SATELLITE REMOTE SENSING TO LOCATE AND INVENTORY SMALL WATER BODIES FOR FISHERIES MANAGEMENT AND AQUACULTURE DEVELOPMENT IN ZIMBABWE. CIFA OCCASIONAL PAPER No. 14.
The purpose of this study is to call attention to satellite remote sensing as a rapid, costeffective means to provide much of the basic information required to plan for the development and management of small water bodies for fisheries and aquaculture. Zimbabwe was chosen as the study area because of the many small water bodies, and due to the fact that previous work could be used for comparisons with the results of the present investigation.
Management of small impoundments for fisheries and aquaculture appears to have good potential for increasing Zimbabwe's fish supply; however, a prerequisite for such development is information on sizes, locations, productivities and present uses of these small water bodies.
Visual analysis of rainy and dry season Landsat Thematic Mapper images of a 32 400 km2 area in NE Zimbabwe was carried out to identify, inventory, estimate changes in surface area, land use context, and water colour of small water bodies.
Accuracy of the results and the financial and technical aspects of satellite remote sensing for small water body studies are discussed.