New Progress in Monitoring Long Time Series Dynamics of Forests in the Upper Indus Valley
Publisher: CPJRC
time: 2022-02-15
The research group of Wang Juanle, a Researcher of Research Theme II of China-Pakistan Joint Research Center on Earth Sciences, has made new progress in the research on the monitoring of dynamics of forest in the upper Indus Valley. The relevant findings were recently published online in Remote Sensing.
River safety in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a prerequisite for ensuring the safety of related energy projects and agricultural irrigation downstream. It is worth noting that the upper Indus Valley, as the most important and vulnerable water tower in the South Asian subcontinent, not only ensures the vital water supply for 230 million people, but also faces many disaster risks and factors. According to recent studies, the destroy of upstream forests has led to catastrophic floods downstream, and the instability of upstream forest ecosystems has threatened downstream water security, food security and ecological security of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Forest dynamic change information refers to the continuous information of forest disturbance and recovery in a long time series. Such information is an important basis for formulating policies for sustainable development of regional resources and environment. To deal with this problem, Wang Juanle's research group used the LandTrendr spectral-temporal segmentation algorithm combined with high-resolution Google images and 8203 scenes of Landsat remote sensing images to study the forest change footprint in the upper Indus Valley. The results showed the following: (1) From 1990 to 2020, the area of forest recovery was 1.01% more than that of disturbance, 70% of disturbance occurred between 1990 and 2001, and 60% of recovery occurred between 1999 and 2012. (2) Although the overall trend of forest disturbance and recovery was balanced, there were significant differences in forest management status among the different regions. Nepal has the highest forest stability, India has the largest area of forest disturbance, and Pakistan and China have the largest areas of forest recovery. (3) India's Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir are the two provinces with the largest disturbed areas, primarily due to grazing, fires, and commercial tree planting. Pakistan's North-West Frontier, Azad Kashmir, and China's Tibet Ali region were major contributors to the recovery, which was driven by afforestation policies in both countries.
This study provides an important data base and monitoring method for planning forest use in Indus Valley countries, protecting fragile environments, promoting sustainable development of the region and ensuring ecological safety of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
The research was funded by the China-Pakistan Joint Research Center on Earth Sciences.
Title of Thesis: The Forest Change Footprint of the Upper Indus Valley, from 1990 to 2020
Link: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/14/3/744/htm
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