Remote Sensing as a Tool for Mangrove Ecosystem Mapping and Monitoring: On Sundarbans' Perspective

Mangrove ecosystems are one of the most vital ecological and economic ecosystems found over the tropics and sub-tropics. From providing a habitat to several mammalians, avian, reptilian and fish species, these ecosystem types also have an immense socio-economic value. Yet the mangrove ecosystems are also one of the most vulnerable and sensitive ecosystems around the world. Mangrove ecosystems are highly endangered to long-term climate change scenarios, sea-level rise, drastic weather conditions like cyclones and storm surges and immense anthropogenic stress in the form of deforestation. Sundarbans is the biggest mangrove forest in the world. Located within the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta, the Sundarbans mangrove forest remains threatened due to the immense inundation, increasing salinity gradients and population pressure, making management and monitoring of these ecosystems immensely important. The development of remote sensing techniques over the past decades has proved to have a high potential for detection, monitoring and mapping of mangroves and the overall health of the mangrove ecosystem. In this chapter, we discuss the application of different remote sensing techniques for mangrove based studies, throwing light on the various remote sensing tools, sensors, indices and techniques used for monitoring of the Sundarbans mangroves over the past few years.