scholarly journals Predictive Modeling of Future Forest Cover Change Patterns in Southern Belize

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 823 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carly Voight ◽  
Karla Hernandez-Aguilar ◽  
Christina Garcia ◽  
Said Gutierrez
Keyword(s):  
Supervised Classification ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Training Data ◽  
Forest Loss ◽  
Landsat 8 ◽  
Forest Cover Change ◽  
Change Analysis

Tropical forests and the biodiversity they contain are declining at an alarming rate throughout the world. Although southern Belize is generally recognized as a highly forested landscape, it is becoming increasingly threatened by unsustainable agricultural practices. Deforestation data allow forest managers to efficiently allocate resources and inform decisions for proper conservation and management. This study utilized satellite imagery to analyze recent forest cover and deforestation in southern Belize to model vulnerability and identify the areas that are the most susceptible to future forest loss. A forest cover change analysis was conducted in Google Earth Engine using a supervised classification of Landsat 8 imagery with ground-truthed land cover points as training data. A multi-layer perceptron neural network model was performed to predict the potential spatial patterns and magnitude of forest loss based on the regional drivers of deforestation. The assessment indicates that the agricultural frontier will continue to expand into recently untouched forests, predicting a decrease from 75.0% mature forest cover in 2016 to 71.9% in 2026. This study represents the most up-to-date assessment of forest cover and the first vulnerability and prediction assessment in southern Belize with immediate applications in conservation planning, monitoring, and management.

scholarly journals Mapping Mangrove Forest Change in Nijhum Dwip Island

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 217-225
Author(s):  
MM Rahman ◽  
MAT Pramanik ◽  
MI Islam ◽  
S Razia
Keyword(s):  
Mangrove Forest ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Storm Surges ◽  
Forest Loss ◽  
Forest Conversion ◽  
Forest Cover Change ◽  
Forest Change ◽  
Change Analysis ◽  
Coastal Belt ◽  
Land Covers

Mangroves have been planting in the coastal belt of Bangladesh to protect the inhabitants of the coastal areas from cyclones and storm surges. Nijhum Dwip is located at the southern part of Hatiya Island. Most part of the island has been planted with the mangroves in the 1970s and 1980s; while parts of the mangroves have been deforested during the past few decades. The objectives of this research were to delineate and quantify the changes in the extent of mangroves in the island. The Landsat data of 1989, 2001, 2010 and 2018 have been utilized in the study. Three major land covers, namely forest, water and other land have been interpreted and delineated by using on-screen digitizing. The quantity of mangrove forest loss in the island is estimated as 1,024 ha, while 395 ha were afforested during 1989-2018. In the decadal change analysis, it was revealed that net forest cover change was higher in 2000s compared to other two decades and it was -425 ha. The result of the study is helpful to understand the extent and pattern of forest conversion in the island and to halt further forest loss and conserve the remaining forest. J. Environ. Sci. & Natural Resources, 11(1-2): 217-225 2018

Quantifying forest loss and forest degradation in Myanmar’s “home of teak”

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-101
Author(s):  
Thu Ya Kyaw ◽  
René H. Germain ◽  
Stephen V. Stehman ◽  
Lindi J. Quackenbush
Keyword(s):  
Supervised Classification ◽  
Landsat Imagery ◽  
Reference Sample ◽  
Tectona Grandis ◽  
Forest Degradation ◽  
Training Data ◽  
Forest Loss ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
And Training

The Bago Mountain Range in Myanmar is known as the “home of teak” (Tectona grandis L. f.) because of its bountiful, naturally growing teak-bearing forests. Accelerating forest loss and degradation are threatening the sustainable production of teak in the region. Changes in land cover between 2000 and 2017 in four reserved forests of the Bago Mountain Range were mapped using supervised classification of Landsat imagery and training data collected in the field. A stratified random sample was used to collect reference data to assess accuracy of the maps and estimate area. Based on the reference sample, it was estimated that the forest area declined from 71 240 ha (standard error (SE) = 1524 ha) in 2000 to 40 891 ha (SE = 4404 ha) in 2017, whereas the area of degraded forests increased from 88 797 ha (SE = 1694 ha) to 97 013 ha (SE = 5395 ha). The annualized rates of gross forest loss and gross forest degradation were 1.03% and 0.97%, respectively, indicating that forest degradation paralleled forest loss. In many degraded areas, there is an opportunity to ameliorate the situation through silviculture. The 2017 map identifies bamboo-dominated degraded forests where enrichment planting or reforestation is recommended.

scholarly journals Forest Cover Change Analysis Using Remote Sensing Techniques in Madhupur Sal Forest of Bangladesh

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-78
Author(s):  
MA Salam ◽  
MAT Pramanik
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Forest Resources ◽  
Forest Monitoring ◽  
Forest Damage ◽  
Landsat 8 ◽  
Forest Cover Change ◽  
Change Analysis ◽  
Sal Forest

Deforestation, degradation, damages, transformation and over exploitation of forests are the common problem in different parts of the world. Timely monitoring and assessment of forest resources may help to address and identify the above mentioned problems and thus proper guidance may be given the forest resources manager for rational planning and management of forests. Apart from the conventional methods of forest monitoring, remote sensing with its unique capability of synoptic viewing, real time and repetitive nature offers a potential tool for monitoring and evaluation of forest resources and hence remote sensing technology has been successfully used in various studies like forest inventory, monitoring of forest cover changes and forest damage assessment. In the present research forest cover change analysis in ‘Madhupur Sal Forest’ located in central part of Bangladesh has been investigated using satellite remote sensing data and spatial analysis. Transformation of ‘Sal forest’ to other landuse has been studied using the Landsat MSS (Multi Spectral Scanner) data of 1973 and Landsat 8 OLI (Operational Land Imager) data of 2015. Driving forces behind the transformation of ‘Sal forest’ has also been investigated through GPS (Global Positioning System) based ground verification and interview with the people living in the locality.J. Environ. Sci. & Natural Resources, 10(2): 73-78 2017

scholarly journals Analysis of Deforested Area Using Google Earth Engine in The Period 2001-2020 In the Apurimac Region

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Walquer Huacani ◽  
Nelson P. Meza ◽  
Franklin Aguirre ◽  
Darío D. Sanchez ◽  
Evelyn N. Luque
Keyword(s):  
Decision Tree ◽  
Supervised Classification ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Environmental Data ◽  
University Of Maryland ◽  
Planetary Scale ◽  
Google Earth Engine ◽  
The University

The objective of this study is to analyze the deforestation of forest cover in the Apurimac region between 2001 and 2020 using the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform, a planetary-scale platform for the analysis of environmental data. The methodology used in the analysis of the deforested area is based on the classification of cover, using a supervised classification method developed by the University of Maryland, based on a "decision tree".

scholarly journals CLASSIFICAÇÃO SUPERVISIONADA DE ÁREA IRRIGADA UTILIZANDO ÍNDICES ESPECTRAIS DE IMAGENS LANDSAT-8 COM GOOGLE EARTH ENGINE

Irriga ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 160-169
Author(s):  
Cesar De Oliveira Ferreira Silva
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Cloud Computing ◽  
Supervised Classification ◽  
Source Code ◽  
Regression Trees ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Landsat 8 ◽  
Classification And Regression ◽  
Google Earth Engine

CLASSIFICAÇÃO SUPERVISIONADA DE ÁREA IRRIGADA UTILIZANDO ÍNDICES ESPECTRAIS DE IMAGENS LANDSAT-8 COM GOOGLE EARTH ENGINE   CÉSAR DE OLIVEIRA FERREIRA SILVA1   1 Departamento de Engenharia Rural, Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) Campus de Botucatu. Avenida Universitária, n° 3780, Altos do Paraíso, CEP: 18610-034, Botucatu – SP, Brasil, e-mail: [email protected].     1 RESUMO   Identificar áreas de irrigação usando imagens de satélite é um desafio que encontra em soluções de computação em nuvem um grande potencial, como na ferramenta Google Earth Engine (GEE), que facilita o processo de busca, filtragem e manipulação de grandes volumes de dados de sensoriamento remoto sem a necessidade de softwares pagos ou de download de imagens. O presente trabalho apresenta uma implementação de classificação supervisionada de áreas irrigadas e não-irrigadas na região de Sorriso e Lucas do Rio Verde/MT com o algoritmo Classification and Regression Trees (CART) em ambiente GEE utilizando as bandas 2-7 do satélite Landsat-8 e os índices NDVI, NDWI e SAVI. A acurácia da classificação supervisionada foi de 99,4% ao utilizar os índices NDWI, NDVI e SAVI e de 98,7% sem utilizar esses índices, todas consideradas excelentes. O tempo de processamento médio, refeito 10 vezes, foi de 52 segundos, considerando todo o código-fonte desenvolvido desde a filtragem das imagens até a conclusão da classificação. O código-fonte desenvolvido é apresentado em anexo de modo a difundir e incentivar o uso do GEE para estudos de inteligência espacial em irrigação e drenagem por sua usabilidade e fácil manipulação.   Keywords: computação em nuvem, sensoriamento remoto, hidrologia, modelagem.     SILVA, C. O .F SUPERVISED CLASSIFICATION OF IRRIGATED AREA USING SPECTRAL INDEXES FROM LANDSAT-8 IMAGES WITH GOOGLE EARTH ENGINE     2 ABSTRACT   Identifying irrigation areas using satellite images is a challenge that finds great potential in cloud computing solutions as the Google Earth Engine (GEE) tool, which facilitates the process of searching, filtering and manipulating large volumes of remote sensing data without the need for paid software or image downloading. The present work presents an implementation of the supervised classification of irrigated and rain-fed areas in the region of Sorriso and Lucas do Rio Verde/MT with the Classification and Regression Trees (CART) algorithm in GEE environment using bands 2-7 of the Landsat- 8 and the NDVI, NDWI and SAVI indices. The accuracy of the supervised classification was 99.4% when using NDWI, NDVI and SAVI indices and 98.7% without using these indices, which were considered excellent. The average processing time, redone 10 times, was 52 seconds, considering all the source code developed from the filtering of the images to the conclusion of the classification. The developed source code is available in the appendix in order to disseminate and encourage the use of GEE for studies of spatial intelligence in irrigation and drainage due to its usability and easy manipulation.   Keywords: cloud computing, remote sensing, hydrology, modeling.

scholarly journals Supervised classification of slush and ponded water on Antarctic ice shelves using Landsat 8 imagery

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Rebecca L. Dell ◽  
Alison F. Banwell ◽  
Ian C. Willis ◽  
Neil S. Arnold ◽  
Anna Ruth W. Halberstadt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Supervised Classification ◽  
Clustering Algorithm ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Expert Elicitation ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Landsat 8 ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Ice Shelves ◽  
Air Content

Abstract Surface meltwater is becoming increasingly widespread on Antarctic ice shelves. It is stored within surface ponds and streams, or within firn pore spaces, which may saturate to form slush. Slush can reduce firn air content, increasing an ice-shelf's vulnerability to break-up. To date, no study has mapped the changing extent of slush across ice shelves. Here, we use Google Earth Engine and Landsat 8 images from six ice shelves to generate training classes using a k-means clustering algorithm, which are used to train a random forest classifier to identify both slush and ponded water. Validation using expert elicitation gives accuracies of 84% and 82% for the ponded water and slush classes, respectively. Errors result from subjectivity in identifying the ponded water/slush boundary, and from inclusion of cloud and shadows. We apply our classifier to the Roi Baudouin Ice Shelf for the entire 2013–20 Landsat 8 record. On average, 64% of all surface meltwater is classified as slush and 36% as ponded water. Total meltwater areal extent is greatest between late January and mid-February. This highlights the importance of mapping slush when studying surface meltwater on ice shelves. Future research will apply the classifier across all Antarctic ice shelves.

scholarly journals Assessment of Forest Cover Change of Dang, an Inner Terai District of Nepal

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-51
Author(s):  
Yam Bahadur K.C.
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Supervised Classification ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Forest Land ◽  
Forest Cover Change ◽  
Change Analysis ◽  
Landsat Tm Image ◽  
Tm Image ◽  
Dense Forest

This study analyzed the dynamics of changes of forest cover classes in the inner Terai District Dang, Nepal, based on Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) images from two different years, viz., 1990 and 2011. Forest cover change analysis was performed through the analysis of a classified Landsat TM image using supervised classification. The overall classification accuracy for seven different land cover classes considered in this study were 80.37% and 80.56% for years 1990 and 2011, respectively. These classified images were further reclassified as forest and non-forest to analyze forest cover dynamics effectively using the post classification change detection. The results indicated that during 1990-2011, the total spatial areal coverage of forest land converted into other land cover was 20612 ha (shrub-land), 8571 ha (agriculture), and 2787 ha (others) non-forest classes. A significant portion of non-forest classes was also converted into forest (e.g., 11433 ha of shrubland, 5663 ha of agriculture, and 5581 ha of other non forest classes). Sand and water bodies remained more or less constant during this period. While forest cover was estimated to be disappearing at the rate of 0.2% per year, dense forest appears to be converting into a sparse forest at the rate of 0.1% per year. Future study to assess the causes and driving forces of forest cover change in Nepal should get guidance from this study on where to target interventions.

scholarly journals Pixel- vs. Object-Based Landsat 8 Data Classification in Google Earth Engine Using Random Forest: The Case Study of Maiella National Park

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 2299
Author(s):  
Andrea Tassi ◽  
Daniela Gigante ◽  
Giuseppe Modica ◽  
Luciano Di Martino ◽  
Marco Vizzari
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
National Park ◽  
Time Window ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Data Cube ◽  
Landsat 8 ◽  
Change Analysis ◽  
Object Based ◽  
Google Earth Engine

With the general objective of producing a 2018–2020 Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) map of the Maiella National Park (central Italy), useful for a future long-term LULC change analysis, this research aimed to develop a Landsat 8 (L8) data composition and classification process using Google Earth Engine (GEE). In this process, we compared two pixel-based (PB) and two object-based (OB) approaches, assessing the advantages of integrating the textural information in the PB approach. Moreover, we tested the possibility of using the L8 panchromatic band to improve the segmentation step and the object’s textural analysis of the OB approach and produce a 15-m resolution LULC map. After selecting the best time window of the year to compose the base data cube, we applied a cloud-filtering and a topography-correction process on the 32 available L8 surface reflectance images. On this basis, we calculated five spectral indices, some of them on an interannual basis, to account for vegetation seasonality. We added an elevation, an aspect, a slope layer, and the 2018 CORINE Land Cover classification layer to improve the available information. We applied the Gray-Level Co-Occurrence Matrix (GLCM) algorithm to calculate the image’s textural information and, in the OB approaches, the Simple Non-Iterative Clustering (SNIC) algorithm for the image segmentation step. We performed an initial RF optimization process finding the optimal number of decision trees through out-of-bag error analysis. We randomly distributed 1200 ground truth points and used 70% to train the RF classifier and 30% for the validation phase. This subdivision was randomly and recursively redefined to evaluate the performance of the tested approaches more robustly. The OB approaches performed better than the PB ones when using the 15 m L8 panchromatic band, while the addition of textural information did not improve the PB approach. Using the panchromatic band within an OB approach, we produced a detailed, 15-m resolution LULC map of the study area.

scholarly journals Qualifying Land Use and Land Cover Dynamics and Their Impacts on Ecosystem Service in Central Himalaya Transboundary Landscape Based on Google Earth Engine

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 173
Author(s):  
Changjun Gu ◽  
Yili Zhang ◽  
Linshan Liu ◽  
Lanhui Li ◽  
Shicheng Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Forest Cover Change ◽  
Sacred Landscape ◽  
Lulc Changes ◽  
Google Earth Engine

Land use and land cover (LULC) changes are regarded as one of the key drivers of ecosystem services degradation, especially in mountain regions where they may provide various ecosystem services to local livelihoods and surrounding areas. Additionally, ecosystems and habitats extend across political boundaries, causing more difficulties for ecosystem conservation. LULC in the Kailash Sacred Landscape (KSL) has undergone obvious changes over the past four decades; however, the spatiotemporal changes of the LULC across the whole of the KSL are still unclear, as well as the effects of LULC changes on ecosystem service values (ESVs). Thus, in this study we analyzed LULC changes across the whole of the KSL between 2000 and 2015 using Google Earth Engine (GEE) and quantified their impacts on ESVs. The greatest loss in LULC was found in forest cover, which decreased from 5443.20 km2 in 2000 to 5003.37 km2 in 2015 and which mainly occurred in KSL-Nepal. Meanwhile, the largest growth was observed in grassland (increased by 548.46 km2), followed by cropland (increased by 346.90 km2), both of which mainly occurred in KSL-Nepal. Further analysis showed that the expansions of cropland were the major drivers of the forest cover change in the KSL. Furthermore, the conversion of cropland to shrub land indicated that farmland abandonment existed in the KSL during the study period. The observed forest degradation directly influenced the ESV changes in the KSL. The total ESVs in the KSL decreased from 36.53 × 108 USD y−1 in 2000 to 35.35 × 108 USD y−1 in 2015. Meanwhile, the ESVs of the forestry areas decreased by 1.34 × 108 USD y−1. This shows that the decrease of ESVs in forestry was the primary cause to the loss of total ESVs and also of the high elasticity. Our findings show that even small changes to the LULC, especially in forestry areas, are noteworthy as they could induce a strong ESV response.

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