ABSTRACT
The emergence of COVID-19 has emphasized that the destruction of the ecosystem leads to destruction of human. Ecosystem that protects us has been altered allowing pathogens including corona virus. Wetlands are diverse ecosystems in which slight alteration puts enormous impact on socioecological, physiochemical, and economical aspects. India had longest lockdown from March 24, 2020 to May 30, 2020. Current studies attempt to study India’s largest inland saline wetland Sambhar salt lake in terms of pre-COVID-19 and ongoing pandemic situation using remote sensing technology, in the absence of on-field observations. Satellite images of January, March, and May for the years 2019 and 2020 have been taken. Normalized difference water index has been calculated to change in spatiotemporal extent classifying them as water, saline soil, salt crust, barren land, and vegetation. The red-edge band (705 nm) was used for algal sheet dynamics as a qualitative measure. It was found that the water level in all the images of 2020 is much higher in 2019. Based on index values, two new classes as shallow water and deep water have come 166up indicating the self-restoration capabilities of the lake. Viral correlations are established with the algal sheets from the literature for identifying potential substrates. The study prompted that geospatial approach can be used to identify and quantify indicators for viral diversities and abundance even in the absence of field observations to bridge research gaps important for wetlandscape management.
