Abstract
This study is a part of a research program that investigates the potential of RapidEye (RE) satellite data for timely updates of forest cover databases to reflect both regular management activities and sudden changes due to bark beetle and storms. Applied here in the Bavarian Forest National Park (BFNP) in southeastern Germany, this approach detected even small changes between two data takes, thus, facilitating documentation of regular management activities. In the case of a sudden event, forest cover databases also serve as a baseline for damage assessment. A storm event, which occurred on 13 July, 2011, provided the opportunity to assess the effectiveness of multi-seasonal RE data for rapid damage assessment. Images of sufficient quality (<20% cloud cover) acquired one day before the storm event were used as a baseline. Persistent cloud cover meant that the first “after event” image of sufficient quality was acquired six weeks later, on 22 August, 2011. Aerial images (AI) for the official damage assessment done by the BFNP administration were acquired on that same day. The RE analysis for damage assessment was completed two weeks after the post-event data take with an overall accuracy of 96% and a kappa coefficient of 0.86. In contrast, the official aerial image survey from the BFNP was first released in late November, eleven weeks later. Comparison of the results from the two analyses showed a difference in the detected amount of forest cover loss of only 3%. The estimated cost of the RE approach was four times less than that of the standard digital AI procedure employed by the BFNP.
Highlights
In Central Europe, the most important natural disturbances in forests are storm events [1,2].Disastrous events of, at least, “regional” dimensions have the potential to destabilize the timber market and trigger subsequent biotic calamities
In order to determine the amount of forest cover lost using the multi-seasonal RapidEye data, the problem of cloud cover in the images had to be overcome
This study investigated the feasibility of updating forest cover databases in cases of both regular management activities and sudden events that cause changes in forest cover, such as bark beetle attacks and storm events, by means of RE satellite data
Summary
Disastrous events of, at least, “regional” dimensions have the potential to destabilize the timber market and trigger subsequent biotic calamities. Such event sequences occurred in 1991 and 1999 following the storms “Vivian/Wiebke” and “Lothar” in Southern and Southwestern Germany respectively. Forest area depletion must be recorded and spatially located in order to delineate drivers, pressures, threats and impacts, and to issue warning signals and take mitigation actions wherever appropriate [6]. This requires baseline data on forest cover, generally acquired from forest management databases.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.