International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Vol XXXV, Part B7. Istanbul 2004
irrigation by estimation and monitoring of
evapotranspiration. State-of-art emerging technologies
like precision farming help in improving agricultural
production while optimizing inputs in an eco-friendly
manner. This calls for an integrated approach that
involves information acquisition through space (satellite,
aerial remote sensing and GPS) and conventional
techniques and analytical tools like GIS and SDSS for
developing end-to-end solutions through in-situ
observations, data analysis and modeling. Moderate
resolution satellite imagery has been used to map entire
India at district level for its prevalent land use and cover
under the Agro Climatic Zone Planning project during
1988-91 with IRS-1A data. Another noteworthy example
from India is National Wastelands Inventory on 1:50,000
scale at district level using optical RS data (1985-1999).
The ability to identify saline /alkaline or acidic soils at
micro-levels using space imagery is another example. The
capability of microwave remote sensing to penetrate and
measure soil moisture is of immense significance. EO
data being spectrally sensitive to the plant biomass and
chlorophyll, many a country has operationalised their pre-
harvest crop production forecast procedures to a
reasonable degree of confidence. Large Area Crop
Inventory Experiment (LACIE:1974-78) carried out in US
was a major study for estimating the acreage of wheat
crop worldwide, and forecasting wheat crop production
through agro-meteorological models. Crop monitoring for
food security (MARS-FOOD) is a new project from the
European Union. FAS/PECAD of USDA is responsible for
global crop condition assessments and estimates of area,
yield, and production for grains, oilseeds, and cotton; and
is generating an objective and accurate assessment of the
global agricultural production outlook and the conditions
affecting food security in the world on a monthly basis
through GIS using several different satellite data
sources—climate data, crop models, and data extraction
routines for yield and area estimates—to determine
production (http://www.fas.usda.gov/ /pecad/). Starting with
ARISE, Indian efforts have aimed at providing pre-harvest
production forecasts for a much more complex system of
fragmented land holdings, diverse cultural practices, co-
existence of multiple crops etc. This is being done
operationally for selected crops through Crop Acreage
and Production Estimation (CAPE) project (Dadhwal,
1999). During last few years, this project has been
enlarged to cover more crops and multiple forecasts
through FASAL project.
Forest ecosystem
Forest ecosystems over the time have been subjected to
severe biotic and abiotic pressures. In this context, Earth
Observation Systems constituting diverse satellite and
airborne sensors are contributing substantially in
assessing the global, regional and local impacts on forest
ecosystems and develop different means for sustainable
development. Currently several countries are preparing
inputs to monitor forest cover at regional and local scales,
biodiversity assessments, forest degradation, forest fire
mapping, biomass potential/carbon sequestration,
inventories, forest hydrology etc using satellite data. The
rapid forest fire response systems using MODIS, AATSR
and VEGETATION sensors are being globally used for
coarse scale assessment of fire locations and area
assessments. FAO also utilizes the satellite remote
sensing data to prepare global forest inventories and
helps to provide the databases to the nations where such
assessment is unavailable. In addition, several
experimental campaigns involving intense field
measurements, multi-sensor air / satellite borne
programmes and Long Term Ecological initiatives (LTER)
are in vogue else where in the world (LBA, SAFARI,
OTTER and BOREAS etc). The Tropical Ecosystem
Environment observation by Satellite (TREES) Project
between JRC and ESA is oriented towards the study of
tropical forest dynamics at regional to global scales using
remote sensing techniques. In India, national mission on
forest cover mapping was taken up during early 80's and
since then eight biennial assessments were
accomplished. Considering the importance of India being
one of the global ecological hotspots, landscape level
biodiversity characterization study was done for major part
of the nation using remote sensing and field based
phytosociological data. High resolution satellite is used to
develop optimal sampling designs through stratification
approach for assessment of forest timber volume and
preparation of spatial inputs for forest working plan
preparations. In addition, the satellite data is also
operationally used in wildlife management, forest
protection, forest fire management and Geosphere-
Biospehere related studies.
Grassland ecosystem
The decline of the world's grasslands is due mainly to
human-induced modifications. These include agriculture,
urbanization, excessive fire, livestock grazing,
fragmentation, and invasive plants and animals. Changes
in grasslands have been brought about primarily by
conversion of these ecosystems to agriculture, and more
recently, the growth of towns and cities. This is especially
true in central United States, Canada, and Europe.
Answers to the above problems depend on information
needs for revival of grassland ecosystems. EO systems
from coarse to moderate spatial resolution multispectral
data is proving to be the source in many a cases. Limited
endeavours are reported for their revival. USGS initiated
Sagebrush Assessment Project conducting research on
landscape and habitats for species of conservation
concern in the great basin region, Nevada of western
United States. A national project aiming to protect
grasslands from grazing also took off to improve China's
grassland ecosystem. Under the project, 66.7 million
hectares of seriously damaged grassland in north China's
Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, northwest China's
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Tibet
Autonomous Region will be removed from grazing in the
next five years, accounting for 40 percent of the
endangered grasslands in western regions. In order to
realize the project, it is important to delegate the
responsibilities of protecting and managing grasslands to
specific herdsmen (People’s Daily Jan 11, 2003). In both
the above, use of both remote sensing and GIS
technologies is envisaged. In India, pastures, which
account for nearly 80% of the grasslands (Approx. 12
million hectares), are in a degraded state. To feed the
country's cattle (1596 of the world cattle stock), radical
steps are needed to revive the area and productivity of
these grasslands to meet the fodder demands. A major
project was completed by Dept. of Space for Ministry of
Environment and Forests (MOEF), Govt. of India, through
IRS-1C/1D (LISS-III) data to map the grasslands in three
bio-climatic regions by making use of a 3-fold
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