Abstract
Windthrow and storm damage are crucial issues in practical forestry. We propose a method for rapid detection of windthrow hotspots in airborne digital orthophotos. Therefore, we apply Haralick’s texture features on 50 × 50 m cells of the orthophotos and classify the cells with a random forest algorithm. We apply the classification results from a training data set on a validation set. The overall classification accuracy of the proposed method varies between 76% for fine distinction of the cells and 96% for a distinction level that tried to detect only severe damaged cells. The proposed method enables the rapid detection of windthrow hotspots in forests immediately after their occurrence in single-date data. It is not adequate for the determination of areas with only single fallen trees. Future research will investigate the possibilities and limitations when applying the method on other data sources (e.g., optical satellite data).
Highlights
Wind is a major forest disturbance agent and a key component of the forest dynamics in many forest ecosystems, in temperate forests [1,2,3]
According to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), such extreme events will become more frequent in the future as climate change progresses [6]
The main aim of this study is the automated detection of windthrow “hotspots” in digital airborne photographs with a high spatial resolution by application of Haralick’s texture features
Summary
Wind is a major forest disturbance agent and a key component of the forest dynamics in many forest ecosystems, in temperate forests [1,2,3]. For forest management, it is necessary to obtain precise information about the areas where storm events have caused windthrow damage This information is relevant for several reasons, such as for forest protection in managed forests, as well as for understanding the growth processes after disturbances in unmanaged forests [4,5]. Regarding the parameter “applied remote sensing data”, two main subcategories can be distinguished that have been used to detect windthrow damages: The first subcategory is “data from satellite systems”. These are mostly radar data or optical satellite data with different resolutions on the ground.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
