Spatial Distribution of Forest Biomass Using Remote Sensing and Regression Models in Northern Haryana, India

This study aims to estimate aboveground biomass and carbon stock in forests of northern Haryana covering Siwalik ranges, the foothills of the western Himalaya, in northern India. Spectral modeling of aboveground biomass was done on the basis of field data collected from 92 sampling plots of 0.1 ha across different forest types and forest densities. The field sampling, spectral responses of different bands and indices of MODIS 250m spatial resolution surface reflectance (SR) satellite data of 4 different months were used for assessing the aboveground forest biomass. Based on the relative forest area within the MODIS pixel, weighted-area biomass has been estimated to extrapolate the aboveground biomass (AGB). For geospatial distribution of the aboveground biomass, the best regression model (r 2 =0.774) between MODIS SR (250m) satellite data and the AGB was with December month red band with power function. The relationship between observed biomass and predicted biomass was highly significant (r 2 = 0.722). The mean aboveground biomass varied from 30.46 Mg ha -1 to 310.10 Mg ha -1 on plot basis across forest types. The predicted AGB based on MODIS data ranged from <30 Mg ha -1 to 346 Mg ha -1 . For regional level AGB representation, the mean AGB within the grids of 5×5 km was 32 to 210 Mg. The total AGB was 26.99Tg accounting for a total carbon stock 12.96 Tg in the forests ecosystems of northern Haryana.

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