Citation:

Giri, C. Mapping and Monitoring of Mangrove Forests of the World Using Remote Sensing. Edition 1st, Chapter 13, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Stephen Crooks, Tiffany G. Troxler (ed.), A Blue Carbon Primer: The State of Coastal Wetland Carbon Science, Practice and Policy. CRC Press - Taylor & Francis Group, LLC, Boca Raton, FL, , 163-177, (2018).

Impact/Purpose:

Mangrove forests are found in the intertidal zone of the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world and are in constant flux due to both natural and anthropogenic forces. At present, conversion of mangroves to other cover types is the dominant factor responsible for the change; however, loss to climate change (e.g. sea level rise) is becoming increasingly dominant. Mapping and monitoring of the distribution and dynamics of mangroves is central to wide range of scientific investigations conducted in both terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Recent advancement in remote sensing data availability, image-processing methodologies, computing and information technology, and human resources development have provided an opportunity to observe and monitor mangroves from local to global scales on a regular basis.

Description:

This chapter demonstrates how Landsat and high-resolution satellite data remote-sensing data can be used for mangrove forest cover mapping and monitoring. Mangrove forests provide important ecosystem goods and services to the world’s dense coastal population and support important biosphere functions. Mangrove forests are highly productive ecosystems sequestering more carbon per unit area than any other tropical systems. Mangrove forests, consisting of multiple taxa of tropical macrophytes, are distributed mainly in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Time-series remote-sensing data can be used to regularly monitor mangrove forests. In the Sundarbans, multi-temporal satellite data from the 1970s, 1990s, and 2000s were used to monitor deforestation and degradation of mangrove forests. Mangrove forests in South Asia occur along the tidal sea edge of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Several parameters such as spatial distribution, ecosystem shifts, species composition, and tree height/biomass can be measured to assess the impact of the oil spill and mangrove recovery and restoration.

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