Geospatial Evidence of Shrinking Freshwater Lakes of the World: Selected Case Studies

Sarada Modak; Dr. Suman Sinha

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the receding water level of five freshwater lakes due to their respective cause. The chosen lakes are Lake Hulun from China, Lake Mead from USA, Lake Chad from Africa, Lake Titicaca from South America and Dal Lake from India. The usage of multi-temporal satellite imageries, from Landsat 4-5 and Landsat 8 are undertaken for the observation of the contracting lakes. The best fitted index, Modified Difference Water Index (MNDWI) along with statistical representations is used to carve out the prominent result. Results show a significant decrease of approximately more than 20% in each of the lakes. As per the observations and sources, the accuse lies with water botch and environmental change, where most of the lakes are under the direct or indirect influences of the ever-increasing anthropogenic activities and development. Protection of a lake from pollution and degradation is a major aspect of development.