ANALYSIS OF CARBON AND NUTRIENT STORAGE OF DRY TROPICAL FOREST OF CHHATTISGARH USING SATELLITE DATA

The purpose of this study was to characterize the carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the Barnowpara Sanctuary, Raipur district, Chhattisgarh, India through the use of satellite remote sensing and GIS The total storage of nutrients in vegetation (OS+US+GS) varied from 105.1 to 560.69 kg ha(-1) in N, 4.09 kg ha(-1) to 49.59 kg ha(-1) in P, 24.59 kg ha(-1) to 255.58 kg ha(-1) for K and 7310 to 4836 kg ha(-1) for C in different forest types. They were highest in Dense mixed forest and lowest in Degraded mixed forest. The study also showed that NDVI and carbon storage was strongly correlated to Shannon Index and species richness thus it indicates that the diversity of forest type play a vital role in carbon accumulation. The study also developed reliable regression model for the estimation of LAI, biomass, NPP, C & N storage in dry tropical forests by using NDVI and different vegetation indices, which can be derived from fine resolution satellite data. The study shows that dry tropical forests of Central India are quite immature and not in standing state and have strong potential for carbon sequestration. Both quantitative and qualitative information derived in the study helped in evolving key strategies for maintaining existing C pools and also improving the C sequestration in different forest types. The study explores the scope and potential of dry tropical forests for improving C sequestration and mitigating the global warming and climatic change.