GOOGLE EARTH ENGINE BASED TEMPORAL ANALYSIS OF INDICES USED FOR FOREST FIRE STUDY IN MIZORAM, INDIA

Abstract

Forest fires would be a global disaster if they were not addressed seriously? From 2015 to 2021, the number of forest fires in India nearly tripled. According to FSI, the North Eastern Himalayas, one of UNESCO's 36 Biodiversity Hotspots, account for 36% of forest fires in India. This state is dominated by tribal population which practices shifting agriculture. It’s 76.01% of total forest cover is highly prone to Forest fires. Despite this, there hasn't been any time-series research on forest fires in this region. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Moisture Index (NDMI), Normalized Burnt Ratio (NBR), Aerosol Free Vegetation Index (AFRI 1600), and Land Surface Temperature may all be linked to forest fires (LST). For Mizoram, India, random samples were taken every 16 days using Landsat 8 satellite data across different land cover types, including dense forest, sparse forest, farmland, and bare land etc. The study was conducted on a bimonthly basis from January 2016 to June 2021. The findings of this work show that an automated temporal analysis utilizing GEE may be used successfully over a wide range of land cover types, providing critical data for future monitoring of such threats.