ESTIMATING ABOVE GROUND BIOMASS OF PINUS ROXBHURGHII USING SLOPE BASED VEGETATION INDEX MODEL

Abstract. Pinus roxburghii is one of the important and most widely planted tree species in Nepal. Despite its large abundance and high economic values, limited studies on its AGB have been conducted in Nepal, especially using in situ non-destructive method. There are different methods to study the AGB. Regression equation based on the correlation between VI and AGB is cost effective method, and replicable in another sites of similar environment by just acquiring satellite images. Numerous methods have been developed to calculate VIs and each calculated VI shows different relation with AGB in different environments for same species. Therefore, there is a need to identify a most appropriate VI that has the highest correlation with AGB of P. roxburghii. The current study was carried out in Hattiban and Dollu community forests of Kathmandu district, using ResourceSat-2 imagery. In this study, Slope based VIs were used. Regression analysis between slope based VIs and AGB showed that relation between all VIs and AGB were significant. However, NDVI had the highest relation with AGB compared to others. Therefore, it was concluded that NDVI was the most appropriate VI to estimate AGB of P. roxburghii, and the regression equation with NDVI was used to estimate the AGB of P. roxburghii in the study area.