Volume 3, Number 2

June 2007

A Hierarchical Approach for Mapping Forest and other Land Cover Types in a Mountainous Area using IRS-ID LISS-III Data

Rajiv Mohan Bhagat1, Sharda Singh1, Chitra Sood1, Sushil Pradhan2 and Basanta Shrestha2

1Centre for Geo-informatics, CSK HP Agricultural University, Palampur H. P., India 176062 2MENRIS, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), G.P.O. Box 3226, Kathmandu, Nepal. Email: rmbhagat@hillagric.ernet.in; shardasingh@hillagric.ernet.in

Abstract

Land cover assessment is an important challenge in regions with complex topography and climate. The subject requires attentions because such areas are particularly important for biodiversity conservation. Therefore, for the mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh in India, with its wide variety of land cover types due to the diversity in landforms and variability in rainfall, a case study was carried out to develop an innovative methodology to obtain the dominant land cover types from satellite data. A medium resolution satellite data (IRS1DLISS3) was used for land cover assessment and mapping at regional scale. Visual and digital interpretation of satellite imageries were implemented to prepare land cover map based on spectral/tone/texture homogeneity. Further interpretation of map and digitally enhanced satellite data was used on the ground to identify different land cover classes and to generate geo-database for land cover for Himachal Pradesh.