Forests, Wildlife and Geoinformatics

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Forests, Wildlife and Geoinformatics

PARAG J. DUTTA

Forest & Wildlife Management Functions like Planning, Implementation, Monitoring and Control entail
seeking answers to questions which have an inherent location or geospatial component associated with
them. The human brain is capable of distinguishing features in maps more effectively as well as retaining
their shapes and dimensions as mental images in stark contrast to the reams of similar data in a
spreadsheet. The extension of information technology to the geospatial domain has been incorporated under
what is known as Geoinformatics. The technology has become an indispensable tool, globally, for real-time
monitoring of the ecosystem and provides a powerful planning and decision support tool.

Spreadsheet Map

The most important functions in the management of wildlife and forest reserves are: demarcation of reserve
boundary (boundary map), description of forest vegetation (forest inventory), information on the quality
and growth of the forest vegetation, geographical description of forest land and organizational pattern and
details of the forest stock/inventory. All these information are extremely vital in presenting options like
afforestation of blank areas, reforestation of degraded forests, restoration of bio-diversity in monoculture
areas, and management of Protected Areas for Bio-Diversity Conservation.

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Parag Jyoti Dutta, Lecturer in Geology, Cotton College, Guwahati 781 001 www.paragjdutta.blogspot.com Email: paragjdutta@gmail.com
Forests, Wildlife and Geoinformatics
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Geoinformatics has several integrated components which are technologically independent systems with their
own individual capacities. Relevant components in forest and wildlife management are:

Remote Sensing with Digital Image Processing techniques

Satellite Navigation System such as GPS, Galileo & Glonass
Geographic Information System (GIS)

Remote Sensing Satellites measure sunlight reflected from the earth surface in Green, Red & Infra-Red
(IR) spectral bands. Every earth feature has its own reflectance characteristics with respect to different
spectral bands. Green vegetation reflects the Infra-Red (IR) spectral band with higher intensity; the images
that are generated from the corresponding datasets gives a more distinct picture of forest cover.
Classification of forests classes in satellite imageries is done on the basis of signature characteristics of
known forest types and by Ground Truth (GT) verification during field survey.

Remote Sensing satellites have a polar, sun-synchronous orbit, and the scanners onboard capture individual
spectral bands from sunlight reflected from each sequential scene along their southbound paths. The paths
shift westward each day so that after a pre-defined cycle (16 days, 24 days, etc.), each path repeats itself
resulting in repetetive, worldwide coverage. Satellites have been launched by several governmental and
private agencies worldwide and data from these have been made commercially available through specified
agencies. In India, satellite image data are made available through the National Remote Sensing Agency
(NRSA), Hyderabad. NRSA functions as the nodal agency for the Department of Space, Government of
India in disseminating data of Indian satellites such as IRSS and CARTOSAT as well as data from
satellites launched by other countries such as LANDSAT, SPOT etc. These data are provided in a digital
format and can be procured conveniently for institutional use. Thus, they provide a regular, effective and
rather less-expensive tool for monitoring natural resources like vegetation and wildlife; for making critical
decisions and for protecting them from the activities of modern society as well as natural disasters like
floods, diseases, fires etc.

The relative position and orientation of surface features which can be identified on the image such as roads,
drainage, forest boundaries, water bodies, etc. will lead to the creation of a map with sufficient details but
without their geographic positional information. In order to overcome this gap, satellite images are
nowadays provided with georeferenced information tagged to the digital image data which means that the
geographic coordinates of three or more locations/points on the image is sent along with the raw image
data. If the coordinates of three points are known, it possible to derive the coordinates of the others by a
process of interpolation involving established theorems of coordinate geometry. This technique of deriving
geographical coordinates by mathematical interpolation is referred to as georegistration which is
performed with the help of functions embedded in image processing software. The technical parameters of
the map projection as well as that of the geodetic datum, to be used for the mapping purpose, has to be
manually fed into the software as input data, for using the functions of georegistration.

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Parag Jyoti Dutta, Lecturer in Geology, Cotton College, Guwahati 781 001 www.paragjdutta.blogspot.com Email: paragjdutta@gmail.com
Forests, Wildlife and Geoinformatics
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In the absence of satellite imageries with georeferencing information, collection of locational information in
the form of geographic coordinates is done during a field visit. Certain points such as road crossings,
landmarks, objects etc., are selected for the purpose of establishing ground control, which are essentially
demarcated points that can be clearly identified on the satellite imagery as well as on the ground. These
Ground Control Points are chosen for assigning their respective positional coordinates after they are
determined technically with the help of electronic devices called receivers, which are the components
serving as the user segment of Navigational Satellite Systems. These receivers are designed for decoding
signals transmitted from a system of navigational satellites such as the Global Positioning System (GPS)
which can provide precise positional coordinates in the geograhic coordinate system or other map
projection systems. Once the positional coordinates of three or more control points are determined, the
process of georegistration is invoked to interpolate the coordinates of the rest of the positions in the
imagery. It is to be noted that a minimum number of three points has the geometric capability of defining a
plane in 3-D coordinate space.

Satellite Navigation Systems are designed to provide instantaneous position, velocity and time information
almost anywhere on the globe at any time, and in any weather. The only satellite navigation system from
which data have been made available to civilians throughout this decade is the NAVSTAR GPS
(NAVigation Satellite Timing And Ranging Global Positioning System). The day-to-day running of the
GPS program and operation of the system rests with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). It was
originally intended only for military applications but an executive decree in the 1980s made GPS available
for civilian use also. Civilian usage of GPS for positioning includes personal navigation (hiking, boating,
driving directions etc), aircraft navigation, fleet tracking, surveyingan endless list.

Some important characteristic features of the GPS Constellation are:

The constellation comprises of 24 satellites with a minimum of 21 operating 98% of
the time
The satellites are placed in 6 Orbital planes with four satellites on each plane.
Each orbital plane is at 55 degrees inclination to the equator
Satellites are placed in an orbit which is 20,200 km above the Earth's surface
Orbital period of each satellite is 11 hours 58 minute
Each satellite is visible for approximately 5 hours above the horizon

To calculate a position on the Earth surface, the GPS receiver has two determine two variables:
WHERE the satellites are relative to the receiver (location).
HOW FAR they are from the receiver (distance).

The receiver picks up a coded information from the satellites called almanac data, containing the
approximate positions (locations) of the satellites. The data is continuously transmitted and stored in the

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Parag Jyoti Dutta, Lecturer in Geology, Cotton College, Guwahati 781 001 www.paragjdutta.blogspot.com Email: paragjdutta@gmail.com
Forests, Wildlife and Geoinformatics
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memory of the receiver, so that it knows the orbits of the satellites and where each satellite is supposed to
be. The almanac data is periodically updated with newer information.

A system of five monitor stations continuously monitor the satellites and keep track of its orbit,
altitude, location and speed which transmit the information to the satellites. A Navigation
Message, valid for about four to six hours comprising the exact satellite orbital and clock
information- the ephemeris data is transmitted along with the coded signals. With the almanac
and ephemeris data, the receiver knows the position (location) of the satellites at all times.

Atomic clocks onboard each satellite create two frequencies: f1 = 1575.42 MHz and f2 = 1227.6 MHz. A
binary code called the PRN (Pseudo Random Noise), also called the C/A (Clear Acquisition) code, is
modulated over the f1 frequency. Another code called the P-Code (Precise or Protected) is modulated over
both the f1 and f2 frequencies. The main purpose of these coded signals is to allow for calculating their
travel-time from the satellites to the receivers. This travel-time multiplied by the speed of light equals to the
satellite-receiver distance, called the range. Atomic clocks onboard satellites and the digital clocks in the
receivers are not perfectly synchronized which consequently results in an error in the estimated distance.
Hence, this distance estimated from the travel-time of codes is called pseudo-range. Another
satellite-receiver distance measurement method involves estimating the travel-times of carrier waves from
the satellite to the reciver by measuring their phase differences. This measurement is called carrier phase
measurement, which is used to derive precise positional information ( 1.00 cm) than that derived from the
pseudo-range.

The data in the form of pseudo-range and/or carrier phase measurements are collected using one of the
GPS surveying technique namely point positioning and differential positioning. In the former, a single
GPS receiver located on an unknown point is used to determine its positional coordinates (X, Y, Z) with
reference to the center of earth in WGS 84 system. For point positioning, a minimum of four satellites must
be tracked, to solve the equations for the values of the three coordinates. In differential positioning
(DGPS) mode, two or more GPS receivers receive signals from the same set of satellites simultaneously.
One receiver is always positioned on a point with known coordinates and is called the base-station. The
positions of the other unknown points are called rover-stations which is collected by the roaming receiver
and the data processed with respect to that of the base-station. The accuracy obtained in relative
positioning is much higher than that in point positioning because errors common to both receivers get
cancelled. Relative positioning techniques are categorized into two broad categories: Static & Kinematic.

GPS signals pass through almost everything except concrete structures, caves and underwater. Its use is
free of any charges and no restriction lies on the use of GPS. Some popular GPS receiver manufacturers
are Garmin, Magellan, Leica, Trimble, etc. There are various levels on the degree of sophistication of
receivers and accordingly display various levels of accuracy and hence has a natural implication on the

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Parag Jyoti Dutta, Lecturer in Geology, Cotton College, Guwahati 781 001 www.paragjdutta.blogspot.com Email: paragjdutta@gmail.com
Forests, Wildlife and Geoinformatics
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price. However, accuracy levels of 10 meters or more are increasingly being achieved by even receivers
of the recreational grade hand-held type which are in the price range of INR 20,000 - 30,000.

In monitoring wildlife and forest resources, GPS technology have been largely deployed in mapping forest
boundaries or tracking animal corridors through thick, dense jungles. GPS technology becomes handy in
incorporating features such as small rivulets or narrow pathways on a map, which are too small to be
distinctively picked up by sensors onboard remote-sensing satellites. It can automatically track a route or
give turn-by-turn directions for the wildlife protection personnel navigating through jungles from and to
different locations. Positional information can also be transmitted over radio frequencies to a control room
where personnel movement can be monitored with a map of the area kept as background. This technique of
GPS-based tracking of moving personnel inside forests and jungles has played a significant role especially
in deployment of active contingents in anti-poaching operations. The inbuilt functions can also be used to
tag particular locations as landmarks or waypoints along a route, where particular events take place
especially during a field survey.

Finally, the data acquired with the help of satellite imaging and GPS technologies are seamlessly merged in
a Geographic Information System (GIS). Taxonomic details of rare and endangered species are also linked
to the GIS database. Forest & Wildlife Managers have to invariably deal with a large database of
geospatial attributes which are conveniently displayed in the form of digital maps with various themes
thereby providing an effective platform for analysis and an efficient support system in the process of
collective decision making.

About the Author:

Parag Jyoti Dutta, S/o Late Prof. S. R. Dutta (Retd. Lecturer in Chemistry), is a permanent resident of the state of
Assam with his residence located at H-No: 13, Jonali Path, R. G. B. Road, Guwahati - 781 024. He completed his
M.Sc. degree in Geology from the University of Delhi in 1998 with specialization in Economic Geology. He was
declared succesful in the CSIR-UGC National Eligibility Test (NET) for JRF and Lecturership before he
completed his M.Sc. degree. Thereafter, he qualified in the GATE-98 Exam with an All India Rank - 6 and
enrolled himself in IIT-Bombay to complete his M.Tech. degree in Geoexploration from the Department of Earth
Sciences in the year 2000.

He served in Rolta India Ltd., a leading Geospatial Technology Services and Solutions provider in the world and
ranked amongst Asias Best 200 Under a Billion by Forbes Global. His professional functions primarily revolved
around providing technical services for the INT branches of the Indian Army with installations at HQ 4 Corps Tezpur,

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Parag Jyoti Dutta, Lecturer in Geology, Cotton College, Guwahati 781 001 www.paragjdutta.blogspot.com Email: paragjdutta@gmail.com
Forests, Wildlife and Geoinformatics
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HQ 3 Corps Dimapur, HQ 33 Corps Sukhna and HQ Eastern Command, Fort William, Kolkata. His core service
domain included solutions and services in Photogrammetry, Satellite Image Interpretation and Geographic
Information Systems, addressing the needs of military mapping, operations, intelligence and resource planning.

At present, he is serving as a full-time Lecturer in the Department of Geology, Cotton College, Guwahati. He delivered
lectures in a number of self-financing certificate courses in Geoinformatics organized in the department for
professionals and students amongst the general public.

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Parag Jyoti Dutta, Lecturer in Geology, Cotton College, Guwahati 781 001 www.paragjdutta.blogspot.com Email: paragjdutta@gmail.com