual variability and long-term trends will require multi-year analyses (e.g., 2021-2025). The total estimated maximum surface water storage available in all valley refugee systems throughout the entire study area was less than 15% of the estimated maximum storage capacity for this area. This means that the passive moisture retention capability of the landscape may not be able to comfortably support the species living there. There is a need to collect further field data on GPS Telemetry and prey distribution in order to test this hypothesis. The Valley refuge system has significant hydrological fragmentation with only 4% of the entire area having year-round visible surface water, and over 39% of the landscape exhibiting extreme drought conditions that were caused by poor rainfall before this year's monsoon. Based on the water scarcity patterns identified, the 17 Asiatic lions (as of 2025) may depend on a small area of dry habitat with relatively better ecological conditions. Testing this hypothesis will require telemetry data. Evidence of water selection will come from the telemetry dataset, allowing additional investigation. The analytical workflow provides a low-cost and replicable template for identifying water stressed areas in India's semi-arid protected areas.

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