Rapid assessment of wind storm-caused forest damage using satellite images and stand-wise forest inventory data

doi:10.3832/ifor0715-006

Rapid assessment of wind storm-caused forest damage using satellite images and stand-wise forest inventory data

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 6, Issue 3, Pages 150-155 (2013)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor0715-006
Published: Apr 08, 2013 - Copyright © 2013 SISEF

Research Articles

Collection/Special Issue: IUFRO 7.01.00 - COST Action FP0903, Kaunas (Lithuania - 2012)
Biological Reactions of Forest to Climate Change and Air Pollution
Guest Editors: Elena Paoletti, Andrzej Bytnerowicz, Algirdas Augustaitis

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This paper introduces a method for rapid forest damage assessment using satellite images and stand-wise forest inventory data. Two Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) images from June and September 2010 and data from a forest stand register developed within the frameworks of conventional stand-wise forest inventories in Lithuania were used to assess the forest damage caused by wind storms that occurred on August 8, 2010. Satellite images were geometrically and radiometrically corrected. The percentage of damage in terms of wind-fallen or broken tree volume was then predicted for each forest compartment within the zone potentially affected by the wind storm, using the non-parametric k-nearest neighbor technique. Satellite imagery-based difference images and general forest stand characteristics from the stand register were used as the auxiliary data sets for prediction. All auxiliary data were available from existing databases, and therefore did not involve any added data acquisition costs. Simultaneously, aerial photography of the area damaged by the wind storm was carried-out and color infrared (CIR) orthophotos with a resolution of 0.5 x 0.5 m were produced. A precise manual interpretation of the effects of the wind storm was used to validate satellite image-based estimates. The total wind damaged volume in pine dominating forest (~1.180.000 m³) was underestimated by 2.2%, in predominantly spruce stands (~233.000 m³) by 2.6% and in predominantly deciduous stands (~195.000 m³) by 4.2%, compared to validation data. The overall accuracy of identification of wind-damaged areas was around 95-98%, based solely on difference data from satellite images gathered on two dates.

Keywords

Forest Damage, Satellite Images, Change Detection, k-Nearest Neighbour

Authors’ address

(1)

Laboratory of Geomatics, Institute of Land Management and Geomatics, Aleksandras Stulginskis University, Studentu 11, LT-53361 Akademija, Kaunas distr. (Lithuania)

(2)

Institute of Forest Management and Wood Science, Aleksandras Stulginskis University, Studentu 11, LT-53361 Akademija, Kaunas distr. (Lithuania)

Corresponding author

D Jonikavičius
donatas.jonikavicius@asu.lt

Citation

Jonikavičius D, Mozgeris G (2013). Rapid assessment of wind storm-caused forest damage using satellite images and stand-wise forest inventory data. iForest 6: 150-155. - doi: 10.3832/ifor0715-006

Academic Editor

Agostino Ferrara

Paper history

Received: Jul 31, 2012
Accepted: Feb 26, 2013

First online: Apr 08, 2013
Publication Date: Jun 01, 2013
Publication Time: 1.37 months

Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

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