ARTICLE IN PRESS

Energy Policy 34 (2006) 3195–3205

www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol

Assessment of small hydropower potential using remote

sensing data for sustainable development in India
Surekha Dudhania,, A.K. Sinhab, S.S. Inamdara
a
Bharati Vidyapeeth’s College of Engineering, A-4, Paschim Vihar, Rothak Road, New Delhi-110063, India
b
Galgotia College of Engineering, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
Available online 28 July 2005

Abstract

India being a developing country has witnessed a rapidly growing energy needs owing to fast industrialization. Sustainable and
qualitative growth for developing economics and habitat requires increased energy input from various resources while maintaining
balance in the ecosystem during exploitation. Paper discusses state of the resource potentials, achievements and various issues
related to the power generation in India. The growing concern over environmental degradation caused by fossil fuel based systems,
opposition to large hydropower projects on grounds of displacement of land and population, environmental problems with nuclear
fuel based systems and the ever-rising shortage of power highlights the need for tapping alternate energy sources for power
generation. Amongst the alternate sources utilization of hydropower on a smaller scale (small, mini and micro hydropower) has
become the thrust area for sustainable growth in the power sector. Hydropower is an economical and environmentally clean source
of renewable energy abundantly available in hilly regions of India. Hydropower stations have an inherent ability for instantaneous
starting, stopping, load variations, etc., and help in improving the reliability of power system.
Huge hydropower potential in India, yet to be explored is located at inaccessible mountainous region. However, development of
this potential is challenging due to difficult and inaccessible terrain profile. Paper presents application of remote sensing data for
identification and selection of probable site for hydropower projects. The algorithm for identification and assessment of water
resources and its perennial is developed in Visual Basic (VB) platform and it is successfully applied for IRS-1D, LISS III Geo-coded
False Color Composite (FCC) satellite image for plain as well as hilly and mountainous regions. Classification of satellite image in to
different objects is modeled as the task of clustering based on the intensity of R-G-B values of pixels. Results obtained are presented
and compared with the Survey of India Toposheets (53K/2, 53K/3 and 53J/16). Use of Remote sensing data provides a scientific
method of hydropower identification and assessment.
r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Small hydropower; Sustainable; Satellite image

1. Introduction contributing only very small amount to green house

India being a developing country has witnessed a
rapidly growing energy needs owing to fast industriali-
zation. Primary energy demands are met largely from
conventional energy sources; coal, oil, natural gas,
hydropower resources, etc. Hydroelectricity represents
a large-scale alternative to fossil fuel generation,
Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 1125278443;
fax: +91 1125278444.
E-mail address: surekhadudhani573@yahoo.com (S. Dudhani).
gas emissions and other atmospheric pollution. Hydro-
power is a renewable and sustainable energy source to
meet global challenges (Frey and Linke, 2002) but
developing the remaining hydroelectric potential in a
sustainable way offers many challenges (Balsar, 2002).
Information in detailed project reports based up on
survey and investigations works for a potential site are
not adequate and reliable at the time of actual
implementation. (Yogendra Prasad, 2000).
Present task for the energy sector is to satisfy the
growing demand for electric energy of the community

0301-4215/$ - see front matter r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2005.06.011
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
3196 S. Dudhani et al. / Energy Policy 34 (2006) 3195–3205

while conserving resources for the benefit of future which are the important parameters for selection of
generation. Sustainable and qualitative growth for hydropower site.
developing economics and habitat requires increased Though commercially available softwares such as,
energy input from renewable sources, while maintaining ARC/INFO, MAP/INFO, GEOMEDIA, IDRISI, ER-
balance in the ecosystem during exploitation (Palani- DAS Imagine, MIKE BASIN, etc. more powerful and
chamy et al., 1999). The growing concern over environ- have greater flexibility, their prohibitive cost prevents
mental degradation caused by fossil fuel based systems, developing countries from deploying them at the end
environmental problems with nuclear fuel based sys- user level. This paper describes a methodology for
tems, opposition to large hydropower projects on extraction of information from the remote sensing data
grounds of displacement of land and population, and for mapping of water resources and its perennial for a
the ever-rising shortage of power have highlighted the plain as well as hilly and mountainous region in
need for development of new and alternate energy relatively more comprehensive and scientific method.
sources such as, small hydropower, ocean energy, solar
energy, biomass, biogas, wind power, etc. Of these small
hydropower is the most attractive source of energy 2. State of the power in India
because of its inherent advantages such as, flexibility of
utilization, pollution free generation and non-inflation- 2.1. Growth of installed generating capacity
ary tendencies after completion.
The small hydropower technology is extremely robust Over the years the electricity supply in India has made
and systems can last for 50 years or more with little significant progress. The installed capacity of the
maintenance. Small hydropower has a key role to play electricity supply undertakings (utilization) in the
in meeting the challenges by reduction in carbon-dioxide country over 50 years is increased from 1700 MW in
(CO2) emissions (Tondi and Chiaramonti, 1999). Even 1950 to 108,207 MW in May 2003 and electrification of
many countries have thought of making big business by more than 500,000 villages is impressive in absolute
establishing small hydropower projects (Moxon, 1999). terms (Power on demand by 2012). Efforts have been
There are many hilly or mountainous regions of the made to supply electricity to larger sections of popula-
country where the grid will probably never reach, but tion by way of rural electrification programmes. The
which have sufficient hydro resources to meet basic growth in the installed capacity is shown in Table 1.
domestic and cottage industry needs of the local
populations. 2.2. Resources for power generation
In order to exploit the balance hydro potential to
the full extent, it is necessary to adapt to new 2.2.1. Coal
technologies such as Satellite image processing for Coal-based thermal power stations are presently the
planning, evaluation and implementation of hydro mainstay of power development and this is likely to be
projects. Satellite Imagery has been available since in the immediate future also. India is endowed with 6%
the early 1970s, but is often overlooked as a power- of coal reserves of the world. The coal reserves in the
ful and cost effective tool in hydropower assessment country as per the assessment carried out in January
and development. Potential uses of remote sensing is 2003, down to the depth of 1200 m stood at 240.78
gaining importance in resource planning and manage- billion tones. Bulk of the coal reserves are unevenly
ment in various fields such as, ground water exploi- distributed in the country. Bulk of the coal reserves
tation (Rao and Mohan, 1988), mapping of resources approximately to the extent of 73% lay in the Eastern
estimation of run off models, observation of water Region in the states of Bihar, Orissa and West Bengal.
levels in channels (Al Khudhairy et al., 2002). Assess- Other states with sizable coal reserves are Madhya
ment of rural land use classification, (Adinarayana Pradesh (17.5%) and Andhra Pradesh (6.7%) and
and Krishna, 1996; Chen and Stow, 2003). Attempt has
been initiated to estimate soil erosion and slope profile Table 1
of the land from the contour details (Mizukoshi and Growth of installed generating capacity (MW)
Aniya, 2002). The scope of the technology at present is
limited to the study of area related parameters Year Thermal Hydro Nuclear Wind and others
supported by field data. However, there are not many 1950 1153 559 — —
studies, which provide clearly the integrated application 1960 2736 1917 — —
in hydropower development in particular hilly areas. 1970 7906 6383 420 —
In the proposed methodology the satellite image 1980 17562 11791 860 —
1990 45768 18753 1565 —
obtained from IRS-1D LISS-III is used for identifica-
2003 76607 26910 2720 1736
tion of water resources and neighboring objects such as
forest/ vegetation, snow, inhabitation patterns, etc., Source: http://cea.nic.in.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
S. Dudhani et al. / Energy Policy 34 (2006) 3195–3205
Maharashtra (3%). Besides the quantity, the Indian coal
has been a major problem and concern for the power
industry such as, low calorific value, high ash content
about 30–40%, inconsistency in coal quality, difficulties
in transportation of coal, rising environmental problems
(Palanichamy et al., 1999, Profile of Power Utilities and
Non-Utilities in India, 2000). The coal production has a
steady growth and it reached to 2922 million tons during
1995–1996. Figures indicate the India’s coal reserve
works out to be 160 billion tons and it will last for 530
years provided the coal consumption and population are
properly controlled.
Besides quantity, the quality of Indian coal has been a
major problem and concern for the power supply
industry. With ash content of coals being in the range
of 30–40%, inconsistency in coal quality is one of the
factors, which has adverse effect of the performance of
thermal power stations. Besides there are considerable
constraints in transportation of coal and ash handling.
2.2.2. Gas and liquid fuel
As per the estimates by Oil & Natural Gas Corpora-
tion (ONGC) and Oil India Limited (OIL) balance
recoverable reserves of oil are of the order of 732 million
tones & that of natural gas aggregating to about 763
billion cubic meters by March 2002. The discovery of 0.2
trillion m3 of natural gas by Reliance industry in the
Krishna–Godavari Basin was the highest of 2002.Pet-
roleum fuel is being imported on a quite large scale
adding heavy burden on foreign exchange out go and
generation cost is linked with the fluctuations in the
international oil prices. Long-term dependence on
imported liquid fuel should be minimum (Profile of
Power Utilities and Non-Utilities in India, 2000).
2.2.3. Nuclear fuel
India has a reasonable quantity of uranium reserves
and abundant thorium reserves. In the proposed 3 stage
development plan for nuclear power, a programme of
300,000 MWe can be supported by the available reserves
and indigenes technology (Profile of Power Utilities and
Non-Utilities in India, 2000).
2.2.4. Hydropower
India commenced power development in the year
1897 by establishing its first hydropower plant having
installed capacity of 130 kW near Darjeeling (West
Bengal), thereafter in 1902, another project with
installed capacity of 4500 kW was set up in Mysore
(Karnataka). Hydropower development continued at a
good pace and multipurpose hydro stations like Bhakra,
Hirakud, Chambal, Damodar Valley Corporation, etc.
were set up during Ist and IInd plan period to meet the
power and irrigation requirements.
The country India is endowed with enormous
economically exploitable and viable hydro potential,
3197
assessed to be about 84,044 MW at 60% load factor
(140,074 MW installed capacity). In addition,
6781.81 MW in terms of installed capacity from small,
mini and micro hydropower schemes have been
assessed. Also, 56 sites for pumped storage schemes
with an aggregate installed capacity of 94,000 MW have
been identified. However, only 13,949 MW (16.6%)
of the hydroelectric potential has been harnessed so
far and 5337 MW (7%) is under various stages of
development. Thus, 77% of the potential remains
unexplored (Yogendra Prasad, 2000; Bhattacharyya,
1999; http://cea.nic.in).
The conventional method of planning hydropower
project is beset with many impediments like difficult
accessibility of the site, rough terrain in hilly areas
resulting into long gestation period extending to even
8–10 years in some cases and cost escalation 5–6 times
more than the original estimate (Aggarwal, 1996). Large
hydro schemes often involve the construction of major
dams and the flooding of the whole valleys, some of
them are even considered environmentally unacceptable.
Development of huge potential is challenging due to
large variation in topographical, geographical, seismic,
hydrometer logical parameters. Most hydropower sys-
tems in use today are large-scale and are unfortunately
hampered by many environmental problems (Trussart
et al., 2002, Power on Demand by 2012).

Large hydropower projects invariably necessitate the
building of large dams in order to create a reservoir.

Mass population migration.

Traditional fishing practices are disrupted.

Deposition of silt in river.

Water quality (T, DO, Toxic elements, Methane
Release).
After the independence, the share of hydropower
continued to rise and touched 50.62% during
1962–1963. Thereafter, the share of hydropower started
declining continuously, to the level of 26.91% (2003)
against an optimal mix of 40:60 (Hydro: (Thermal+
others)). Growth and decline of Hydropower is shown
in Fig. 1. In order to exploit the balance hydro potential
to the full extent, it is necessary to adapt to new
Hydropower: (Thermal+Others) %
120%
100%
80%
67% 59% 54% 60% 71% 75%
60%
40%
20% 33% 41% 46% 40% 29% 25%
0%
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2003
Hydro Thermal+Others
Fig. 1. Rise and decline of Hydropower.
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3198 S. Dudhani et al. / Energy Policy 34 (2006) 3195–3205

technologies for planning, evaluation and implementa- Indian history in small hydro developments is a
tion of hydro projects. century old, first hydro project of 130 kW commissioned
in the hills of Darjeeling in 1897 followed by Siva-
2.3. Transmission and distribution (T&D) losses and samudram project of 4.5 MW in Mysore district of
national grid Karnataka. Runoff generated from melting of snow and
glaciers of Himalayan region form a source of numerous
The T&D loss is one of the serious matters in the streams. Due to steep slopes, all such streams have
Indian power scenario. The figures have reached to potential sites for hydropower generation. If this
30.9% in 1999–2000 from 21.5% in 1993–1994, which is potential is fully utilized, it will help in generating
unacceptably high. These figures are alarming as power from environmentally friendly Run-of-River
compared to other countries, e.g. 7% in China, 10% hydropower stations. Small hydropower potential can
in Thailand and 12% in Argentina (Power on demand provide a solution for energy problems in remote and
by 2012). Due to various constraints such as, terrain hilly areas where the extension of grid system is
profile, difficulty in land acquisition, cost economy comparatively uneconomical.
development of national grid is slowed down. Inade- The small hydropower project could be developed
quate transmission links lead to simultaneous shortages economically by simple design of turbines, generators
and surpluses, within and between regions. and civil works (Fig. 2). Since the use of standardized
Fossil fuels are finite in nature. Exploitation of these power plants and local materials and labor are more
resources has adverse effects on the ecology due to applicable to small-scale sites, the net cost savings may
mining, deforestation, particulate matter emissions, be sufficient to justify a preference for small-scale
handling of waste, transportation dependency etc. development on both a national economic and regional
Hydroelectric projects, especially those involving large economic basis (Leyland, 1995). Indigenous power plant
dams, have significant environmental, social and eco-
nomical impacts such as, deforestation, rehabilitation
and resettlement of project affected families and large
gestation period to complete the project also escalates
the project cost.
Decentralized energy technologies based on local
sources can be vital alternative to many conventional
sources of energy in diverse end uses in rural India.
India has a good potential for developing non-conven-
tional energy sources. A large number of models have
been developed for various non conventional energy
sources such as wind energy (Sasi and Basu, 2002), solar
photovoltaic energy (Fahmy, 1999; Schaefer, 1990;
Chakrabarti and Chakrabarti, 2002), hybrid models
(Karaki et al., 2002; Billinton and Karki, 2001; Kellogg
et al., 1998; Omer, 2002), biomass (Arbon, 2002), etc.
Due emphasis needs to be paid for the development of
small hydropower resources.

3. Small hydropower generation (SHP)

Amongst the renewable energy technologies, small

hydropower is one of the most attractive and probably
the oldest environmentally begin energy technology
(Balsar, 2002). Small hydro potential is available on
small rivers, canal heads and canal drops. Of all the non-
conventional renewable energy sources, small hydro-
power represents highest density resource and stands in
first place in the generation of electricity from renewable
sources throughout the world. Global installed capacity
of Small Hydropower today is around 47,000 MW
against an estimated potential of 180,000 MW (Naidu,
1998). Fig. 2. Planning for SHP.
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S. Dudhani et al. / Energy Policy 34 (2006) 3195–3205 3199

industry now produces a full range of generating and electricity demand centers (Bhatt, 2003) and are truly
transmission equipment and its share in new capacity sustainable when they ‘internalize’ (or fully account for)
additions has risen from 7.2% in 1969–1970 to 79.4% in their environmental and social costs (Klimpt et al.,
1987–1988. The adoptability of technological innova- 2002). Sustainable development is the management and
tions to suit the smaller versions and cost effective conservation of natural resources base and the orienta-
simplifications are being tried by many manufacturers. tion of technological and institutional changes in such a
Successful efforts have been made to improve the manner as to ensure the attainment and continued
efficiency of turbine, generator, etc. satisfaction of human needs for present and future
Estimated technical potential of small hydropower generations. Such sustainable development conserves
(Up to 25 MW) in India is about 15,000 MW out of land, water, plant and animal genetic resources, is
which about 1509.0 MW has been achieved as on May environmentally non-degrading, technically appropri-
2003 (http://mnes.nic.in). Small hydropower develop- ate, economically viable and socially acceptable (Kush-
ment is one of the thrust areas of power generation from waha et al., 1996; WCED, 1987; Frey and Linke, 2002).
renewable in the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Objectives of the sustainable energy developments
Sources (MNES annual report 2002–2003) and esti- are:
mated potential for small hydropower projects is shown
in Table 2.
Ensure security of energy supply.

Maximize efficiency of generation and emphasize the
use of renewable resources.
3.1. SHP a sustainable energy technology
Promote energy conservation by users.

Minimize emissions of green house gases and other
Small hydropower projects are generally considered pollutants.
to be more environmentally favorable than both large
Maintain local air quality and limit and reduce the
hydro and fossil fuel powered plants, as these do not contribution to regional and global environmental
involve serious deforestation, rehabilitation and sub- problems.
mergence. Small-scale hydropower is economically
Underline economic development by creating em-
competitive with small-scale fossil fuel/steam-electrical ployment and export opportunities in the energy
plants particularly if the hydro sites are located near industry.

Ensure the availability of effective energy services for
future generation.
Table 2
Estimated potential for small hydropower projects
Since the use of standardized power plants & local
State Total capacity identified (up to 25 MW as materials & labor are more applicable to small-scale
on December 2002) MW sites and Indigenous developments of the small/mini/
Haryana 30
micro hydropower technologies the net cost savings may
Himachal Pradesh 1625 be sufficient to justify a preference for small-scale
Jammu & Kashmir 1207 development on both a national & regional economic
Uttar Pradesh 267 basis. As theses technologies do not need construction of
Uttaranchal 1478 large dams, mitigation of mass population, deforesta-
Maharashtra 600
Andhra Pradesh 255
tion, silting problem with large reservoirs, etc. is not
Madhya Pradesh 336 applicable and hence is environmentally friendly. Small
Chhattisgarh 58 hydropower development brings prosperity and raises
Karnataka 652 the standard of living due to educational facilities,
Kerala 467 public health benefits, roads, electric power & other
Tamil Nadu 339
Bihar 149
infrastructure developments, abundant scope and gain-
Jharkhand 170 ful employment for the local people in the proximity of
Gujrat 157 their habitat.
Orissa 157 These technologies may be cost effective as compared
Punjab 65 to conventional sources, considering various factors
Rajesthan 27
Sikkim 203
such as:
West Bengal 183
North Eastern States 1845
Cost of fuel.
Total 10270
Cost of technology development.
Achieved as on 1467MW
Transportation of fossil fuel.
December 2002

Transmission losses, environmental effects.
Source: http://mnes.nic.in.
Health hazards.
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3200 S. Dudhani et al. / Energy Policy 34 (2006) 3195–3205

Deforestation, soil erosion.

Rehabilitation and resettlement costs, etc.
From the discussion it is apparent that in India,
it is an opportune time that small hydropower should
get a strategic thrust, as environment driven awareness
has rediscovered ‘small hydropower’ as a principle
renewable sources for sustainable development (Naidu,
1998).
3.2. Thrust areas for SHP
Thrust areas for small hydropower developments to
provide a solution for energy problems in a sustainable
way are:
1. Remote and hilly areas where the extension of grid
system is comparatively uneconomical and difficult to
erection transmission lines due to rugged terrain,
wind load and ice loads.
2. Where the population is too small and too widely
scattered to justify construction of the grid.
3. High cost of fuel for running diesel plants at remote
areas.
4. To boost up the overloaded power station under peak
loads using induction generator.
5. Along the existing irrigation canal systems having
sufficient drops.
6. Run off the river schemes.
7. Stand alone systems for off grid applications.
8. Geographically dispersed islands.
9. Hybrid schemes with other renewable sources as well
as conventional sources of energy.
There is a vast potential for development of hydro-
power on a smaller scale mainly in hilly areas of Jammu
and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West
Bengal and Northeastern States of our country. For
example project profile for Himachal Pradesh located in
the Northern part of India represents the five major
river basins: Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Satluj and Yamuna
endowed with more than 21,000 MW of hydropower
potential out of which only about 4000 MW of potential
being harnessed (H.P. State Electricity Board, 1999).
The projects involving Patikari (16.0 MW) in Mandi
district, Sal Stage-I (6.5) MW in Chamba district, Fozal
(6.0 MW) in Kullu district, Sainj (5.5 MW) in Shimal
district in category-I and other projects with higher
capacity in category-II.
Ministry of Non conventional Energy Sources en-
courages the development of SHP by giving subsidy at
various stages of project implementation as reported in
Table 3.
4. Proposed methodology
Bulk of the hydro potential is in difficult/inaccessible
terrains in the North and Northeastern regions.
Identification and assessment of water resources, fre-
quent updating of the information and investigation and
survey is difficult due to difficult and inaccessible terrain
profile that becomes time consuming by conventional
method. A methodology derived gives emphasis on
satellite image interpretation and its application for
identification and assessment of water resources and its
association for the development of hydropower in a
scientific method.
India has 420 small Hydropower programs up to
25 MW station capacity with aggregate capacity of over
1423 MW. Over 187 projects in this range with aggregate
capacity of 521 MW are under construction (http://
mnes.nic.in). The run-of-river schemes exist mainly in
hilly areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh,
Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Northeastern States of
our country. Present methods of surveying have certain
limitations, as most of the sites are located at
inaccessible mountainous region. Methodology for
identification and selection of sites for hydropower
plants needs to be improved by incorporating the latest
technology i.e. remote sensing data to provide informa-
tion for larger areas with less time and hence reducing
cost escalation as compared with the conventional
methods of surveying.
Remote sensing is basically the use of the electro-
magnetic spectrum to inventory resources, monitor the
environment, solve problems, and plan future actions.
Potential uses of remote sensing is gaining importance in
resource planning and management in various fields
such as, ground water exploitation (Rao and Mohan,
1988), mapping of resources estimation of run off
models, observation of water levels in channels (Al
Khudhairy et al., 2002). Assessment of rural land use
classification, (Adinarayana and Krishna, 1996, Chen
and Stow, 2003). Attempt has been initiated to estimate
soil erosion and slope profile of the land from the
contour details (Mizukoshi and Aniya, 2002). The scope
of the technology at present is limited to the study of
area related parameters supported by field data. How-
ever, there are not many studies, which provide clearly
the integrated application in water resource manage-
ment in particular hydropower development for hilly
areas.
In the proposed methodology, the satellite image
obtained from IRS-1D LISS III Geocoded False Color
Composite (FCC) data (24-JAN-00 05:51:16L-3
ST00B2345F) is used for extraction and mapping of
water resources with the knowledge base, from the
human experience and literature in relatively more
comprehensive method. In image processing technique,
input and output are still images, but output is an
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S. Dudhani et al. / Energy Policy 34 (2006) 3195–3205 3201

Table 3
Financial subsidies from ministry of non-conventional energy sources of India at various stages of project implementation for small hydropower
projects

Schemes Areas Below 500 kW 500 kW up to Above 1 MW & up Above 5 MW & up Above 15 MW &
1 MW to 5 MW to 15 MW up to 25 MW

Survey & Plain Up to Rs. 0.75 lakhs Up to Rs. 1.00 Up to Rs. 1.50 lakhs
investigation lakhs
Hilly Up to Rs.1.00 lakhs Up to Rs. 2.00 Up to Rs. 3.00 lakhs
lakhs
Detailed project Plain Up to Rs. 0.75 lakhs Up to Rs. 1.00 Up to Rs. 1.50 lakhs
report lakhs
Hilly Up to Rs. 0.75 lakhs Up to Rs. 1.00 Up to Rs. 2.00 lakhs
lakhs
Interest subsidy for Plain 5.00% 2.50% 2.00% 1.50%
commercial
projects
Hilly& NE 7.50% 5.00% 3.00% 2.00%
region
Capital subsidy for N E Region, 90% cost of the 90% cost of the 75% cost of the Equipment Nil
govt. sector Sikkim, project up to Rs. project up to Rs. project up to Rs. cost+25% of civil
projects 75,000/-kW 60,000/-kW 45,000/- kW cost limited to Rs.
22.50 crores/
project
Middle Epuipment Cost+ 50% of Civil Cost up Epuipment Cost+ Epuipment Nil
Himalayas, to Rs. 45,000/kW 25% of Civil Cost Cost+25% of
Ladakh, up to Rs. 3.00 Civil Cost limited
A&N crores/MW to Rs. 15 crores/
project
Other areas Epuipment cost+ 50% of civil cost up to Epuipment cost+ Epuipment cost+ Nil
(only notified Rs. 30,000/kW 25% of civil cost 25% of civil cost
hilly regions) up to Rs. 1.5 crores limited to Rs. 7.5
per MW crores/project
Renovation & Modernization of Up to Rs. 2 crores/MW Limited to Rs. 10 Nil
Old Projects crores/project
Development/upgradation of water Rs. 30,000
mills
Mechanical mode Rs. 60,000
Mechanical/electrical mode

Source: http://mnes.nic.in.

abstract representation of the input. Work is carried out
in two steps: (1) Image clustering and classification
(segmentation), (2) image interpretation.
4.1. Image clustering and classification
Image obtained from Indian remote sensing satellite is
used to identify the various objects such as water body,
forest, inhabitation and settlement, snow coverage
with the fuzzy-theoretic technique of pattern clustering
and classification. The intensity in terms of distribution
of R-G-B values of pixels together with the knowledge
base of the features of the objects is used for image
clustering and classification. Clustering analysis is
based on partitioning a collection of data points into
a number of subgroups, where the objects inside a
cluster (a subgroup) shows a certain degree of closeness
or similarity. Since different objects or different parts
of the object have different characteristics, feature
values recorded at pixels belonging to various regions
are different. Mapping the feature values at every
pixel to a feature space, distinct clusters corresponding
to types of the features and also features of the same
object of regions in the image are formed. Patterns
of various objects such as water body, forest/vegetation,
inhabitation and settlement, snow coverage are recog-
nized by segmenting the image i.e. partitioning pixels
on an image in to regions that correspond to different
objects.
The best known unsupervised clustering algorithm,
Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) algorithm is used in the
analysis. However, the number of cluster and sub
clusters (water, forest, inhabitation and snow) are
assumed to be fixed a prior and/or the clusters are
assumed to crisp in nature for identifying the water
resources, FCM algorithm is well suited. FCM uses the
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principle of fuzzy sets to evolve a partition matrix U(X) to create knowledge-based systems. The program is tried
while minimizing the measure to refine its expertise through a process of giving it
example problems to solve, letting the domain expert
X
C X
n
ðU ik Þm D2 ðV i ; X k Þ, criticize its behavior, and making any required changes
i¼1 k¼1 or modifications to the program’s knowledge.
A data flow diagram (DFD) for the Software tool
where D (vi,xk) represents the distance from point xk
developed is shown in Fig. 4(a–c), is a graphical
(k ¼ 1; . . . ; n), and m is the weighting coefficient.
representation that depicts information flow and trans-
forms that are applied as data move from input to
4.2. Image interpretation output is used to represent development of the software
at various levels of abstraction. The DFD is partitioned
In satellite-based remote sensing, sensors acquire data in three levels to represent increasing information flow
on the way various earth surface features emit and
reflect electromagnetic energy and these data are
analyzed to provide information about the resources
under investigation. Clear water absorbs relatively little
energy having wavelengths less than about 0.6 mm. high
transmittance typifies these wavelengths with a max-
imum in the blue-green portion of the spectrum and
provides clearly the contrast between land and water
features and therefore is best suited for identification
and mapping perennial streams (Lillesand and Kiefer).
All forms of remotely sensed images are nonselective
in nature and cannot be directly integrated into
applications. An interpretative process is necessary
before useful thematic information relating to environ-
ment can be extracted from these images. Thus, the
process of visual interpretation of wide variety of
remotely sensed data is a complex intuitive process of
combining evidential information from different sources
and subjecting such information to an expert’s know-
ledge, experience and heuristics at each levels namely
detection, identification, analysis, recognition and clas-
sification of the process. It calls for the analysis of a
number of related information by a domain expert. An
expert system is developed (as shown in Fig. 3) with
computer-based program in Visual Basic that uses
knowledge, facts and different reasoning techniques to
solve problems. The associated information and logical
reasoning that are used by a well-trained human
interpreter are encoded in the form of rules and facts

Fig. 3. Domain specific expert system. Fig. 4. (a) 0-level DFD, (b) 1-Level DFD, (c) 2-level DFD.
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S. Dudhani et al. / Energy Policy 34 (2006) 3195–3205 3203

Table 4
Features of the software tool developed

Load image (0.1) This feature facilitates loading of image from other locations. Supports BMP, JPG, GIF, ICO images
Pixel information (0.2) Information about the pixel co-ordinate, intensity of R-G-B values and class of the feature object
belongs to is made available by the mouse click on the satellite image.
Features (0.3) This provides extraction and presentation of selected feature objects from satellite image. Extracted
image is presented in true color with various color shades. e.g. Water is represented with shades of Blue
and forest/Vegetation by shades of green color.
Selected area provides the information about the percentage area covered by various feature objects for
a selected area of the satellite image
Add to database, facilitates to store the related information of the extracted image through Microsoft
access. Print and save facilities are provided
FCC Filter (0.4) This facilitates excess to various GIS database layers provided for various image cluster classes such as,
Water, Forest, Inhabitation and snow in FCC.
Magnification feature: zoom (0.5) Double click of mouse on the satellite image provides magnification of the satellite image for better
visualization.
On the completion of extraction of feature class, double click of mouse on the extracted and true color
image magnified the image.
Print (0.6) Working window, zoomed images of window-1, window-2 and window-3, add to database are provided
with print facility.
Save (0.7) Project, zoom window, features and window-1 can be saved.

and functional detail. Fig. 4(a), a 0-level DFD,

represents entire software element as a single bubble
with input and output data indicated by incoming and
outgoing arrows representation. The system is decom-
posed and represented as a 1-level DFD with multiple
bubbles in Fig. 4(b). A 1-level DFD contains 7 bubbles
with interconnections. Each of the processes represented
at 1-level is a sub function of the overall system depicted
in the context model. Each of these bubbles are refined
to depict more details in 2-level DFD. For example 2-
level DFD is shown for bubble 4 as shown in Fig. 4(c).
The features of the software tool developed are given in
Table 4.
The water bodies are extracted from the satellite
Fig. 5. Ganga River.
image for plain as well as hilly and mountainous
regions. Fig. 5 represents the assessment of water
resources for river Ganga that is on a relatively plain
area. Fig. 6 represents the assessment of water resources
for river Alaknanda located at the hilly and mountai-
nous area of Tehri Garwal district. Assessment of the
area covered by inhabitation, forest/ vegetation, snow
and water bodies of catchment are the important factors
for selection of Hydropower plant. These factors are
assessed for a selected site 1, 2 and 3 and the results are
presented in Fig. 7. Site location at 1 and 2 on
Alaknanda river shows minimum coverage of forest/ Fig. 6. Alaknanda River.
vegetation area but requires rehabilitation and resettle-
ment of the people staying there. Ste location at 3 on
Alaknanda River covers about 46.4% of forest/vegeta- selection of the site and also for ranking of the identified
tion area. The habitation is about 3.69%, the local Hydropower sites.
demand may not justify for the site and also being This technology would be suitable for inaccessible
mountainous region it is difficult and expensive to lay mountainous region where majority of hydropower sites
the transmission lines to the load centers. Site at location are located for new developments as well as for assessing
2 covers less inhabitation coverage as compared to site water conveyance facilities (canal heads and canal
location 1. This information is very important for drops) for the existing projects.
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3204 S. Dudhani et al. / Energy Policy 34 (2006) 3195–3205
Fig. 7. Selection of site location.
5. Conclusion
Development of small hydropower projects can be an
important contributor to meet the local needs of the
people in remote and hilly area of the country and will
enhance the quality of life. These projects benefits in
terms of ease of smaller investments, shorter period for
planning and construction, acquire smaller area, use of
local labor and material and cheaper generation cost as
compared to other power projects. As the number of
sites for small hydropower potential are in the order of
420 development of database for the sites on a scientific
basis will fasten the process of decision-making and
implementation.
The methodology presented in the paper demon-
strates a systematic and comprehensive computational
approach to extract information for identification and
assessment of water resources and its associates such as
inhabitation and settlement pattern, forest and vegeta-
tion coverage, snow coverage and selection of probable
sites for small hydropower projects, etc. from satellite
image in a scientific manner. Although cost comparisons
of the proposed methodology with conventional meth-
ods of surveying is not presented in this paper, it is
expected that saving of manpower and time required for
surveying and updating the information of the potential
sites will have significant impact on the cost. Manual
surveys and site selection for pre-feasibility report are
not only time consuming but also requires large man-
power due to the undulating topography, dense forest
cover and bad climatic conditions. Work can be further
extended for development of regional flow duration
model.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Dr. N.D. aushika, Dean
(Research), Bharati Vidyapeeth’s College of Engineer-
ing, New Delhi for his guidance in the field of
Renewable energy technologies.
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