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Long Term Monitoring of Forest Fires in Silent Valley National Park, Western Ghats, India Using Remote Sensing Data

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Abstract

The main objective of this study is to integrate satellite derived forest burnt areas over a multi-decadal scale to understand fire frequencies in Silent Valley National Park, Kerala, India. There are nine vegetation types distinguished i.e. wet evergreen forest, shola, semi evergreen forest, moist deciduous forest, dry deciduous forest, savannah, reed brakes, scrub and grasslands using Resoursesat-2 LISS III data. The spatial extent of burnt area found to be highly varying and has been estimated as 7.95 km2 in 1973, 17.19 km2 in 1985, 5.51 km2 in 1989, 9.55 km2 in 1990, 4.55 km2 in 1994, 6.89 km2 in 1996 and 5.80 km2 in 1999. Analysis of burnt area coverage for recent decade based on 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 reveals fire affected area as 8.10, 4.20, 12.21, 5.52, 3.19, 0.62, 1.81, 2.03, 3.00 and 1.36 km2 area respectively. Spatial analysis indicates, an area of 47.51 km2 (19.5 % of total vegetation cover) affected by varying frequencies of fires from 1973 to 2014. High frequencies of fires have been observed in dry deciduous forests and grasslands. Buffer zone of national park has undergone frequent fires which may degrade climax forest vegetation and affects the regeneration and adaptability of indigenous species. Spatial tracking reveals 58.1 % grid cells were affected by forest fires. Overall, there is a declining trend of forest fires indicates management effectiveness in Silent Valley National Park.

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Acknowledgments

The work has been carried out under national project ‘Inventorisation and Monitoring of Biosphere Reserves in India using remote sensing and GIS technology’, supported by Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. Authors are thankful to Dr. V.K. Dadhwal, Director, NRSC and Dr. C.S. Jha, Group Director, Forestry and Ecology Group, NRSC for encouragement and facilities. Authors are grateful to Chief Wildlife Warden and Field Director, Silent Valley National Park, Kerala Forests and Wildlife Department for permission and support to carry out the field studies.

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

    K. V. Satish & C. Sudhakar Reddy

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  1. K. V. Satish
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  2. C. Sudhakar Reddy
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Correspondence to C. Sudhakar Reddy.

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Satish, K.V., Reddy, C.S. Long Term Monitoring of Forest Fires in Silent Valley National Park, Western Ghats, India Using Remote Sensing Data. J Indian Soc Remote Sens 44, 207–215 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12524-015-0491-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12524-015-0491-z

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