25-Jun-2021: Detailed Project reports of LIDAR survey of forest areas in 10 states for water and fodder augmentation released.
Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Prakash Javadekar in a virtual event today released the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of LiDAR based survey of forest areas in ten states namely Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Nagaland, and Tripura.
Shri Javadekar informed that the project which was awarded to WAPCOS, a PSU under the aegis of Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India is a first of its kind and a unique experiment using LiDAR technology which will help augment water and fodder in jungles areas thereby reducing human-animal conflict, help in groundwater recharge, help local communities and also asked state forest departments to use CAMPA funds towards implementation of these projects in right earnest and in accordance with the ‘Ridge to Valley’ approach of watershed management.
WAPCOS has prepared these DPR’s using LiDAR technology in which the 3-D(three dimensional) DEM (Digital Elevation Model), imagery and layers of the project areas are used for recommending different types of Soil & Water conservation structures such as Anicut, Gabion, Gully Plug, Mini percolation tank, Percolation Tank, Field bund, Sunken pond, Farm pond etc. These structures will help in catching the rain water and prevent stream run off, which will help in recharging of Ground water.
WAPCOS with the participation of State Forest Departments identified one major ridge inside a forest block in these states with average area of 10,000 ha selected in each State for preparation of Detailed Project Reports for planning and identifying locations and structures for construction of appropriate and feasible micro soil and water conservation structures consistent with site specific geography, topography and soil characteristics.
States/UTs identified one major ridge inside a forest block with the criteria that area selected should have average rainfall of the state, and the area requires assisted natural generation which means the density of forests should be less than 0.4 or below, but should have reasonable potential to regenerate with the ANR interventions.
The project was awarded to WAPCOS in July 2020 at a cost of Rs.18.38 Crore/- for implementation in 26 states over 261897 hectare. The DPR’s for the remaining 16 states will also be released shortly.
25-Dec-2017: CPCB may consider using LiDAR devices to monitor air pollution
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) may consider using advanced LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) devices to vertically monitor the air quality of Delhi-NCR.
CPCB is currently focussing on strengthening its surface-level monitoring network, however, in “later stages”, vertical monitoring will also be taken up.
CPCB’s plans to use the LiDAR technology, using which laser beams are projected in the sky to study the composition of pollutants present in the upper layers, has hit a financial roadblock.
The CPCB has taken up the responsibility to strengthen the ground-level monitoring first on a priority basis. It may consider application of the LiDAR-like monitoring in later stages to have better strategic planning in air pollution control in Delhi-NCR for which fund would never be a constraint.
LiDAR is a monitoring system for mapping and modelling in micro-topography, forestry, agriculture, meteorology and environmental pollution.
Elastic Backscatter LiDAR and Raman LiDAR are used in monitoring air pollutants vertically.
The CPCB and IMD had used the Elastic Backscatter LiDAR in Delhi during the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the data was utilised in 3D modelling and forecasting during the games.
LiDAR projects laser beams towards the sky. Subsequently, the interplay of light with the objects falling on its path through absorption, reflection, scattering help determine the composition of suspended particulates.