New Delhi: A Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change has observed that Brazil monitors its forest cover on a daily bases using advanced satellite systems, particularly in the Amazon. This is achieved by a System for Alerts of Deforestation and Degradation, called DETER operated by the National Institute of Space Research (INPE) in Brazil. The Committee has recommended that ISRO study the functioning of such realtime monitoring systems and develop a similar operational system for India through consultation with the Forest Survey of India and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, to understand their administrative requirements.
At present, the Forest Survey of India publishes a biennial India State of Forest Report, that assesses the forest and tree cover across the nation. Forests have strategic and environmental importance as they play a crucial role in carbon sequestration and climate mitigation, while supporting the economic and ecological balance in the country. The Committee was of the opinion that the cadence of these reports, and the frequency at which forests are monitored should be increased, at least to a quarterly basis. For the North Eastern Region, the Department of Space (DOS) has developed a web-based Forest Loss Information System.
How forests are currently monitored by ISRO
In response to questions posed by the Committee, the DOS indicated that ISRO has developed and operationalised techniques for monitoring forest cover using satellite data. The data is gathered by the LISS-III infrared instruments on the ResourceSat 2 and ResourceSat 2A satellites. The web-based Forest Loss Information System has been installed across all Forest Departments in the North Eastern Region, with a Forest Resources Analysis and Monitoring System (FRAMS) implemented for the Government of Manipur. This system enables generation of deforestation alerts on a monthly basis using time-series satellite data, allowinf for more frequent monitoring of forest cover changes.