This work reports an attempt to make use of the indigenously developed high resolution IRS-1C satellite imagery to generate a database, including expertize from different organizations involved in floral, soil, microbial, hydro, socio-economic and geological fields. In the absence of large scale topographic maps, high resolution precision geocoded PAN + LISS-III imageries at 1 : 12,500 were used.

Soil respiration (RS) is the flux of microbial- and plant-respired carbon dioxide from the soil surface to the atmosphere, and constitutes the second-largest terrestrial carbon flux. It has been suggested that RS should change with climate, but this has been difficult to confirm observationally.

The carbon dioxide generated underground by plants and microbes and released into the atmosphere

Based on established linkages between ferrimagnetism and heavy metal concentration of anthropogenic particulates, we attempt here to delineate pollutant residing domains and study the role of surface runoff and
wind circulations over its redistribution in the Pune Metropolitan Region (PMR) in Maharashtra.

A study suggests that trees can act like chimneys, moving methane gas produced by soil microbes up through roots, stems and leaves before releasing it into the atmosphere. This effect could account for as much as 10% of methane emissions globally2. It could also help to explain why methane fluxes are higher than expected in wet tropical regions.

Precise characterization and inventorization of soil resource of Moolbari watershed was undertaken using satellite imagery and Survey of India toposheets to generate several layers of maps such as watershed boundary, drainage, soils, land use and land cover, physiography, slope and soil erosion using Geographic Information System technique.

Barren soil undergoes several changes in its physical and chemical properties when brought under tree cover. Trees influence the soil by providing shade and litter at the surface and through their roots in the sub-surface layers.

The Kyoto Protocol has made carbon a tradable commodity which signifies the value of forest carbon budgets and the need for understanding factors influencing them. For measuring future consequences of changes in land usage, current level of carbon emission and future patten needs scientific evaluation, if forest based climate mitigation strategy is to be developed.

In the present study, efforts have been made to identify and map areas affected by various soil degradation processes in Hanumangarh district of western Rajasthan. Soil degradation processes were identified by using IRS-1B satellite image of the year 1998, SOI topsheets, ground truth verification and soil studies.

The process of development of copper mine spoils has been examined taking spatial pattern of pH and organic matter as variables. Some other ecological factors like spoil physico-chemical properties, vegetation cover etc. have also been studied to understand the process of succession.