J Indian Soc Remote Sens (March 2012) 40(1):3746 DOI 10.

1007/s12524-011-0121-3

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Above Ground Forest Phytomass Assessment in Southern Gujarat

Prashant Patil & Sarnam Singh & V. K. Dadhwal

Received: 14 September 2009 / Accepted: 4 May 2010 / Published online: 22 June 2011 # Indian Society of Remote Sensing 2011

Abstract Spectral modeling of above ground biomass (AGB) with field data collected in 48 field sites representing moist deciduous forest in Surat district is reported. Models were generated using LISS-III and MODIS data. The plot-wise field data was aggregated to MODIS pixel (250 m) using area weightages of forest/vegetation. The study reports that above ground phytomass varied from 6.13 t/ha to 389.166 t/ha while AGB phytomass estimated using area-weights for sites of 250250 m, ranged from 5.534 t/ha to 134.082 t/ha. The contribution of bamboo in AGB has been found very high. The analysis indicated that the highest correlation between AGB phytomass and red band (R) of MODIS satellite data of October was (R2=0.7823) and R2=0.6998 with both NDVI of October data as well as NDVImax. High correlation (R2=0.402) with IR band of February month was also found. The phytomass range obtained by using MODIS data varies from 0.147 t/ha to 182.16 t/ha. The mean biomass is 40.50 t/ha. Total biomass is 31.44 Mt. The mean Carbon density is 19.44 tC/ha in forest areas. The study is validation of region-wise spectral modeling approach that will be adopted for mapping vegetation
P. Patil : S. Singh (*) Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), Dehradun 248 001, India e-mail: sarnam.singh@gmail.com V. K. Dadhwal National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad 500 625, India

carbon pool of the India under National Carbon Project of ISRO-Geosphere Biosphere Programme. Keywords Phytomass . Spectral modeling . Mean phytomass

Introduction The issue of climate change and its impact on the natural ecosystems has drawn attention of the world. Therefore, attempts are being made to understand the dynamics of the atmospheric carbon, particularly gaps in Carbon released and Carbon sequestered for improved prediction of future atmospheric Carbon. The periodic assessment of phytomass and carbon in forest ecosystem particularly in tropics has been emphasized recently for improving Carbon balance understanding (FAO 1990; Houghton 1991). In global vegetation carbon pools, forest vegetation carbon constitutes nearly three-fourth, therefore, it is important to understand vegetation carbon cycle, and also to make an assessment of the past atmospheric carbon releases (IPCC 2003). The sequestration potential of the forest varies greatly by types, site, environment, and human interference, hence is very dynamic. Climatically and ecologically India is very diverse (Dadhwal and Chhabra 2000; Chhabra and Dadhwal 2004). Attempts to understand the role of terrestrial ecosystem of India have been made for biomass and productivity using ecological methods (Chaturvedi

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and Singh 1987; Rawat and Singh 1988; Haripriya 2002) and still our understanding on these forests is poor (Kale et al. 2002). Therefore, an attempt is being made in National Carbon Project (NCP) to estimate the total phytomass and carbon density in India for plants/trees in-side and out-side the forest through a project taken up by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Government of India under its ISRO-Geosphere and Biosphere Programme in XI FYP. The numbers reported on mean phytomass carbon pool and density in India are quite variable, e.g. 2,587 TgC and 49.2 MgC/ha (Hingane 1991), 3,117 TgC and 60.2 MgC/ha (Dadhwal et al. 1998), 4,017 TgC and 63.6 MgC/ha (Dadhwal and Shah 1997), which is mainly due to different methodologies followed. The study by Flint and Richards (1991) on historical forest/vegetation carbon pool in 1880 in India indicates that total carbon pool and density in phytomass was about 7,940 TgC and 77.3 MgC/ha respectively with total forest area of 102.68 Mha. Ravindranath et al. (1995) estimated the standing biomass (both above and below ground) of 8,375 million tons for the year 1986 in India, of which the carbon storage was reported to be 4,178 million tons. Most of the studies related to volume and phytomass at national level are based either on raw data from state forest department or growing stock estimates. Traditionally forest departments have focused on commercial wood or timber species and therefore, have no data on plants with <10 cm diameter, however such plants contribute significantly. At patch level several methods have been proposed to estimate forest biomass (Whittaker 1966; Ovington 1968; Brown et al. 1991; Kale et al. 2002). Of these nondestructive or least destructive approaches of easily measurable plant parameters, such as diameter/girth and/or height and their relationship with plot or point volume and/or biomass are followed currently (Kira and Ogava 1971; Tiwari 1992; Roy and Ravan 1996; Lodhiyal and Lodhiyal 2002; Kale et al. 2004). Remote sensing data has been widely used for phytomass estimation (Sader et al. 1989; Tiwari 1994; Kale et al. 2002; Foody et al. 2003; Lu 2005). Bamboo, a very high density biomass, is well distributed in tropical to temperate forests. It grows very fast and attains a height of 40 m in 34 months and can yield 50 t/year/ha (Vasishth et al. 2008). Acacia catechu Willd. is another economically

very important species and biomass ranges 29 to 223.46 t/ha in plantations of Punjab (Rawat et al. 2008). The biomass ranged from 39.4 kg per tree to 738.98 kg per tree-1. Phytomass reports from semiarid region of India are summarized in Table 1. The implicit use to Geographic Information System (GIS) based spatial modeling approach uses spatial databases of climate, edaphic, geomorphological, vegetation indices and phytomass degradation ratios as a function of population density to improve the prediction of models.Medium to coarse resolution satellite data have been used for phytomass assessment in large landscapes (Muukkonen and Heiskanen 2007). Since India has a large climatic variability, it is planned to collect units from field data samples in different ecological zones. It is envisaged to develop strata-wise zonal models for each vegetation/forest type based on remote sensing data and average phytomass/ carbon density in 250250 m plots. The present study is an attempt to validate the biomass estimates for semiarid region of India.

Material and Methods Study Area The study area lies in between 2050 02.57 to 213304.62 N latitude and 723438.24 to 7421 00.48 E longitudes in southern part of Gujarat state in India (Fig. 1). Topographically this region is mostly flat and interspersed with isolated hillocks of 44.8 m to 578 m. The average annual rainfall is about 1,489 mm with a wide range of variation from 995 mm to 2,481 mm. Soils in general are black cotton types with varying soil texture. The area has mixed deciduous forest of slightly moist to dry Teak (Tectona grandis). Manvel bamboo is found in few pockets. The characteristic species are teak and its common associates. The southern dry mixed deciduous forests occur in drier places. Dry deciduous scrub has coppiced growth of teak, Terminalia crenulata, etc. which is scattered throughout the study area. Data Preparation Six scenes of 8 day composite images of MODIS Surface Reflectance (SR Product MOD09, path/row

J Indian Soc Remote Sens (March 2012) 40(1):3746 Table 1 Above ground forest biomass estimates in western India S. No 1. 2. 3. 4 States Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh Rajasthan Sites Madhav National Park Shivpuri district Chindwara district Udaipur Biomass (t/ha) 7.42129.95 17.636.5 28.1285.26 28.2 Author Roy and Ravan 1996 Kale 2002 Pande 2005

39

Ranawat and Vyas 1975

24(h)05(v), 06(v) and 25(h)06(v)) of 2007 belonging to February, March, May, October, November and December were down loaded from GLCF site (http:// glcf.umiacs.umd.edu/data/modis/). Spatial resolution of MODIS SR for Band 1 and Band 2 is 250 m, which is daylight data only. LISS III (spatial resolution 23.5 m and bands were green, red, infrared and short-wave infrared) data of dry and wet seasons (Table 2) were co-registered with the help of geotiff images of Landsat ETM+. Geo-referencing of satellite image and processing of data was done in Erdas Imagine 9.1 software and ArcGIS 9.1 for creating the database. The ground control points were well and evenly distributed and RMS error achieved was less than half pixel. Forest cover density map was procured from Forest Survey of India (FSI 2003) and used for sampling design. Forest cover type and density, NDVI of Landsat images and accessibility were used for site identification.

Methods Field Data Collection The ground truth data was collected during the field work for vegetation cover type mapping and sampling design for phytomass inventory. Two stage clustering approach had been followed for collecting field data. Four sample plots of 0.1 ha were laid at each site of 250250 m which is equivalent to the size of MODIS SR pixel with 250 m spatial resolution. A total of 48 sample plots at 12 sites for tree enumeration were laid. A sampling intensity of 0.00035% has been achieved. The number of sites were distributed considering the probability proportion to its size of the forest type and density. The plot size of 0.1 ha was based on earlier surveys carried out by state forest department and Forest Survey of India. A format was designed to collect the data on various parameters like

Fig. 1 (a) Location of the study area, (b) study area false colour composite of IRS LISS III and PAN merged data with sample point locations

40 Table 2 Details of satellite data (IRS LISS III) Sl. No. 1 2 3 4 5 Path 93 94 94 95 95 Row 57 57 58 56 57 Wet Season 19 October, 2006 24 October, 2006 24 October, 2006 10 October, 2005 10 October, 2005 Dry season 10 April, 2006 09 May, 2006 15 April, 2006 20 April, 2006 20 April, 2006

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diameter at breast height (dbh) at 1.37 m above ground, height of trees at ultimate forking, number of bamboo rosettes and culms in 0.1 ha plot. The dbh and height measurements of the plants with 3 cm to <10 cm diameter were also observed. In the case of bamboo the number of culms from 6 to 7 rosettes from large, medium and small size was recorded in 0.1 ha plot. The diameter of culms in diameter classes (thick, medium and thin in 45 different rosettes) of different clump size was noted. Phytomass Estimation Site-wise sample plot field data on plant species with 10 cm dia. and 3 to <10 cm dia. were organized in spreadsheet. The data were converted into required unit as per the volume equations. The phytomass was estimated for each density-wise forest cover types. Plants with dbh 10 cm Wood volume of individual trees was estimated using local species specific volumetric equations using either dbh (diameter at breast height) and/or height of the trees. The volume was multiplied by species specific gravity to obtain the biomass. For this a literature was surveyed to find out the site and species-specific volumetric equations and specific gravity from southern Gujarat published and compiled by Forest Survey of India (FRI 1996) and ICFRE (19962002). A total number of 61 sites/ region specific volumetric equations and species gravity of tree were found and used. For the remaining species general equations was used. The phytomass of the individual trees was added to find the biomass of the each plot. The mean site phytomass was obtained for each site. Plants with dia. 3 and <10 cm This component of biomass has not been normally ignored in earlier studies, however, there contribution in phytomass is

very significant, therefore, phytomass for this component has been estimated and which is useful as a correction factor. At first basal area was estimated for plants with 10 cm dia. and for all plants (3 cm dia.) within the plot. The phytomass (t/ha) estimated above (i.e. for plants with 10 cm dia.) was regressed with basal area (m2/ha) of the plants with 10 cm diameter using simple linear model. The regression coefficients thus obtained were applied on basal area of trees with 10 cm dia. and all plants (3 cm dia.) within the plot to obtain phytomass using linear model of Y = + * x, where, Y is phytomass, and are coefficients and x is the independent variable (i.e. basal area). To obtain the phytomass of plants with 3 cm to <10 cm dia., the phytomass of class with 10 cm dia. was subtracted from the phytomass of all plants within the plot. These estimates were then added to the observed phytomass of plants with 10 cm dbh (obtained using volume equations and specific gravity) to get phytomass (t/ha) (Fig. 2). Bamboo Phytomass Estimation To estimate the phytomass of bamboo-culms quarter girth formula (girth/ 4)2*length) has been used to obtain volume; and to obtain phytomass, volume was multiplied with specific gravity (ICFRE 19962002). The culms of bamboo were categorized into thick, medium and thin based on girth class in different clumps within 0.1 ha plot. Mean culm-phytomass was estimated for each girth class. It was then multiplied with number of culms to obtain mean phytomass of the observed rosettes. Mean rosettephytomass was multiplied with number rosettes to obtain the bamboo-phytomass in 0.1 ha, which was then added to plant biomass, discussed in para (a) and (b) to get the phytomass of 0.1 ha plot. Weighted Area Phytomass Estimation MODIS SR 250 m data have been used to create vector-boxes around the 12 sampling sites in Arc GIS, whose coordinates were taken using a GPS during field data collection. These vector-boxes of 250250 m were then overlaid on LISS III and PAN merged data. Visual interpretation of merged data within each vector-box for mapping for forest cover type/land use and forest cover density maps was carried out. Forest type and density maps were intersected in GIS domain to obtain densitywise forest cover type map. The area (in ha) of each forest type was multiplied by respective phytomass (t/ha) to obtain total phytomass for that type and density

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Field Data

41

Volume equations (FSI) Specific gravity

Estimation of Basal area for >10cm Dia (0.1ha)

Biomass Estimation for trees >10cm Dia 0.1ha

Correlation of Basel area vs. Biomass For >10cm Dia (0.1ha)

Regression Coefficient applied

Estimation of Basal area for <10cm Dia (0.1 ha)

Biomass for trees <10cm Dia (0.1ha)

Fig. 2 Approach for estimating biomass for plants 3 and <10 cm dia. class

within the vector-box. Proportionate area of each land use/land cover class occurring within the vector boundary was obtained by taking the ratio between the area occupied by the respective class within the pixel and total area of the MODIS pixel i.e. 6.25 ha. The classes such as water body and settlement were not considered. Subsequently, area weights based on per cent area occupied in the MODIS pixel by each land use/land cover class was multiplied with the corresponding phytomass to obtain the total biomass in the vector-box. Area weighted phytomass was obtained for each sample site. Spectral Modeling The spectral modeling to correlate phytomass with reflectance of multi-season MODIS data and to extrapolate the phytomass in non-sampled areas was done. Four regression function such as linear, logarithmic, exponential and power were tried to find the best model with data-sets such as red and infrared bands, NDVI, NDVIMax, NDVIMean, NDVIMin, and NDVIMedian and NDVIAmplitude with weighted area phytomass based on clustered sampling as well as phytomass of individual plots. Correlation coefficients of best fit models thus obtained were used to model phytomass for the entire area/region case by case.

Results and Discussion Estimation of Phytomass for Trees (10 cm dia.) The plot-wise (N=48) phytomass ranges from 6.13 t/ha in open degraded ecosystems to 389.16 t/ha in dense mixed moist deciduous forests including bamboo phytomass. The phytomass of bamboo varied from 0.947 t/ha to 186.166 t/ha, which is significant. The contribution of bamboo phytomass is quite high. The culms are either hollow or solid but bamboo is very dense wood and its density runs 2 to 3 times that of the
250

y = 5.3612x - 1.1414 R2 = 0.9061

Tree ABG Biomass (t/ha)

200

150

100

50

0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Basal area (m2/ha)

Fig. 3 Correlation between phytomass and basal area

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1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 R2 Values 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.0

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Linear

Logarithmic

Power

Exponential

Fig. 4 Coefficient of determination with regression functions of phytomass with MODIS satellite data

pine, mahogany, teak (http://www.navaching.com/ shaku/structure.html referred on 24 April, 2008) and Vasishth et al. (2008), therefore, the high specific gravity adds to the high biomass in bamboo dominated forests. Estimation of Phytomass for Trees 3 to <10 cm dia. The above ground phytomass estimates are not complete while doing forest inventory for commercial wood traditionally because these do not account for the stem/ branches <10 cm. The contribution of bamboo in the patches is also ignored. Therefore, the linear regression (N=48) model between basal area and phytomass was developed and the model obtained is Y = 5.3612*x1.1414 with coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.9061 (Fig. 3). Using this model plot-wise phytomass was estimated. The phytomass for this component of vegetation varied from 0.054 t/ha to 35.75 t/ha. The

total phytomass in this component was 264.79 t/ha, which is about 9.27% of the total phytomass. The value was added to the phytomass of the trees with 10 cm dia. to obtain total phytomass. Spectral ModelingRegression Analysis of Phytomass and Satellite Derived Parameters The phytomass has been estimated based on two approaches: (a) based on the phytomass of 48 individual plots, i.e. point observation on the ground, and (b) mean site phytomass of cluster plots. The observed above ground phytomass in 48 individual plots varies from 6.13 t/ha to 389.166 t/ha and standard error is 11.37. However, the site-wise phytomass after assigning areabased weights in 6.25 ha grid (MODIS pixel area), the average phytomass ranged from 5.534 t/ha to 134.082 t/ ha and the standard error is 12.64. The regression analysis

180 160

y = 4E+10x-3.5172 R2 = 0.7823

450 400 350

NDVI Amplitude

NOV-Red Band

NDVI Minimum

May-Red Band

Dec-Red Band

Mar-Red Band

Feb-Red Band

Oct-Red Band

NOV-IR Band

May-IR Band

NDVI Median

Dec-IR Band

Feb-IR Band

Oct-IR Band

Mar-IR Band

NDVI Mean

NOV-NDVI

May-NDVI

NDVI Max

Dec-NDVI

Mar-NDVI

Feb-NDVI

Oct-NDVI

y = 620.1e-0.0063x R2 = 0.4647

Tree ABG Biomass (t/ha)

140 120

ABG Phytomass (t/ha)

250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700

100 80 60 40 20 0 200 -20

300 250 200 150 100 50 0 200 -50

Red Band

250

300

350

400

450

500

550

600

650

700

Red Band

Fig. 5 Correlation between phytomass based on clustered mean and MODIS (250 m) red band (October) data with power function (N=12)

Fig. 6 Regression between plot-wise biomass (t/ha) and MODIS Red band (250 m) estimate (N=48)

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43

of observed phytomass in 48 plots and weighted-area phytomass of 12 site-clusters have been evaluated with multi-season MODIS SR data using linear, power, exponential and logarithmic functions. The results of regression analysis of 96 models with four functions with weighted area phytomass (N=12) are summarized in Fig. 4. The results of the best model with N=48 and N= 12 are given in Figs. 5 and 6 respectively. It has been found that best correlations were with weighted area phytomass (N=12). The best correlation with coefficient of determination (R2) 0.7823 of phytomass was with red

band data of October month with power function followed by October month NDVI (R2 =0.699) with power function, NDVIMaxi with power function (R2 = 0.699) and February month IR band with linear function (R2 =0.402). The best model of red band data of October month with power function yielded a model of Y = 4E + 10 x-3.5172 with R2 of 0.7823 with standard deviation and standard error 43.78 and 12.64 respectively with N=12 and was used for modeling of phytomass in the area (Fig. 7). The results of point/plot phytomass models with N=48 were not encouraging.

Fig. 7 Phytomass (t) distribution pattern in southern Gujarat on MODIS data

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However, power regression function with red band data of October month has given a R2 of 0.4647 (Y = 620.1e-0.0063x) standard deviation and standard error of 78.87 and 11.38 respectively. It may be concluded here that clustered sampling approach has provided better estimates of phytomass. The total predicted phytomass in the study area is 31.44 M t and the mean phytomass in the study area is 40.50 t/ha; and the predicted phytomass range obtained by using MODIS data varies from 0.147 t/ha to 182.16 t/ha. Agriculture, water bodies and settlements were not considered for estimating the phytomass. Correlation Between Predicted and Estimated Phytomass An assessment has been made to find the relationship between the estimated phytomass i.e. field based phytomass, using 12 sites observations and the predicted phytomass obtained through spectral modeling after obtaining area weighted phytomass (Fig. 8). The relationship between observed and estimated phytomass has given good with R2 of 0.803. This is because dry mixed deciduous forest and moist deciduous forest in Surat have shown comparatively better correlation and area is dominated by these forests and it may also be attributed to systematic clustered ground sampling. The major differences in the phytomass values between predicted and estimated were observed due to difference in the plant density and different phenological conditions of the trees or forest types at the time of satellite data acquisition. Remote sensing data is most
Predicted v s . Observed Values Dependent variable: BIO(T/ha) 220 200 180 160 140

sensitive to season, tree phenological characteristics, degree of crown closure, etc. However, selection of general or regional volume equations and site specific gravity is equally important. It was observed that at some sample points predicted phytomass was overestimated. This may be due to the selection of non-best fit volume equations and site specific gravity and also may be due to the contribution of soil in spectral reflectance which literally decreases the phytomass estimates derived through remote sensing data for that particular sample point. This generally happens in larger stands with high density forests in hilly terrain and slope and in Teak mixed forests where forests contains significant amount of reflectance due to soil brightness and its different phenological characteristics and physiological activity during different temperature variations.

Conclusions The approach adopted here has following salient features: (a) The estimation of phytomass of plants with 3 cm to <10 cm diam. and shrubs has been demonstrated. This component contributes about 9.27% of the total AGB. (b) The cluster sampling approach has been found better for estimating above ground phytomass at same spatial scale, i.e. with coarse resolution remote sensing data. It is also demonstrated that where phytomass of 0.1 ha are directly regressed with coarse resolution remote sensing data the model is comparatively poorer. (c) Use of improved model based on cluster mean to study C estimation have lower S.E. than the reported in literature. In order to accurately quantify Carbon dynamics under scenarios of deforestation, afforestation and degradation, the use of RS is must, because field data of large areas will always be a problem. The latest tends in RS-biomass models have been with LIDAR, SAR, high and coarse resolution satellite data. However, due to availability of annual coverage, as well as legacy data over three decades, the coarse resolution data holds promise to study past Carbon dynamics, while more accurate technology can improve individual count and estimates. This paper reports an approach to develop

Observed Values

120 100 80 60 40 20 0 -20 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220

Predicted Values

95% confidence

Fig. 8 Relation between predicted and estimated phytomass

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45 Hingane, L. S. (1991). Some aspects of Carbon dioxide exchange between atmosphere and Indian plant biota. Climate Change 18, 42535. Houghton, R. A. (1991). Tropical deforestation and atmospheric carbon dioxide. Climate Change, 19, 99118. ICFRE (19962002). Indian woods their identification, properties and uses. Volumes I-VI, Revised Edition. Indian Council of Forestry Research & Education, Dehradun IPCC. (2003). Good practice guidance for land use, land use change and forestry. (p. 295). Hayama, Japan: IPCC National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programe. Kale, M. P., Singh, S., & Roy, P. S. (2002). Biomass and productivity estimation using aerospace data and geographic Information System. Tropical Ecology, 43(1), 123136. fig. 18. Kale, M., Singh, S., Roy, P. S., Deosthali, V., & Ghole, V. S. (2004). Biomass equations of dominant species of dry deciduous forest in Shivpuri district, Madhya Pradesh. Current Science, 87(5), 683687. figs. 4. Kira, T., & Ogava, H. (1971). Assessment of primary production in tropical forests. Proceedings of Productivity of Forest Ecosystems, Brussels-1969, UNESCO Publication. Lodhiyal, N., & Lodhiyal, L. S. (2002). Phytomass and net primary productivity of Bhabar Shisham forests in central Himalaya, India. Forest Ecology and Management, 176, 217235. Lu, D. (2005). Aboveground phytomass estimation using Landsat TM data in the Brazilian Amazon. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 26(12), 25092525. Muukkonen, P., & Heiskanen, J. (2007). Phytomass estimation over a large area based on standwise forest inventory data and ASTER and MODIS satellite data: a possibility to verify carbon inventories. Remote Sensing of Environment, 107, 617624. Ovington, J. D. (1968). Some factors affecting nutrient distribution within ecosystems. In: F.E. Eckardt (Ed.). Functioning of Terrestrial Ecosystems of the Primary Production Level Proc. Copen. Symp., UNESCO, Paris, pp. 95105. Pande, P. K. (2005). Biomass and Productivity in some disturbed tropical dry deciduous teak forests of Satpura Plateau, Madhya Pradesh. Tropical Ecology 46(2), 229 239. Ranawat, M. P. S., & Vyas, L. N. (1975). Litter production in deciduous forests of Koriyat, Udaipur (South Rajasthan) India. Biologia, 30, 4147. Ravindranath, N. H., Somashekhar, B. S., & Gadgil, M. (1995). Carbon flow in Indian forests. Carbon emissions and sequestration in forests: Case studies from India and China. Lawrence Berkley Laboratory, CA, USA. Rawat, L., Luna, R. K., Kholiya, D., & Kamboj, S. K. (2008). Biomass, productivity and nutrient retention in Acacia Catechu Willd. Plantations in Shiwalik Hills. Indian Forester, 134(2), 212225. Rawat, Y. S., & Singh, J. S. (1988). Structure and function of Oak forests in central Himalaya. I. dry matter dynamics. Annals of Botany 62, 397411. Roy, P. S., & Ravan, S. A. (1996). Biomass estimation using satellite remote sensing dataan investigation on possible approaches for natural forest. Journal of Biosciences, 21(4), 535561.

regional/state biomass estimation using coarse resolution data from tree biomass mapping leading to Carbon change assessments.
Acknowledgement The study is a part of National Carbon Project funded by Indian Space research Organization, Government of India under its ISRO-Geosphere Biosphere Programme. The support and encouragement from Programme Director, IGBP are duly acknowledged. Authors would like thank Director, National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad for providing facilities and encouragements. We also wish to acknowledge the help and logistic support received from Gujarat Forest Department at Surat during the field survey.

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