Risk Wise

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roads, overlays are also provided to the user depart-

ments. Damage assessment in terms of burnt area is

also taken up for critical areas based on the daily fire

alerts. Furthermore, studies are in progress to develop

a National Fire Danger Index, as well as an ecological

damage assessment system designed to facilitate effec-

tive fire management. Efforts are also underway to

develop spatial decision support systems for web-

enabled decision making, in order to improve

turn-around time and spatially explicit planning.

National Database for Emergency Management

A recent initiative called the National Database for

Emergency Management (NDEM) aims to develop an

organized database at different scales related to various

themes on natural and man-made disasters. The NDEM

serves as a national repository of geospatial databases

for emergency/disaster management, as well as to assist

stakeholders at various levels in hazard/risk zonation,

damage assessment, preparedness and emergency

response. The emergency trends, demographic patterns,

economic profiles, infrastructure status, communication

networks and public utilities will be analysed and shared

in coupling disaster reduction and economic develop-

ment, especially in vulnerable areas. NDEM will also be

crucial in the development of well-connected early

warning systems enabling knowledge warehouses,

developing spatial decision support systems for disas-

ters, and catalysing the process of preparedness,

response and mitigation.

Looking forward

The remote sensing and GIS community in India is

closely associated with the NDMA, an apex body for

disaster management in the country seriously engaged

in utilizing the benefits of aerospace technology in

reducing risk and hardship. Data from various satellite

sensor systems and aerial sensors is continuously

analysed to generate disaster-related information.

Integration of multiple data sets in a GIS environment

is being done for objective assessment of the prevalence

and progress of disasters – flood, drought and forest

fires – at different spatial and temporal dimensions. The

near-real-time, objective information on the intensity of

disasters that is disseminated to decision makers

through an exclusive communication network is of

immense help when evolving risk reduction strategies.

Disaster vulnerability maps generated using a multi-

criteria approach are useful when developing long-term

management strategies.

New initiatives utilizing technology such as airborne

laser terrain mapping to generate finer elevation data for

flood depth assessment, the establishment of automatic

weather stations and the quantitative assessment of

disaster impact further strengthen risk assessment capa-

bilities. The proposed launch of the state-of-the-art

indigenous microwave satellite RISAT in the year 2009

would further augment the use of space images for disas-

ter management.

to the vastness of forested regions and the inaccessibility of fire

affected areas. Besides, remote sensing data – with its multi-sensor,

multi-temporal and synoptic potential – in conjunction with the

Geographic Information System (GIS) and ground data is one of

the most powerful mechanisms in the development of fire manage-

ment tools. By relating actual fire patterns, a better understanding

of fire ecology can guide management decisions that facilitate the

restoration and conservation of fire-prone ecosystems in the Indian

region.

Because of the need to develop a national database of spatial infor-

mation on forest fires, the Indian Forest Fire Response and Assessment

System (INFFRAS) was established under the DSC, as part of the

Disaster Management Support Programme, to facilitate forest fire moni-

toring and management.

As part of INFFRAS, multi-resolution,

multi-temporal and multi-spectral satellite, remote sensing data-based

inputs are utilised in:

• Identification of daily active fire locations using MODIS and

DMSP-OLS satellite data and dissemination of active fire

location information to the concerned state forest departments

• Forest fire burnt area assessment

• Fire burnt area progression monitoring

• Ecological damage assessment due to forest fires.

Daily fire alerts are disseminated through e-mail and a website.

Based on specific requirements, value-added products in terms of

vegetation type, forest management boundaries, settlements and

Forest burnt area mapping

Fire Burnt Area (yellow patches) Assessment for Chungthang District, Sikkim

Source: Perspectives of Geoinformatics in forest fire management, 2006, Technical

Report of NRSA, India