scholarly journals Use of SAR and Optical Time Series for Tropical Forest Disturbance Mapping

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuela Hirschmugl ◽  
Janik Deutscher ◽  
Carina Sobe ◽  
Alexandre Bouvet ◽  
Stéphane Mermoz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Patch Size ◽  
Forest Disturbance ◽  
Optical Data ◽  
Landsat 8 ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Disturbed Forest ◽  
Optical Time ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Sentinel 2

Frequent cloud cover and fast regrowth often hamper topical forest disturbance monitoring with optical data. This study aims at overcoming these limitations by combining dense time series of optical (Sentinel-2 and Landsat 8) and SAR data (Sentinel-1) for forest disturbance mapping at test sites in Peru and Gabon. We compare the accuracies of the individual disturbance maps from optical and SAR time series with the accuracies of the combined map. We further evaluate the detection accuracies by disturbance patch size and by an area-based sampling approach. The results show that the individual optical and SAR based forest disturbance detections are highly complementary, and their combination improves all accuracy measures. The overall accuracies increase by about 3% in both areas, producer accuracies of the disturbed forest class increase by up to 25% in Peru when compared to only using one sensor type. The assessment by disturbance patch size shows that the amount of detections of very small disturbances (< 0.2 ha) can almost be doubled by using both data sets: for Gabon 30% as compared to 15.7–17.5%, for Peru 80% as compared to 48.6–65.7%.

scholarly journals Predicting Forest Cover in Distinct Ecosystems: The Potential of Multi-Source Sentinel-1 and -2 Data Fusion

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Heckel ◽  
Marcel Urban ◽  
Patrick Schratz ◽  
Miguel Mahecha ◽  
Christiane Schmullius
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Time Series ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Short Wave ◽  
Optical Data ◽  
Biophysical Parameters ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Area Index ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Sentinel 2

The fusion of microwave and optical data sets is expected to provide great potential for the derivation of forest cover around the globe. As Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 are now both operating in twin mode, they can provide an unprecedented data source to build dense spatial and temporal high-resolution time series across a variety of wavelengths. This study investigates (i) the ability of the individual sensors and (ii) their joint potential to delineate forest cover for study sites in two highly varied landscapes located in Germany (temperate dense mixed forests) and South Africa (open savanna woody vegetation and forest plantations). We used multi-temporal Sentinel-1 and single time steps of Sentinel-2 data in combination to derive accurate forest/non-forest (FNF) information via machine-learning classifiers. The forest classification accuracies were 90.9% and 93.2% for South Africa and Thuringia, respectively, estimated while using autocorrelation corrected spatial cross-validation (CV) for the fused data set. Sentinel-1 only classifications provided the lowest overall accuracy of 87.5%, while Sentinel-2 based classifications led to higher accuracies of 91.9%. Sentinel-2 short-wave infrared (SWIR) channels, biophysical parameters (Leaf Area Index (LAI), and Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR)) and the lower spectrum of the Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) time series were found to be most distinctive in the detection of forest cover. In contrast to homogenous forests sites, Sentinel-1 time series information improved forest cover predictions in open savanna-like environments with heterogeneous regional features. The presented approach proved to be robust and it displayed the benefit of fusing optical and SAR data at high spatial resolution.

scholarly journals Mapping Forest Disturbance Due to Selective Logging in the Congo Basin with RADARSAT-2 Time Series

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 740
Author(s):  
Oleg Antropov ◽  
Yrjö Rauste ◽  
Jaan Praks ◽  
Frank Martin Seifert ◽  
Tuomas Häme
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Change Detection ◽  
Forest Disturbance ◽  
Selective Logging ◽  
Congo Basin ◽  
Optical Data ◽  
Textural Features ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Disturbed Forest ◽  
Log Ratio

Dense time series of stripmap RADARSAT-2 data acquired in the Multilook Fine mode were used for detecting and mapping the extent of selective logging operations in the tropical forest area in the northern part of the Republic of the Congo. Due to limited radiometric sensitivity to forest biomass variation at C-band, basic multitemporal change detection approach was supplemented by spatial texture analysis to separate disturbed forest from intact. The developed technique primarily uses multi-temporal aggregation of orthorectified synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery that are acquired before and after the logging operations. The actual change analysis is based on textural features of the log-ratio image calculated using two SAR temporal composites compiled of SAR scenes acquired before and after the logging operations. Multitemporal aggregation and filtering of SAR scenes decreased speckle and made the extracted textural features more prominent. The overall detection accuracy was around 80%, with some underestimation of the area of forest disturbance compared to reference based on optical data. The user’s accuracy for disturbed forest varied from 76.7% to 94.9% depending on the accuracy assessment approach. We conclude that change detection utilizing RADARSAT-2 time series represents a useful instrument to locate areas of selective logging in tropical forests.

Mapping and monitoring of landslide-dammed lakes using Sentinel-2 time series - a case study after the 2016 Kaikōura Earthquake in New Zealand

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorena Abad ◽  
Daniel Hölbling ◽  
Raphael Spiekermann ◽  
Zahra Dabiri ◽  
Günther Prasicek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Aerial Photographs ◽  
Optical Data ◽  
Landsat 8 ◽  
Multiple Time ◽  
Potential Hazard ◽  
Sentinel 2

&lt;p&gt;On November 14, 2016, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the Kaik&amp;#333;ura region on the South Island of New Zealand. The event triggered numerous landslides, which dammed rivers in the area and led to the formation of hundreds of dammed lakes. Landslide-dammed lakes constitute a natural risk, given their propensity to breach, which can lead to flooding of downstream settlements and infrastructure. Hence, detecting and monitoring dammed lakes is a key step for risk management strategies. Aerial photographs and helicopter reconnaissance are frequently used for damage assessments following natural hazard events. However, repeated acquisitions of aerial photographs and on-site examinations are time-consuming and expensive. Moreover, such assessments commonly only take place immediately after an event, and long-term monitoring is rarely performed at larger scales.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Satellite imagery can support mapping and monitoring tasks by providing an overview of the affected area in multiple time steps following the main triggering event without deploying major resources. In this study, we present an automated approach to detect landslide-dammed lakes using Sentinel-2 optical data through the Google Earth Engine (GEE). Our approach consists of a water detection algorithm adapted from Donchyts et al., 2016 [1], where a dynamic threshold is applied to the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI). The water bodies are detected on pre- and post-event monthly mosaics, where the cloud coverage of the composed images is below 30 %, resulting in one pre-event (December 2015) and 14 post-event monthly mosaics. Subsequently, a differencing change detection method is performed between pre- and post-event mosaics. This allows for continuous monitoring of the lake status, and for the detection of new lakes forming in the area at different points in time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;A random sample of lakes delineated from Google Earth high-resolution imagery, acquired right after the Kaik&amp;#333;ura earthquake, was used for validation. The pixels categorized as &amp;#8216;dammed lakes&amp;#8217; were intersected with the validation data set, resulting in a detection rate of 70 % of the delineated lakes. Ten key dams, identified by local authorities as a potential hazard, were further examined and monitored to identify lake area changes in multiple time steps, from December 2016 to March 2019. Taking advantage of the GEE cloud computing capabilities, the proposed automated approach allows fast time series analysis of large areas. It can be applied to other regions where landslide-dammed lakes need to be monitored over long time scales (months &amp;#8211; years). Furthermore, the approach could be combined with outburst flood modeling and simulation to support initial rapid risk assessment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;[1]&amp;#160;&amp;#160; Donchyts, G., Schellekens, J., Winsemius, H., Eisemann, E., &amp; van de Giesen, N. (2016). A 30 m resolution surface water mask including estimation of positional and thematic differences using Landsat 8, SRTM and OpenStreetMap: A case study in the Murray-Darling basin, Australia. Remote Sensing, 8(5).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;div&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;

scholarly journals Potential of Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 Data for Mapping Irrigated Areas at Plot Scale

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassan Bazzi ◽  
Nicolas Baghdadi ◽  
Dino Ienco ◽  
Mehrez Zribi ◽  
Hatem Belhouchette
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Optical Data ◽  
Irrigation Performance ◽  
Mathematical Functions ◽  
Ndvi Time Series ◽  
Optical Time ◽  
Sentinel 2

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Potential of Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data for Mapping Irrigated areas at plot scale&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hassan Bazzi &lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;, Nicolas Baghdadi &lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;, Dino Ienco &lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;, Mehrez Zribi &lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;, Hatem Belhouchette &lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Irrigation plays a significant role in agricultural production in order to meet the global food requirement under changing climatic conditions. To fulfill the high demand for food with an ever-increasing global population, better planning of irrigation is required. Therefore, more focus is being set on the assessment of irrigation performance for improving water management in order to achieve higher water productivity and increase agricultural water sustainability.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the context of mapping irrigated areas, we propose an innovative approach to map irrigated areas using Sentinel-1 (S1) SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) and Sentinel-2 (S2) optical time series. Our proposed approach is based on the use of S1 and/or S2 time series combined with statistical and mathematical functions such as principal component analysis (PCA) and wavelet transformation (WT). The proposed approach was tested over the Catalonia region, Spain with a dataset containing 126 000 irrigated and 67 000 non-irrigated plots. The novelty of our study resides in eliminating the ambiguity between irrigation and rainfall by comparing between the SAR backscattering signal of each plot and that of the corresponding grid (10 km &amp;#215; 10 km). The potential of S2 images to classify irrigated areas by means of NDVI time series was also investigated in this study. Random forest (RF) and convolutional neural network (CNN) approaches were used to build up classification models using the PCA or WT parameters in three different scenarios: The first using only S1 data, the second using only S2 data, and the third using both S1 and S2 data.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The RF classifiers built using the PCA or WT on the S1 time series perform well in mapping irrigated areas with an accuracy of 90.7% and 89.1% respectively. However, the CNN classification on the S1 temporal series produces a significant overall accuracy of 94.1%. The overall accuracy obtained using the NDVI time series in RF classifier reached 89.5% while that in the CNN reached 91.6%. Finally, the combined use of the SAR and optical data enhanced the accuracy of the RF classification but did not significantly change the overall accuracy of the CNN model.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Comparison of Multi-Temporal PlanetScope Data with Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2 Data for Estimating Airborne LiDAR Derived Canopy Height in Temperate Forests

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1876 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katsuto Shimizu ◽  
Tetsuji Ota ◽  
Nobuya Mizoue ◽  
Hideki Saito
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Prediction Accuracy ◽  
Time Series Data ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
Canopy Height ◽  
Forest Monitoring ◽  
Series Data ◽  
Landsat 8 ◽  
Multi Temporal ◽  
Sentinel 2

Developing accurate methods for estimating forest structures is essential for efficient forest management. The high spatial and temporal resolution data acquired by CubeSat satellites have desirable characteristics for mapping large-scale forest structural attributes. However, most studies have used a median composite or single image for analyses. The multi-temporal use of CubeSat data may improve prediction accuracy. This study evaluates the capabilities of PlanetScope CubeSat data to estimate canopy height derived from airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) by comparing estimates using Sentinel-2 and Landsat 8 data. Random forest (RF) models using a single composite, multi-seasonal composites, and time-series data were investigated at different spatial resolutions of 3, 10, 20, and 30 m. The highest prediction accuracy was obtained by the PlanetScope multi-seasonal composites at 3 m (relative root mean squared error: 51.3%) and Sentinel-2 multi-seasonal composites at the other spatial resolutions (40.5%, 35.2%, and 34.2% for 10, 20, and 30 m, respectively). The results show that RF models using multi-seasonal composites are 1.4% more accurate than those using harmonic metrics from time-series data in the median. PlanetScope is recommended for canopy height mapping at finer spatial resolutions. However, the unique characteristics of PlanetScope data in a spatial and temporal context should be further investigated for operational forest monitoring.

scholarly journals Fusing Geostationary Satellite Observations with Harmonized Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 Time Series for Monitoring Field-Scale Land Surface Phenology

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 4465
Author(s):  
Yu Shen ◽  
Xiaoyang Zhang ◽  
Weile Wang ◽  
Ramakrishna Nemani ◽  
Yongchang Ye ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Cloud Cover ◽  
Landsat 8 ◽  
Field Scale ◽  
Spatiotemporal Resolution ◽  
Essential Information ◽  
Land Surface Phenology ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Sentinel 2

Accurate and timely land surface phenology (LSP) provides essential information for investigating the responses of terrestrial ecosystems to climate changes and quantifying carbon and surface energy cycles on the Earth. LSP has been widely investigated using daily Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) or Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) observations, but the resultant phenometrics are frequently influenced by surface heterogeneity and persistent cloud contamination in the time series observations. Recently, LSP has been derived from Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 time series providing detailed spatial pattern, but the results are of high uncertainties because of poor temporal resolution. With the availability of data from Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) onboard a new generation of geostationary satellites that observe the earth every 10–15 min, daily cloud-free time series could be obtained with high opportunities. Therefore, this study investigates the generation of synthetic high spatiotemporal resolution time series by fusing the harmonized Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 (HLS) time series with the temporal shape of ABI data for monitoring field-scale (30 m) LSP. The algorithm is verified by detecting the timings of greenup and senescence onsets around north Wisconsin/Michigan states, United States, where cloud cover is frequent during spring rainy season. The LSP detections from HLS-ABI are compared with those from HLS or ABI alone and are further evaluated using PhenoCam observations. The result indicates that (1) ABI could provide ~3 times more high-quality observations than HLS around spring greenup onset; (2) the greenup and senescence onsets derived from ABI and HLS-ABI are spatially consistent and statistically comparable with a median difference less than 1 and 10-days, respectively; (3) greenup and senescence onsets derived from HLS data show sharp boundaries around the orbit-overlapped areas and shifts of ~13 days delay and ~15 days ahead, respectively, relative to HLS-ABI detections; and (4) HLS-ABI greenup and senescence onsets align closely to PhenoCam observations with an absolute average difference of less than 2 days and 5 days, respectively, which are much better than phenology detections from ABI or HLS alone. The result suggests that the proposed approach could be implemented the monitor of 30 m LSP over regions with persistent cloud cover.

Phenology Modelling and Forest Disturbance Mapping with Sentinel-2 time series in Austria

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Löw ◽  
Koukal Tatjana
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Bark Beetle ◽  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Forest Disturbance ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Data Access ◽  
Forest Monitoring ◽  
Forest Disturbances ◽  
Disturbance Dynamics ◽  
Sentinel 2

Abstract Background Worldwide, forests provide natural resources and ecosystem services. However, forest ecosystems are threatened by increasing forest disturbance dynamics, caused by direct human activities or an altering natural environment. It is decisive to trace the intra- to trans-annual dynamics of these forest ecosystems. National to local forest communities request detailed area-wide maps that delineate forest disturbance dynamics at various spatial scales. Methods We developed a remote sensing based time series analysis (TSA) framework that comprises data access, data management, image pre-processing, and an advanced but flexible TSA. The data basis is a dense time series of multispectral Sentinel-2 images with a spatial resolution of 10 metres. We use a dynamic Savitzky-Golay-filtering approach to reconstruct robust but sensitive phenology courses. Deviations from the latter are further used to derive spatiotemporal information on forest disturbances. In a first case study, we apply the TSA to map forest disturbances directly or indirectly linked to recurring bark beetle infestation in Northern Austria. Finally, we use zonal statistics on different spatial scales to provide aggregated information on the extent of forest disturbances between 2018 and 2019.Results and Conclusion The outcomes are a) individual phenology models and deduced phenology metrics for each 10 metres by 10 metres forest pixel in Austria and b) forest disturbance maps useful to investigate the occurrence, development and extent of bark beetle infestation. The phenology modelling results provide area-wide consistent data, also useful for downstream analyses (e.g. forest type classification). Results of the forest disturbance detection demonstrate that the TSA is capable to systematically delineate disturbed forest areas. Information derived from such a forest monitoring tool is highly relevant for various stakeholders in the forestry sector, either for forest management purposes or for decision-making processes on different levels.

scholarly journals Characterizing over Four Decades of Forest Disturbance in Minnesota, USA

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jody Vogeler ◽  
Robert Slesak ◽  
Patrick Fekety ◽  
Michael Falkowski
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Forest Disturbance ◽  
Temporal Trends ◽  
Land Protection ◽  
Commission Errors ◽  
Protection Information ◽  
Disturbed Forest ◽  
Agent Of Change

Spatial information about disturbance driven patterns of forest structure and ages across landscapes provide a valuable resource for all land management efforts including cross-ownership collaborative forest treatments and restoration. While disturbance events in general are known to impact stand characteristics, the agent of change may also influence recovery and the supply of ecosystem services. Our study utilizes the full extent of the Landsat archive to identify the timing, extent, magnitude, and agent, of the most recent fast disturbance event for all forested lands within Minnesota, USA. To account for the differences in the Landsat sensors through time, specifically the coarser spatial, spectral, and radiometric resolutions of the early MSS sensors, we employed a two-step approach, first harmonizing spectral indices across the Landsat sensors, then applying a segmentation algorithm to fit temporal trends to the time series to identify abrupt forest disturbance events. We further incorporated spectral, topographic, and land protection information in our classification of the agent of change for all disturbance patches. After allowing two years for the time series to stabilize, we were able to identify the most recent fast disturbance events across Minnesota from 1974–2018 with a change versus no-change validation accuracy of 97.2% ± 1.9%, and higher omission (14.9% ± 9.3%) than commission errors (1.6% ± 1.9%) for the identification of change patches. Our classification of the agent of change exhibited an overall accuracy of 96.5% ± 1.9% with classes including non-disturbed forest, land conversion, fire, flooding, harvest, wind/weather, and other rare natural events. Individual class errors varied, but all class user and producer accuracies were above 78%. The unmatched nature of the Landsat archive for providing comparable forest attribute and change information across more than four decades highlights the value of the totality of the Landsat program to the larger geospatial, ecological research, and forest management communities.

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