Near Realtime Forest Cover Monitoring In ApBY DR HC MISHRA,IFSAPCCF (GIS),AP

INTRODUCTIONAndhra Pradesh is the fourth largest state in India geographical area wise with an area of 2,75,045 square Kilometers. Number of Forest Blocks in Andhra Pradesh State is about 3500. Total area of Reserved forest in Andhra Pradesh is 6381.43 km2.Andhra Pradesh lies between latitudes of 120 37 and 190 55 N and longitudes of 760 45 and 840 46 E in the south east coast of the country.Geographically the Andhra Pradesh state has a hilly region in the Eastern Ghats along coast apart from hilly tracts of Nallamallais and Erramallais in Rayalseema, a plain region in the coast and plateau in the Telengana region with an average height of 100 to 1000 meters over MSL.Godavari and Krishna are the two principal rivers flowing from west to east in the Andhra Pradesh state.Southwest monsoon is the principal monsoon in the Andhra Pradesh state though north east monsoon also causes rainfall in November December in Nellore , Chittoor and Cuddapah districts. The average rainfall in the Andhra Pradesh state is 800 1200 mm.

History of Forest Cover Monitoring

Classes for Previous Classification

ClassDescriptionDense forest > 0.4 Canopy densityOpen forest 0.4 - 0.1 Canopy densityScrub forest < 0.1 Canopy density and areas with dwarf & stunted vegetation growthBlanks/OthersAreas devoid of vegetation, fallows, etc.Water BodiesStreams, ponds and lakes, waterlogged areas etc. MangrovesLand covered with mangrove vegetation irrespective of density.

New classes for Classification

ClassDescriptionVery Dense Forest>0.70% canopy DensityModerately Dense Forest0.40% to 0.70% canopy DensityOpen Forest0.10% to 0.40% canopy DensityScrub Forest

Satellite data downloadGeometrical rectificationRadiometric NormalizationSOI toposheets 1:50,000 scaleMasking out non-forest areasGround reference dataNDVI TransformationDensity slicingEditingPreparation of change map by Erdas matrix tool and by comparing 2007 and 2008 FCCs visuallyMaking sub-sets of sceneAccuracy AssessmentOver lay boundariesPost classification correctionArea statisticsGround truthingMapsNew Methodology in 2007

Before NormalizationAfter NormalizationIRS P6 LISS III 29th October 2008 Imagery Normalizedwith respect to IRS P6 LISS III 22nd December 2007 Imagery

Change Matrix of Khammam District 2007(22-12-07) and 2008(29-10-2008) (IRS P6 LISS III 102-60 Imagery) 20072008

Forest cover Change Matrix of 2007 - 2008

2007 (Data of Oct 2007 Feb 2008)2008 (Data of Oct 2008 Feb 2009)Total of 2007VDFMDFOFScrubNFWaterVery Dense Forest950.140.000.000.000.000.00950.14Moderately Dense Forest0.0018651.290.498.4321.230.0018681.44Open Forest0.000.2322638.0723.3861.890.4322724.00Scrub0.000.203.2313465.9218.970.0013488.32Non-Forest0.000.003.624.727311.420.007319.76Water0.000.000.000.000.00650.90650.90Total of 2008950.1418651.7222645.4113502.457413.51651.3363814.56Net Change0.00-29.72-78.5914.1393.750.43

Accuracy Matrix of 2007 ClassificationAccuracy percentage is 84.63

AS PER FIELDAS PER CLASSIFIED CLASSESVery Dense ForestModerate Dense ForestOpen ForestScrubNon-ForestWaterTotalVery Dense Forest3000003Moderately Dense Forest012334200159Open Forest0152092800252Scrub021317320190Non-Forest0111084096Water0000033Total3141257213863703

RESULTS AND ANALYSISTotal change points found in the state between 2007 and 2008 are 1167. Total net change is 107 km2 during 2007-2008. Positive change is 753 Hectares & negative change is 115 km2.

Epicentre of -ve change is Khammam, where the net change is -5852 Ha.

Second circle with maximum destructions is Rajahmundry with -2250 Ha.Ananthapur with -13 Ha has lowest negative change. The ve change in VSS areas is -3298 Hectares. Many VSS have cut down their own areas and some their adjacent areas.

7.In wildlife areas ve change is -191 Hectares.

8.Paloncha forest division showed maximum negative change in the state of about -2200hacteres.

Vegetation Cover Change Points 2007 2008 verified

Limitations of Technology Considerable details on ground could be obscured in areas having clouds and shadows. It is difficult to interpret such areas without the help of collateral data.

Young plantations and species having less chlorophyII content in their crown, do not give proper reflectance and as a result correct interpretation of such areas becomes difficult.

Since resolution of data from Liss-III is 23.5m, smaller areas below 0.5 hectare cannot be captured.

Variation in spectral response pattern poses problems in interpretation. Chameleon type scenerio of Decidous mixed forests often cheats the interpreter.

Gregarious occurrence of bushy vegetation like Lantana and certain agricultural crops, such as sugarcane, cotton, etc., often pose problems in delineation of forest cover as their spectral response pattern is similar to that of tree canopy.

Nirmal DivisionLat:19.077040; Long:78.567450 Comp. No:948Division: NirmalAn area of 3 ha was converted in to MDF to NFDate of visit-28-10-2009

IRS P6 LISS III Imagery 07-NOV-2008IRS P6 LISS III Imagery 13-NOV-2007

IRS P6 LISS III Imagery 13-NOV-2007IRS P6 LISS III Imagery 07-NOV-2008

KARIMNAGAR EASTLatitude :18.603625Longitude:79.8199526.7 ha of area converted from Open to NFComp.No:296Division: Karim nagar(E)Date of visit: During Dec.2009

KARIMNAGAR EAST DIVISION

SRIKAKULAM2.5 ha Encroachment at Kadaganti (E) Beat,Longitude : 83.893246Latitude : 18.601308 Comp.No:151Division: SrikakulamDate of visit: 1st and 2nd of Dec. 2009

Datum:- Indian BangladeshLiss III 08 November 2008Liss III 14 November 2007

DivisionNarsipatnamRangeNarsipatnamBeatVedurupalliComp1258,1259Area-ha3.5Latitude17.51856Longitude82.40810

MADKURU APCFM VSS-KHAMAM DVNCompt no. 95,Talada Range

Regulukunta VSS, JR Gudem Range, West godavari

NUZVID RANGE,KRISHNA DIVISION (Compt-123)16.81208N,80.76664E (I-B)

Sl NoDOsDONTs1Develop all databases in Geographic Lat/Long in WGS 84 datum.Avoid all other datums.2Concentrate on Remote Sensing based raster GIS as it is crucial for Forestry applications.Dont ignore Raster GIS3 Move from 2D Remote Sensing to 3D Remote Sensing . Move slowly to high resolution data. (Both 2D and 3D are desirable)Dont be complacent with low resolution images.4Create a solid layer of Forest blocks by DGPS survey preferably of Dual Frequency.Dont ignore survey of forest blocks5Move from desktop GIS to Enterprise GIS. A desired combination is required. Dont be complacent with few standalone desktops.6Develop your own Servers and have good bandwidth up to FRO levelDont depend upon outside servers.

7Never neglect Data Mining from day one. Preserve original and derived data in neutral formats and predetermined nomenclatures systematically in perfect media in 2-3 places in Geographic coordinatesNever ignore this aspect.8Preserve all Metadata of the data. Avoid digitization from photocopied hard sheets, old torn papers, topo sheet forest block layers (except initially), Data of unknown datum and if done maintain the metadata information.Never forget which is garbage and which is reliable.9Go for a Technical Advisory Team for the State GIS. Buy hardware and software as per its advice and pursue practical user required GIS as per its advice.Rely on joint wisdom of many;rather than depending on oneself.10Develop library of control points as required for 3D GIS from Dual Frequency DGPSDont ignore it.11Have a Quality Control officer who may be the senior most in the wing. Always go for accuracy check before concluding a work. Put all modeling works to quality strict validation. Call a spade a spade , a garbage as garbage ie ruthlessly honest in this aspectDont finish a task without Quality control or accuracy check.12Maintain hardware, Software and most importantly Livewire. Update all the three by frequent interactions, seminars and, workshops.Concentrate here and never ignore this aspect.

CONCLUSIONS

1.There is decline of forest cover in AP from the year 1999 till 2007 as per FSI reports. As per APFDs own analysis we find loss of forest cover during 2006-2007,2007-2008 and 2008-2009.

2.The EYE IN THE SKY is highly reliable and gives accurate forest cover changes like deforestation and greenness very reliably. It can not be hidden by anybody.

3.VSS areas, Wild life areas, APFDC areas are not spared by the encroachers.

4. Let us THINK, ACT and not be COMPLACENT.

*