1st Edition

Global Forest Monitoring from Earth Observation

Edited By Frederic Achard, Matthew C. Hansen Copyright 2013
    354 Pages 83 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    354 Pages 83 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    Forests provide a large range of beneficial services, including tangible ones such as timber and recreation, and intangible services such as climate regulation, biodiversity, and watershed protection. On the other hand, forests can also be considered roadblocks to progress that occupy space more productively used for agriculture, making consideration of their regulating services crucial for balancing land use and forest loss. Monitoring forest cover and loss is critical for obtaining the data necessary to help define what is needed to maintain the varying forest service requirements in different parts of the world. There is an increasing need for timely and accurate forest change information, and consequently a greater interest in monitoring those changes.

    Global Forest Monitoring from Earth Observation covers the very recent developments undertaken for monitoring forest areas from global to national levels using Earth observation satellite data. It describes operational tools and systems for monitoring forest ecosystems, discussing why and how researchers currently use remotely sensed data to study forest cover and loss over large areas. The book introduces the role of forests in providing ecosystem services and the need for monitoring their change over time, followed by an overview of the use of earth observation data to support forest monitoring. It discusses general methodological differences, including wall-to-wall mapping and sampling approaches, as well as data availability.

    This book provides excellent coverage of the research and applications of forest monitoring, indicator mapping at coarse spatial resolution, sample-based assessments, and wall-to-wall mapping at medium spatial resolution using optical remote sensing datasets, such as MODIS and Landsat. It examines the use of radar imagery in forest monitoring and presents a number of operational systems, from Brazil’s PRODES and DETER products to Australia’s NCAS system. Written by leading global experts in the field, this book offers a launch point for future advances in satellite-based monitoring of global forest resources. It gives readers a deeper understanding of global forest monitoring methods and shows how state-of-the-art technologies may soon provide key data for creating more balanced policies.

    Why Forest Monitoring Matters for People and the Planet, Ruth DeFries

    Role of Forests and Impact of Deforestation in the Global Carbon Cycle, Richard A. Houghton

    Use of Earth Observation Technology to Monitor Forests over the Globe, Frédéric Achard and Matthew C. Hansen

    Global Data Availability from US Satellites: Landsat and MODIS, Thomas R. Loveland and Matthew C. Hansen

    Sampling Strategies for Forest Monitoring from Global to National Levels, Stephen V. Stehman

    Use of Coarse Resolution Imagery to Identify Hot Spots of Forest Loss at the Global Scale, Matthew C. Hansen, Peter Potapov, and Svetlana Turubanova

    Use of a Systematic Statistical Sample with Moderate Resolution Imagery to Assess Forest Cover Changes at Tropical to Global Scale, Frédéric Achard, Hans-Jürgen Stibig, René Beuchle, Erik Lindquist, and Rémi D’Annunzio

    Monitoring Forest Loss and Degradation at National to Global Scales Using Landsat Data, Peter Potapov, Svetlana Turubanova, Matthew C. Hansen, Ilona Zhuravleva, Alexey Yaroshenko, and Lars Laestadius

    The Brazilian Amazon Monitoring Program: PRODES and DETER Projects, Yosio Edemir Shimabukuro, João Roberto dos Santos, Antonio Roberto Formaggio, Valdete Duarte, and Bernardo Friedrich Theodor Rudorff

    Monitoring of Forest Degradation: A Review of Methods in the Amazon Basin, Carlos Souza Jr.

    Use of Wall-to-Wall Moderate and High-Resolution Satellite Imagery to Monitor Forest Cover Across Europe, Jesús San-Miguel-Ayanz, Daniel McInerney, Fernando Sedano, Peter Strobl, Pieter Kempeneers, Anssi Pekkarinen, and Lucia Seebach

    Monitoring US Forest Dynamics with Landsat, Jeffrey G. Masek and Sean P. Healey

    Long-Term Monitoring of Australian Land Cover Change Using Landsat Data: Development, Implementation, and Operation, Peter Caccetta, Suzanne Furby, Jeremy Wallace, Xiaoliang Wu, Gary Richards, and Robert Waterworth

    Assessment of Burned Forest Areas over the Russian Federation from MODIS and Landsat-TM/ETM+ Imagery, Sergey Bartalev, Vyacheslav Egorov, Victor Efremov, Evgeny Flitman, Evgeny Loupian, and Fedor Stytsenko

    Global Forest Monitoring with Radar (SAR) Data, Richard Lucas, Ake Rosenqvist, Josef Kellndorfer, Dirk Hoekman, Masanobu Shimada, Daniel Clewley, Wayne Walker, and Humberto Navarro de Mesquita Jr.

    Future Perspectives (Way Forward), Alan Belward, Frédéric Achard, Matthew C. Hansen, and Olivier Arino

    Index

    Biography

    Dr. Frédéric Achard is a senior scientist at the Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra, Italy. Having joined the JRC in 1992, he started research over Southeast Asia in the framework of the TREES project. His current research interests include the development of Earth observation techniques for global and regional forest monitoring, and the assessment of the implications of forest cover changes in the tropics and boreal Eurasia on the global carbon budget. Dr. Achard received his Ph.D. in tropical ecology and remote sensing from Toulouse University, Toulouse, France, in 1989. He has co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed papers in leading scientific journals including Nature, Science, International Journal of Remote Sensing, Forest Ecology and Management, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, and Remote Sensing of Environment.

    Dr. Matthew C. Hansen is a professor in the Department of Geographical Sciences at the University of Maryland, College Park. He has a bachelor of electrical engineering degree from Auburn University, Alabama, USA. His graduate degrees include a master of engineering in civil engineering and a master of arts in geography from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a doctoral degree in geography from the University of Maryland, College Park, USA. His research specialization is in large area land cover monitoring using multi-spectral, multi-temporal, and multi-resolution remotely sensed data sets. He is an associate member of the MODIS (moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer) Land Science Team and a member of the GOFC-GOLD Implementation Working Group.

    "This book by Achard and Hansen is timely and most welcome ... . With the help of key international experts, this volume reviews achievements in using a range of satellite data sources and in applying latest developments in remote sensing science. ... this book also constitutes a good base for addressing future needs in terms of technology and novel applications. In addition, the information contained in the impressive list of contributions to this volume significantly adds to the scientific understanding of the role of forest in the earth system. Changes which are currently taking place in many forested areas of the world are rapid; the necessity of providing regular reviews such as the one presented here by Achard and Hansen is, indeed, critical."
    —Jean P. Malingreau, Scientific Adviser, Joint Research Centre, European Commission