Land-use, biomass and carbon estimation in dry tropical forest of Chhattisgarh region in India using satellite remote sensing and GIS

A study was conducted to characterize the land use, biomass and carbon status of dry tropical forest in Raipur district of Chhattisgarh, India using satellite remote sensing data and GIS techniques in the year of 2001-2002. The main forest types observed in the area are Teak forest, mixed forest, degraded forest and Sal mixed forest. The aspect and slope of the sites influenced the forest vegetation types, biomass and carbon storage in the different forests. The standing volume, above ground biomass and carbon storage varied from 35.59 to 64.31 m3·ha-1, 45.94 to 78.31 Mg·ha-1, and 22.97 to 33.27 Mg·ha-1, respectively among different forest types. The highest volumes, above ground biomass and carbon storage per hectare were found in the mixed forest and lowest in the degraded forest. The total standing carbon present in the entire study area was 78170.72 Mg in mixed forest, 81656.91 Mg in Teak forest, 7833.23 Mg in degraded forest and 7470.45 Mg in Sal mixed forest, respectively. The study shows that dry tropical forests of the studied area in Chhattisgarh are in growing stage and have strong potential for carbon sequestration. © 2010 Northeast Forestry University and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.