India: The Forest Survey of India (FSI) plans to include new features while collecting data from the field and through satellites. FSI wants to offer the state of burnt forests, as well as the types of diseases afflicting the trees. Moreover, FSI will offer forest officers satellite data on forest fires to enable them to expedite action and contain the wildfire. FSI Senior Deputy Director Rajesh Kumar said, “We will introduce a number of new initiatives for our next report of 2017. There will be a 'burnt area' assessment. Fire brings significant changes in topography, making some dominant species grow faster as others perish. We have already started giving information to the state government and forest officials on where forest fires have raged. We get exact information of a precise area engulfed by fire in about eight hours of the fire incident, through thermal bands attached in the satellite. These can cover up to 25 hectares of a site. Compiled information of fires for two years will be put into the report.”
Source: ToI
