Forest Cover Loss and Forest Fire Monitoring Using GIS And GEE Over Similipal Tiger Reserve, Odisha, India

Abstract

Similipal Biosphere Reserve is indeed an important natural treasure and holds significance for several reasons as the 7th largest biosphere reserve in India. India’s Mayurbhanj is one among the World’s Greatest Places of 2023 along with the Similipal Biosphere, the Time magazine has included it is the only place in the world where black melanistic tigers were spotted that’s why the researchers all across the globe are curious to explore Mayurbhanj and its rich biodiversity. The Similipal comprises 7% flowering plants, 8% Orchids, 7% Reptiles, 20% birds and 11% mammals. A significant natural resource, forests are crucial to preserving the ecological equilibrium. Forests are now endangered by both man-made and natural forest fires as a result of growing population and civilisation. Basically, there are three different categories into which forest fire causes may be divided: Natural, Intentional/Deliberate, Accidental, and Unintentional are the four categories. In India, human anthropogenic activities that involve slash-and-burn agriculture, deforestation, controlled burning, firewood burning, etc. are to blame for almost 90% of forest fires. Therefore, in nations like India, it is crucial to monitor and manage forest fires. Anthropogenic impact can easily be detected with the satellite data such as Landsat-5, Landsat-8 & MODIS are collected and processed in Arc GIS 10.8 & Google Earth Engine.