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Decadal time-scale monitoring of forest fires in Similipal Biosphere Reserve, India using remote sensing and GIS

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Abstract

Analyzing the spatial extent and distribution of forest fires is essential for sustainable forest resource management. There is no comprehensive data existing on forest fires on a regular basis in Biosphere Reserves of India. The present work have been carried out to locate and estimate the spatial extent of forest burnt areas using Resourcesat-1 data and fire frequency covering decadal fire events (2004–2013) in Similipal Biosphere Reserve. The anomalous quantity of forest burnt area was recorded during 2009 as 1,014.7 km2. There was inconsistency in the fire susceptibility across the different vegetation types. The spatial analysis of burnt area shows that an area of 34.2 % of dry deciduous forests, followed by tree savannah, shrub savannah, and grasslands affected by fires in 2013. The analysis based on decadal time scale satellite data reveals that an area of 2,175.9 km2 (59.6 % of total vegetation cover) has been affected by varied rate of frequency of forest fires. Fire density pattern indicates low count of burnt area patches in 2013 estimated at 1,017 and high count at 1,916 in 2004. An estimate of fire risk area over a decade identifies 12.2 km2 is experiencing an annual fire damage. Summing the fire frequency data across the grids (each 1 km2) indicates 1,211 (26 %) grids are having very high disturbance regimes due to repeated fires in all the 10 years, followed by 711 grids in 9 years and 418 in 8 years and 382 in 7 years. The spatial database offers excellent opportunities to understand the ecological impact of fires on biodiversity and is helpful in formulating conservation action plans.

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Acknowledgments

The work has been carried out under national project “Inventorization and monitoring of biosphere reserves in India using remote sensing and GIS technology,” supported by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. The authors are thankful to Dr. V.K. Dadhwal, Director, NRSC for encouragement and the Chief Wildlife Warden and Field Director, Similipal Biosphere Reserve, Odisha Forest Department for permission and facilities to carry out the field work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forestry and Ecology Group, National Remote Sensing Centre, Balanagar, Hyderabad, 500 037, India

    K. R. L. Saranya, C. Sudhakar Reddy & C. S. Jha

  2. Department of Environmental Sciences, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, 530 003, India

    P. V. V. Prasada Rao

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  1. K. R. L. Saranya
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  2. C. Sudhakar Reddy
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  3. P. V. V. Prasada Rao
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  4. C. S. Jha
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Correspondence to C. Sudhakar Reddy.

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Saranya, K.R.L., Reddy, C.S., Rao, P.V.V.P. et al. Decadal time-scale monitoring of forest fires in Similipal Biosphere Reserve, India using remote sensing and GIS. Environ Monit Assess 186, 3283–3296 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-014-3619-7

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