Estimation of Above-ground Carbon Sequestration of Forest Using Remote Sensing Techniques in Mae Tuen Wildlife Sanctuary, Tak Province

Abstract

This study aimed to estimate the above-ground carbon sequestration of forest at the Mae Tuen Wildlife Sanctuary, Tak Province using remote sensing techniques. The relationship was studied between above-ground carbon sequestration and the reflectance values of different wavebands of a LANDSAT 5 TM image captured in 2007. Band 2 (green; G), band 3 (red; R) and band 4 (near infrared; IR) were analyzed. Analysis involved the well-known vegetation indices of simple subtraction (IR–R), simple ratio (IR/R) and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), the transformed vegetation index (TVI) and the green vegetation index (GVI). Regression analysis was employed to determine the relationships between these parameters and carbon sequestration in order to determine the best-fit model for estimating the above-ground carbon sequestration of each forest type in the Mae Tuen Wildlife Sanctuary, Tak Province.

The best-fit model for estimation of the above-ground carbon sequestration (CS) of dry evergreen forest was CS = 630.339 (R) – 74.019 with a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.839. The best fit-model for hill evergreen forest, was CS = 327.630 (IR) – 27.974 (IR/R) – 36.188, with R² = 0.854; the best-fit model for mixed deciduous was CS =  951.608 (IR–R) – 505.367 (IR) – 62.406 (IR/R) + 134.572, with R² = 0.741; and for dry dipterocarp was CS = 53.140 (IR) – 41.031 (TVI) – 194.004 (G) + 59.783, with R² = 0.745.  The above-ground carbon sequestration in the Mae Tuen Wildlife Sanctuary in 2007 was estimated to be 8,886,516.9 t of carbon. The rate of above-ground carbon sequestration of each forest type was different. The results showed that the maximum rate of above-ground carbon sequestration was found in dry evergreen forest, followed by hill evergreen forest, mixed deciduous forest, and dry dipterocarp forest, respectively.  (129, 102.43, 80.16, and 54.68 t/ha carbon).

Keywords: Carbon sequestration, Remote sensing, Mae Tuen Wildlife Sanctuary, Tak province