Abstract
Effective forest management is predicated on accurate information pertaining to the characteristics and condition of forests. Unfortunately, ground-based information that accurately describes the complex spatial and contextual nature of forests across broad landscapes is cost prohibitive to collect. In this case study we address technical challenges associated with estimating forest characteristics from remotely sensed data by incorporating field plot layouts specifically designed for calibrating models from such data, applying new image normalization procedures to bring images of varying spatial resolutions to a common radiometric scale, and implementing an ensemble generalized additive modeling technique. Image normalization and ensemble models provided accurate estimates of forest types, presence/absence of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris), and tree basal areas and tree densities over a large segment of the panhandle of Florida, USA. This study overcomes several of the major barriers associated with linking remotely sensed imagery with plot data to estimate key forest characteristics over large areas.
Highlights
Longleaf ecosystems are some of the most endangered forest ecosystems in the world [1].Historically, these ecosystems covered approximately 37 million ha in the southeast United States of America (USA) and provided habitat for a wide range of plants and animals owing to their unique structure and adaptations to fire
We present a case study that: (1) used field plots and multiple sources of remotely sensed data to convert spectral data into products to inform silviculture and forest management, (2) developed and applied new techniques for normalizing multi-spectral imagery obtained at various spatial resolutions and extents, (3) evaluated the impact of image normalization on mapping key forest characteristics, and (4) implemented an ensemble modeling approach to estimate key forest metrics and measures of estimation error
The Apalachicola Significant Geographic Area (ASGA) is a large geographic area in the panhandle of Florida, USA, that consists of approximately 2 million ha of public and private land holdings (Figure 1)
Summary
Longleaf ecosystems are some of the most endangered forest ecosystems in the world [1].Historically, these ecosystems covered approximately 37 million ha in the southeast United States of America (USA) and provided habitat for a wide range of plants and animals owing to their unique structure and adaptations to fire. Due to many anthropogenic factors such as land use change, the suppression of fire on the landscape, over-harvesting of timber, and the replacement of longleaf pine with faster growing loblolly (Pinus taeda) and slash (Pinus elliottii) pines, less than 1.5 million ha of longleaf pine remain [2]. Because of this dramatic loss of habitat there has been a recent resurgence in longleaf ecosystem restoration and conservation that calls for more than doubling the existing area covered by longleaf ecosystems by 2024 [3].
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