Mapping the Spatio-Temporal Changes in Mangrove Vegetation along Thane Creek, India

Present work attempts to use an easily available remote data to measure the spacio-temporal variation in the infestation on dominant mangrove species along Thane Creek, India. Satellite imageries of Sentinel 2 were processed in ArcGIS using Wide Dynamic Range Index (WDRI) and Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) to delineate the healthy and infested vegetation of mangrove. Out of total 47.03 sq.km. area of forest, in the post monsoon season of 2019, around 30.75 sq.km. was observed to be affected that amounts to be nearly 66 percent. The results obtained were found to be satisfactory after ground truthing. Thus the periodic phenomenon, though not harmful for human or mangrove vegetation, marks its significant occurrence in the ecological calendar of the creek ecosystem.