Cl 19 GIS Forestry

8/3/2019 Cl 19 GIS Forestry

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Spatial InformaticsSpatial Informatics

Class 19: GIS Applications in ForestryClass 19: GIS Applications in Forestry

Dr.P. Rama Chandra PrasadLab for Spatial Informatics, IIIT

Hyderabad10th November, 2011

GIS Applications

Forestry &Ecology

Wildlife

Agriculture

Water resources / Wetlands

GeologyEnvironment

Disaster Management

Urban Planning

Transportation

Utility services Telecom, Electricity

Health

Tourism

Archeology

Business

Education

GIS in Daily Life

Forest : A forest is best defined as an ecosystem or assemblage of

ecosystems dominated by trees and other woody vegetation

Forests provide resources as Timber and non-timber products,

grazing land for animals, wildlife habitat, water resources and

recreation areas.

Forestry involves the management of a broad range of natural

resources within a forested area.

GIS overtakes conventional methods of resource assessment and

inventory, The time factor alone has led to a wide acceptance and

large demand for GIS applications in forestry apart from

accessibility.

Forestry Why GIS ?

The original vegetation of Indian subcontinent was dominated by

vast forests lost by human explorations.

Types Champion and Seth (1968) into 5 major groups based

on climate,

Moist tropical forest, Dry tropical, Montane Subtropical,Montane Temperate and Alpine forest

These are further divided 16 major forests types based on moisture

and temperature.

And further based on Structure, physiognomy and floristic they are

subdivided into 221 minor types.

Forest Types of India Forest Types of India


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Forest Cover of India

(State of the Forest Report , 2003)

Very Dense Forest (>70%)*

Moderately dense forest(40%-70%)

Open Forest(10%-40%)

Scrub

Non-forest

Water bodies

State boundaries

Legend

Based on IRS LISS III data

*% Crowndensity inparenthesis

Source :ForestSurvey of India

Forest Management and GIS

GIS plays crucial role in forest management by providing

information about resources and can make planning and

management of resources easier like

Recording and updating resource inventoriesHarvest estimation and planning

Ecosystem management

Landscape and habitat planning

It also answers following questions that help in forest management

activities such as

1. Location

2. Condition

3. Trends

4. Pattern

5. Modeling

Major Applications of GIS in forest management

Forest Resource Assessment and Monitoring

Assessing forest types, Deforestation, Degradation and

Land Use/Cover Changes, etc.,

Forest Protection and Health Monitoring

Against pests, fire and disease, human actions

Ex. To predict the occurrence, location, direction, rate

of spread and intensity of forest fire spatial data about

vegetation type, topography and other natural Features

of the area are needed

Forest Harvesting

Location of forest stands, timber inventory data,

ecologically sensitive zones, terrain Features

necessary for harvest planning

Forest Conservation and Biodiversity

Identification, selection, design and management of

Protected areas and nature reserve

Forest working plan

Forest divided into Blocks and compartments for

management activities

Species habitat planning and conservation

Location of species and its associated parameters and

Extrapolating the possible habitat of species

Recreation and eco-tourism planning

The use of GIS in identifying important tourist locations

and to provide visualization of tourism activities in and

around forest areas

A case study


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1. FOREST TYPE MAPPING

REFERENCE MAP REGISTRATION (Toposheets 86 - C/14,

C/15, C/16, D/9, D/13, G/2, G/3, G/4 and H/1 )

SATELLITE DATA PROCUREMENT (IRS 1C/1D LISS III

Data Of March 1st 1999)

SATELLITE DATA RECTIFICATION

IMAGE CLASSIFICATION - Visual Interpretation

RESULTS

Andaman Tropical

Evergreen ForestDeep Red Coarse Mostly on Hill Tops

Southern Tropical

Evergreen ForestReddish

Smooth /

Hazy

Aspect based vegetation

class

Tropical Semi

evergreen ForestPinkish Red

Smooth /

coarseOn the slopes of hill

Tropical Moist

deciduous Forest

Bluish /Blackish

blueCoarse

On hill slopes and

lowland areas

Mangroves Dark Red velvety Smooth Fringing muddy creeks

Littoral Forests Bluishpink/pinkish Lesscoarse Along seashores andfringing sandy beaches

Spectral

SignatureTexture AssociationToneVegetation classes

Interpretation Key for Visual Interpretation of

predominant vegetation types

Open mangrove Degraded ma ngrove

Evergreen ForestLittoral / Beach forest

Semi-evergreen Moist deciduous

Open mangrove Degraded ma ngrove

Evergreen ForestLittoral / Beach forest

Semi-evergreen Moist deciduous

Different Forest Types of North Andaman Islands

SEGMANGROVE

EGAGRIDEG

Interpretation of classes

LITTORAL

MD

A PORTION OF

NORTH ANDAMANS

CLASSIFIED

FCC

ANDAMAN EVERGREEN

HILL TOP EVERGREEN

SEMI-EVERGREEN

MOIST DECIDUOUS

AGRICULTURE


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Vegetation Type Map 2. Forest Patch Characterization

Class (ha)

No.of

patches

Area

(Sq.km)

Area

(%)

No.of

patches

Area

(Sq.km)

Area

(%)

No.of

patches

Area

(Sq.km)

Area

(%)


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Toposheet

DEM generation Contours

Drainage Spot heights

DEMBiological Richness Map


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4. Forest Canopy Density Mapping

Canopy density is an essential parameter to assess and analyze the

factors affecting forest growth, its regeneration and to keep a check

on management initiatives in gap area plantations and

regeneration status

PANOCHROMATIC satellite data Of Feb 29

2000 (Black & White)

Generation of Hard copies

Interpretation of tracing sheets

Scanning of tracing sheets

Conversion to digital format

Generation of vector layer in GIS

Editing and labeling

Merging with Vegetation type map

PAN DATA

: 0.6 and Pf-Pff < 0)

6. Undetermined (Pf > 0.6 and Pf = Pff).


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IRS-1D LISS-III Satellite Image

Geometric corrections

Visual Interpretation

Land use / land cover map

vector converted to gridvector converted to grid

Forest Non-ForestEvergreen

Semi-Evergreen

Moist deciduous

Fragmentation M odel

Interior

T r ans it ional Pa tc hPerforated

Edge

Phytosociological

data analysisResults

Results

Vegetation

IRS-1D LISS-III Satellite Image

Geometric corrections

Visual Interpretation

Land use / land cover map

vector converted to gridvector converted to grid

Forest Non-ForestEvergreen

Semi-Evergreen

Moist deciduous

Fragmentation M odel

Interior

T r ans it ional Pa tc hPerforated

Edge

Phytosociological

data analysisResults

Results

Vegetation

The application of fragmentation model for the entire forest data

(5x5 window) irrespective of forest types showed 82 % of forest is

still in intact condition and remaining fragmented classes occupy

less percent of the area, indicating the initialization of fragmentation

process.

F o re s t F rag m e n t a t io n

0

1 5

3 0

4 5

6 0

7 5

9 0

I n t e r i o r P a t c h T r a n s i t i o n a l E d g e P e r f o r a t e d

F ra gm e n t a t io n c a t e go ri e s

ForestA

rea

(%

)

E n t ir e f o r e s t

E v e r g re e n

S e m i e v e r g r e e n

M o is t d e c id u o u s

Percentage of Forest in Different Fragmentation categories

6. Forest Change Detection

Analysis of the 1976 (MSS) and 1999 (LISS III) images showed a loss of 12.5

% (5.0 % interior and 7.5 % coastal) of forest with a corresponding increase in

non-forest area

Anthropogenic

impacts

Natural (Tsunami) impact

The tsunami that occurred on

26 December 2004 adversely

impacted the entire stretch of

the Andaman and Nicobar

Islands

About 3,730 ha of coastal

vegetation was destroyed

Most of the vegetation was

affected and transformed into

sand, barren and water


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Table 2. Changes in Vegetation and Land cover classes during 1976, 1999 and 2005

Satellite dataMSS

(1976)

LISS

(1999)

SPOT

(2005)1976-1999 1999-2005

Vegetation Types/ Land Cover Area (ha) Changed Area (ha)

Interior vegetation types(including Plantations)

104,810 99,720 98,370 -5,090 -1,350

Coastal vegetation types

(including mud flats)33,000 31,500 27,770 -1,500 -3,730

Total 137,810 131,220 126,140 6590 5,080

Non forest classes (Agriculture,

settlement, barren)6,360 12,430 16,230 6,070 3,800

Sand 1,450 1,990 3,240 540 1,250

Total 7,810 14,420 19,470 6,610 5,050

Based on satellite (274 ha yr-1, 1976-1999) data as well as the proposals

of the Andaman and Nicobar state government developmental plans, we

hypothesized the lowest deforestation rate to be 200 ha yr-1 for the

simulation study

Observations of data of past 24 years (19761999) showed that within the

large settlements of North Andaman there was an increase in area of 1230

ha which translates to an overall boundary increase of about 100 km.

we estimated that on an average there will be an increase in the radius

around each major settlement area of 0.5 km for every 25 years

Using GIS, incremental multi buffer zones, each of width 0.5 km, were

generated around the major settlements

Simulation predicted an increase in area of non forest landuse to 19,600

and 29,600 ha for the next 25 and 50 years respectively, resulting in the loss

of 13,100 and 22,700 ha of forest. Finally, by the end of 50 years the

estimated forest area of 131,200 ha (as per1999 satellite data) may reduce

to 108,500 ha

7. Forest simulation scenario

Simulated map showing the changing forest scenario with increasing

anthropogenic impacts

Fire Modeling in GIS

8. Forest Fires

The cause of forest fires is usually attributed either to lightning

or to ignitions by native people

Forest fires have an important major influence on the

vegetation cover, animals, plants, soil.

The loss of recreation value of the forest and the destruction of

wildlife habitat.

GIS is used as a tool for modeling forest fires

Proximity is a concept which is used in a great many GIS-

related models

Forest FiresAccording to Forest Survey of India, about 50 per cent of the forests

in India are prone to fires. The fires cause huge losses in terms of

timber and biodiversity

Fire is one of the major reasons for degradation of forests in India.

Repeated fires can reduce forests to grasslands


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28 Dec. 2003Feb. 2004Feb. 2004Mar. 2004 Apr 2004

High temporal satellite data helps in monitoring burnt area progression and control operation

Why to Model Forest Fires?

Modeling forest fires is an essential part of forest standmanagement.

Modeling is essential to aiding fire fighters and rescue workersdeploy and manage fires safely. Allowing prior warning toresidents who may be in the path of the flames and indicatingthe best points to attack a fire.

Allows ecologist and forest managers to safely plan prescribedburns, assessing the extent of the spread of a fire.

In short it is essential to forest management and safety!

Forest Fire Management

Fire management activities include fire prevention, controlled

burning and post-fire recovery action

Structural Meteorological Vegetation

Fire mapping

Fire Risk Index

Wind constitutes its principal vector. Its force, influences directly

the fire propagation velocity and its direction determines the

orientation of fire - weather data

Type of vegetation Cover Remote sensing data sets

Relief- Fire acts differently on a ground according to whether it is

flat or presenting very marked asperities (broken relief). A

coherent process of simulation, must take into account the

direction and the degree of the slope - DTM

The starting point of fire geographical coordinates

Once these parameters injected into the model, the zone obtained

by simulation looks like the shape of a polygon which expressesthe zone to be devastated by the forest fire

GIS propagation Model Fire simulation

Fire starting

point

GIS Model.Thepropagation zoneis

assimilated to thepolygone

Fireextentafter 1hour.

Fireextentafter 4h.

Wind variation2 (weakwind)

DirectionNNE.

Fireextentafter 1hour

Fireextentafter 4hour.

Wind variation3 (strongwind)

DirectionNNE.

Fire Propagation Model 9. Forest Health Monitoring

GIS enables foresters to visually display insect and disease patterns

geographically, and to estimate severity and direction of spread, based

on tree species occurrence and other parameters.

Example: Bullarto area of the Wombat State Forest, Australia Infected

byArmillaria luteobubalina (root rot disease),

Map showing area affected by

Armillaria root rot disease (green

dotted area) near Bullarto south

in the WSF, overlaid on aerial

photograph


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Complete Infestation of Eupatorium odoratum

(Chromolaena odorata)

Light pink and smooth tonein forest edges/exterior completely

represents >80% density of

Eupatorium.

IRS P6 LISS III Image of part of DhenkanalDist rict, Orissa

(Saptsajya RF and

near by hills

infested with

Eupatorium weed)Latitude: 20 33 05.15 N

Longitude:85 33 16.25 E

MAPPING OF INVASIVE SPECIES

Invasion ofLantana camara

4,3,2 band combi. 3,2,1 band combi.

IRS P6 LISS III image showing infested areas

Sileru, Visakhapatnam, AP

10. Species Habitat Modeling

11. Working Plan inputs using Remote Sensing and GIS

http://www.gim-international.com/issues/articles/id706-GIS_in_Forest_Management.html

The Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) manages more than

15 million acres of forest

To build and implement a geospatially enabled enterprise

information system called the Integrated Forest Resource

Information System (IFRIS)

To design an enterprise GIS application that allowed employees

map forest-related activities such as forest stand observations,

water quality harvest inspections, wildfire incidents.

The key objectives were to reduce the time and expense of

traditional field-worker activities as well as accurately and

consistently capture field data for input into the enterprise GIS.

All field-workers are equipped with Trimble GeoXM devices

running ArcGIS Mobile, SQL Server.

12. Integrated Forest Resource Information System


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Field employees use the GeoXM device to collect

feature data by cataloging attributes, such as pest

infestations, on an inventory form along with

GPS coordinates. GIS Web services push the

GPS data and associated attributes from the

mobile device to IFRIS Web.

Uploaded field data and features can be

immediately viewed via IFRIS Web,

ArcGIS Mobile technology makes it faster and

easier for field staff to capture data and describe

the location and nature of critical forestry data.

IFRIS Mobile gives field users a simple interface to

collect GPS positions and attributes for a variety of

features. ArcGIS Mobile is used to provide a map

for navigation and feature verification.

Management Approaches

Recover (sustainable forest management)

Afforestation, Reforestation

Reduce

Deforestation

Check

Forest fires, Pest attacks, sensitive zones

Awareness

Documents

Cl 19 GIS Forestry