Remote Sensing technology for Indian Forests

The Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF), Government of India, has approved National Forestry Information Network and IT for fire monitoring under an action plan to enhance forestry science. The National Forestry Information Network would be established using remote sensing, GIS and MIS. All land based forestry interventions will be geo-mapped and monitored on a time scale, and will be put in the public domain. The process is being guided by a core group of forestry professionals. IT for fire monitoring is a programme to use satellite data for early transmission of fire signals to the mobile phones/ PDA’s of field officers is being undertaken. The University of Maryland has agreed to share all active fire data obtained from TERRA and AQUA satellites of NASA every six hours for this. This will not only help in quick fire detection and reducing the response time, but has also helped in identifying fire sensitive areas.

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