The effects of successional age and forest site type on radiance of forest clear-cut communities

Abstract

Remote sensing offers reliable information on the rate and pattern of clear-cut logging and provides this information as relatively frequent updates, over large areas, and at relatively low cost. Temporal gaps in yearly images in a multiyear data set ranging from 1 year to multiple years can lead to inaccuracies in the determination of the area of clear-cuts and the estimation of clear-cut age. This study tested the dependence of reflectance in Landsat Thematic Mapper bands 1–5 and 7 and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) on forest age, gap size and forest type within the first 10 years following clear-cut logging in different seasons. The results of the study show that late winter images with snow-covered ground are phenologically the best timed images for detecting forest clear-cut area regionally. Spring and summer image are more useful for estimation of the successional age of clear-cut areas in various soil fertility and moisture conditions.

Keywords:

• Change detection
• forest site type
• forest succession
• Landsat TM
• multitemporal satellite image
• phenological changes

Acknowledgments

This study was partly supported by Estonian Science Foundation grants Nos. 4698, 5478 and 5849. We are grateful to Ilmar Part for revising the English. The manuscript was greatly improved as a result of the comments from anonymous referees.