Mapping of the Forest Cover based on Multi-criteria Analysis: A Case Study on Jhargram Sector in Paschim Medinipur District

Application of Remote Sensing and GIS of vegetation can be an attractive and alternative to the traditional methods of field scouting because of the capability of covering large areas rapidly and repeatedly providing spatial and temporal information necessary for a sustainable management. The potential of remote sensing in vegetation is very high because it is able to infer about vegetation amount and its nature as a non-destructive mean. Numerous spectral vegetation indices (VIs) multi-criteria based approach has been developed to characterize vegetation canopy. Plant canopy reflectance factors and derived multispectral VIs are receiving increased attention in floristic research as robust surrogates for traditional biophysical parameters. Spectral reflectance and thermal emittance properties of soil and vegetations have been used extensively to predict ecological variables such as percent vegetation covers, plant biomass, green leaf area index and other biophysical characteristics. The basic objective of this study is to convey the potentiality of vegetation indices in the quantification of bio physical principles of forest environment and to review the remote sensing application in botanical research. Here very types of indices (GVI, PVI, and NDVI etc) are used for interpret forest and forest cover type with multi-criteria based approach.