International Journal of Remote Sensing & Geoscience (IJRSG)

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ACCOUNTING CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSION AND

STRATIFICATION OF CARBON STOCK IN WESTERN
GHATS, INDIA. A GEOSPATIAL APPROACH
HAROON MUSHTAQ1, TAHIR MALIK2
Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Uttarakhand, India
2
. Department of Environment & Remote Sensing, Jammu & Kashmir, India
Email: Mohd. Tahir Malik, tahiremails@ymail.com
1

Abstract
Forests sequester and store more carbon dioxide than any other
terrestrial ecosystem and are an important natural `brake' on climate change. When forests are cleared or degraded, their stored
carbon is released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide
( ).Global climate is being affected by human activities that
result from the emission of certain greenhouse gases especially
in to the atmosphere. Different percentages of forest cover
store different amounts of carbon and the changes in forest cover
can be used to calculate the changes in carbon. This study describes an effort to estimate carbon dioxide emission by using
remote sensing in Western Ghats of India. Measuring carbon
emission from temporal changes in carbon stock particularly
based on forest cover derived from remote sensing. This vegetation cover was then converted to carbon by multiplying with
biomass-carbon conversion factors. The vegetation cover was
accomplished from the biannual Sate of Forest report of Forest
Survey of India. The carbon dioxide emission was calculated
from the changes in dense forest cover over the period of time
from the year 2001 to 2009.
Keywords: Sequestration, biomass, Growing stock, LISS

1. Introduction
Carbon emission accounting or estimation is a tool to assess the
scale of carbon dioxide released from the forestry sector relative
to other sectors. Forests sequester and store more carbon than
any other terrestrial ecosystem and are an important natural
`brake' on climate change. When forests are cleared or degraded,
their stored carbon released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol countries are mandated to Forest carbon Emission Accounting. Therefore, it is absolutely important to account for the carbon emission in order to
predict the changes in the carbon sink and to reinstates the endeavors dedicated to combat climate change. Carbon dioxide
emission accounting is a potentially reliable step to estimate the
ISSN No: 2319-3484

amount of carbon dioxide being added into the atmosphere. Since

carbon dioxide is released from deforestation and forest degradation in different parts of the world.
Globally, deforestation accounts for up to 17-20% of greenhouse
gas emissions, or about 5.8 billion tons of CO2 equivalent released into the atmosphere, each year (FAO). This is more than
global transport and aviation combined. The reality is that an
estimated 30 million acres of rain forest disappear every year,
destroying biodiversity and pouring billions of tons of carbon
dioxide into the atmosphere. Therefore, emissions from deforestation and forest degradation must be reduced or they may undercut reductions in energy-related and industrial greenhouse gas
emissions and undermine efforts to solve climate change. The
1997 the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions excluded
policies related to deforestation and degradation. The rise in deforestation, particularly in Brazil after that exclusion resulted in
the formation of the Coalition of Rainforest Nations. Participant
nations included Papua New Guinea, Costa Rica., India and other
nations with large tropical forests.
The present study shows a new technique of carbon emission
accounting in the world that relies only on the temporal satellite
data for a large area. The study reveals accounting carbon stocks
using geospatial methods for large areas. The study reveals a
decreasing trend of carbon stocks in Western Ghats, India, therefore
appropriate initiatives must be taken to save these carbon reserves for future.

2. Study Area
The Western Ghats were declared ecological sensitive and Biodiversity Hot spot in 1988 through the efforts of ecologist Norman Mayer. A recent study says that the Western Ghats, one of
Indias most prestigious biological hotspot has lost one-fourth
of its forest cover in the last 22 years. That makes it efficient site
for Forest carbon emission. Western Ghats represent a potentially
significant carbon sink because of Old growth forests which are
always realized in economic terms and their immense Ecological
role is overlooked. The frontier forests of Western Ghats which

Volume 3, Issue 1, Jan. 2014

International Journal of Remote Sensing & Geoscience (IJRSG)

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are internationally acknowledged as being threatened by human
activities resulting into changes in carbon stock. No accounting
of Carbon dioxide emission has been carried out on Western
Ghats to reflect their plight of deforestation so-far. Satellite data
taken in different time provides a viable option to account the
periodic carbon dioxide emission due to carbon stock changes in
Western Ghats.
Country
States

Geographic
location
Highest point

Lowest point
Length

3.

Methodology

IRS ID LISS III (linear Imaging Self scanning) satellite images

of 2001 and 2009; NOAA images for NDVI, were used in the
study. The study was carried using Erdas imagine version 8.5
and Arcview version 3.2.

INDIA
Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa,
Karnataka, Kerala,
Tamil Nadu
LAT: 8 N to 21 N
LNG: 7352- 7554E
Anamudi Kerala, India,
2,695 m (8,842 ft)
Palakkad Gap, Kerala, India,
300 m (984 ft)
1,600 km (994 mi), NS

Width

100 km (62 mi), EW

Area
Biome

160,000 km (61,776 sq mi)

Forests (30%)

Geology
Period

Basalt, Laterite
Figure 2: Methodology used in the study in flow diagram

Cenozoic

Step 1: Estimation of growing stock from forest cover

Table 1. A profile of Western Ghats

According to Food and Agricultural Association (FAO), in 2005,

the total global growing stock was estimated at 434 billion m3,
which corresponds to an average of 110 m3 per hectare. Globally,
total growing stock shows a slight overall downward tendency mainly owing to a decrease in forest area. However, some regions show significant trends in growing stock per hectare (i.e.,
Europe shows an increase and Southeast Asia a decrease). In
forestry planning and assessment of the sustainability of forestry
production, it is vital to know how much forests are growing. For
that purpose, two types of increment measures are distinguished:
gross increment and net increment.

Figure 1: Liss 3 imagery showing Western Ghats

ISSN No: 2319-3484

Globally, growing stock has decreased annually between 1990

and 2005 by 570 million m3, where the annual rate of decrease
was 0.15%. Commercial growing stocks decreased by 321 mil-

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lion m3 (0.2% per year). One reason for this is that substantial
areas of natural forests (4.6 million hectares per year) have previously been allocated for productive purposes and have also
been designated to other uses. At the same time productive forest
plantations have increased almost 2.2 million hectares per year.
Overall, total wood removals have decreased 3.2 million m3 annually (0.1 % per year) as per (4).
Step 2: Estimation of Biomass from growing stock
Assessment of biomass provides information on the structure and
functional attributes with approximately 50% of dry forest biomass comprised of carbon (Westlake, 1966), biomass assessments also illustrate the amount of carbon that may lost or Sequestered under different forest management regimes. Carbon is
lost to the atmosphere as CO2. To convert carbon in biomass to
CO2, the tonnes of carbon are multiplied by the ratio of the molecular weight of carbon dioxide to the atomic weight of carbon
(44/12). Estimating the Biomass density of forest components is,
therefore, the first step in forest carbon accounting. There is a
complex relationship between forest cover and forest biomass.
We can calculate the biomass from forest cover derived from
remote sensing by using some conversion factors. In this study
the total frontier forest cover change in Western Ghats was obtained from temporal satellite data and then converted into forest
biomass.
The biomass change was further converted into carbon emission,
in this study, to get data about the total carbon dioxide emission
into the atmosphere between the years 1999 to 2009.

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fect.The biomass change was converted into carbon emission by
the application of carbon fraction.
Steps for accounting carbon dioxide emission involved in the
study
1: Estimation of growing stock from vegetation cover : 1Growing stock =vegetation cover growing stock conversion factor root to shoot ratio.
2Growing stock= forest cover 1.314 .28
2: Estimation of dry matter biomass from growing stock : 3Biomass = Growing stock mean density (biomass conversion factor)
4Biomass = Growing stock .41
3: Estimation of carbon from biomass :
5
Total carbon =dry matter biomass carbon fraction
6
Total carbon = Dry matter biomass .47
4: Estimation Carbon dioxide emission
7Carbon dioxide = carbon carbon dioxide conversion factor
8Total carbon dioxide emitted = Total Carbon 3.67

Inventory/Periodic Accounting of carbon dioxide emission.

Equation
9

C = (Ct2 - Ct1) / (t2 - t1)

Where;
C = carbon stock change, tonnes C
Ct1 = carbon stock at time t1, tonnes C
Ct2 = carbon stock at time t2, tonnes C
Fig: 3

Step 3: Forest Biomass change into carbon dioxide emission.

Relationship between Forest biomass and carbon dioxide:
Forest form an instrumental component of global carbon cycle. It
is estimated that the world's forests store 283 gigatonnes (Gt) of
carbon in their biomass alone (FAO). The carbon that is stored in
forest biomass, dead wood, litter and soil is more than the
amount of carbon in the atmosphere. For the world as a whole,
carbon stocks in forest biomass have decreased by 1.1 Gt of carbon annually, owing to continued deforestation and forest degradation. This has been partly offset by forest expansion which
includes planting and an increase of growing stock per hectare in
some regions. Carbon stock per hectare in forest biomass has
decreased during the period 1990 and 2005 only slightly, at a rate
of 0.02 % (4).
These changes in biomass resulting from decreases in carbon
stock over the period of time consequence into release of carbon
dioxide, sometime gradually sometime abruptly, into the atmosphere contributing into global warming through greenhouse efISSN No: 2319-3484

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International Journal of Remote Sensing & Geoscience (IJRSG)

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due to the fact that the productivity of Indian rain forests is low
as compared to the average productivity of world rain forests.
Thus, eventually this validation clearly complements the result of
the study and proves the Accuracy of this new technique of carbon emission accounting.
Since no estimate of carbon stock is absolute in the world and no
method is standardized so far but the technique I have used in
this study is new and more faithful than all other recent studies
and techniques regarding carbon stock estimation because it is
been supported by some sound validation as followingsValidation will comprehensively prove that the amount of carbon
dioxide emitted as a result of carbon stock loss in Western Ghats
is same as accounted by this study.
According to a study on carbon sequestration in forest by Ross
W. Gorte Specialist in Natural Resources Policy August 6, 2009

Fig:4

Moist tropical forests /Rain forests have 110 ton of carbon per
1 acre
If 1 acre of rain forest have 110 ton of carbon than in 1 hectare the amount of carbon would be 249 ton (1102.27).
Since there are 100 hectare in 1 square kilometer, therefore
the amount of carbon in 1 sq.km of rain forest would be around
24900 ton (249 100) .
As 1 sq.km of rainforest sustain 24900 ton of carbon therefore
the net carbon contained in 10,000 sq.km of rain forest would be
249 million ton or 913 million ton of Carbon dioxide.
According to my study the amount of carbon lost in last decade
in Western Ghats is around 248 million ton or 910 million ton of
Carbon dioxide. This slight difference in the estimate is actually
due to the fact that the productivity of Indian rain forests is low
as compared to the average productivity of world rain forests.
Thus, eventually this validation clearly complements the result of
the study and proves the Accuracy of this new technique of carbon emission accounting.

Fig:5

5. Conclusion

4. Results and Validation of the result

According to my study the amount of carbon lost in last decade
in Western Ghats is around 248 million ton or 910 million ton of
Carbon dioxide. This slight difference in the estimate is actually
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Western Ghats have been studied before by many efficient scholars in respect of its rain forests, its role in ecological balance,
and its position in worlds Hot spots of biodiversity. But with due
respect no study had concluded the amount of carbon stock sustained by dense forest or old growth forests, and emission of
Carbon dioxide from deforestation of forest degradation of such
immensely important old growth forests in Western Ghats. This
study with due respect to all other studies removed such backdrops and represented rain forests of Western Ghats in a better
way that will help in understanding the role of Western Ghats in
sequestration of carbon dioxide by Rain forests/old growth forests with larger rotation.

Volume 3, Issue 1, Jan. 2014

This study shows a new technique of carbon emission accounting in the world that relies only on the temporal satellite data for
a large area.
The above study reveals a decreasing trend of carbon stocks,
therefore appropriate initiatives must be taken to save these carbon reserves for future.
Accounting carbon dioxide emission, from changes in forest
cover, derived from remote sensing is in fact best method that
offers an option of getting the estimates in quick time as compared to the allometric techniques which take long time and also
large men power but still not reliable.
Nearly 2,646 million ton of carbon dioxide is emitted in Western Ghats since last decade, attributed to land use land cover
changes, deforestation and forest degradation especially of old
growth forests. This amount of carbon dioxide is enough to increase the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide causing enhanced
global warming.

Acknowledgements
I am heartily thankful to the dept Director F.S.I, R.K Bajhpai
whom encouragement, guidance and support helped me a lot in
this project.

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[7] Jagdish Kishwan, Rajiv Pandey1 and V K Dadhwal, Indias
Forest and Tree Cover Contribution as a Carbon Sink.
[8] Liao, C., Luo, Y., Fang, C., & Li, B. (2010). Ecosystem Carbon Stock Influenced by Plantation Practice: Implications for
Planting Forests as a Measure of Climate Change Mitigation.
[9] M. Balagopalan Division of Soil Science, Kerala Forest Research Institute, Impact of Plantation Activities on Soil Properties in the Western Ghats Region of Kerala.
[10] N.H Rabindernath, B.S Someshakhar, and Madhav Gadgil
Carbon flow in Indian forests.
[11] Parpia, A. 2007. Avoided Deforestation and the Permanence of Terrestrial Carbon. MSc Thesis at Imperial College
London, Centre for Environmental Policy, London.
[12] State of forest report, Dehradun, 2001 & 2009.Forest Survey
of India, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Dehradun, India.
[13] The Hindu: Karnataka / Mangalore News: Western Ghats
waning, silent encroachment of forest area in the Western Ghats
identified as one of the biodiversity hotspots of World.
[14] UN-REDD, 2008. Role of satellite remote sensing in REDD.
Issue paper. UN-REDD Programme. Working paper 1. Oct 2008.

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