Methods for the Analysis of Time-series of High-resolution Satellite Images for the Assessment of Logging in the Taiga

• Main Authors: BARTALEV S.A., KURYATNIKOVA T.S., STIBIG Hans-Jurgen
• Language: English
• Published: 2005
• Subjects: taiga
• Online Access: https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC31124

Although timber production in Russian forests is of great economic importance, forest logging is a main factor of anthropogenic change in boreal forest ecosystems. Regularly updated information on the scale and the temporal dynamic of these changes is therefore desired. The available historical imagery from the Landsat satellites series provides an unique opportunity for a retrospective analysis of forest cover dynamics in Russian forests resulting from the logging activities of the last two decades. This paper describes possibilities of using a time-series of Landsat images for the mapping and area assessment of forest clear-cuts in the Russian Taiga. The study was carried out for a test site in the Komi Republic, comparing different methods for clear cut detection, based on a multi-temporal set of high-resolution Landsat satellite data. The study examines the potential of such satellite data to assess the long-term impact of logging on forest cover at regional and national levels. JRC.H.3 - Global environement monitoring