Estimation of uneven-aged forest stand parameters, crown closure and land use/cover using the Landsat 8 OLI satellite image

Abstract

This study used the Landsat 8 OLI satellite image and the supervised classification method to estimate uneven-aged forest stand parameters and land use/cover. The spatial success of classification was also investigated. The overall success rates and Kappa values of the classification were, respectively, 74.7% and 0.75 for actual structural type, 84.6% and 0.80 for crown closure, and 88.35% and 0.81 for land use class, whereas the spatial success of classification on the forest cover type map was 36.91% for actual structural type, 64.74% for crown closure, and 41.78% for land use/cover class. The results revealed that the Landsat 8 OLI image can be used to identify stand parameters and land use/cover class. However, because the spatial success rates were below 50% for the actual structural type and land use/cover class of the stand types, it is not suitable for use in spatial classification determination for these classes.