Estimated Biomass Loss Caused by the Vaia Windthrow in Northern Italy: Evaluation of Active and Passive Remote Sensing Options
Windstorms are a major disturbance factor for European forests. The 2018 Vaia storm, felled large volumes of timber in Italy causing serious ecological and financial losses. Remote sensing is fundamental for primary assessment of damages and post-emergency phase. An explicit estimation of the timber...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/23/4924 |
| _version_ | 1827674737111728128 |
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| author | Gaia Vaglio Laurin Nicola Puletti Clara Tattoni Carlotta Ferrara Francesco Pirotti |
| author_facet | Gaia Vaglio Laurin Nicola Puletti Clara Tattoni Carlotta Ferrara Francesco Pirotti |
| author_sort | Gaia Vaglio Laurin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Windstorms are a major disturbance factor for European forests. The 2018 Vaia storm, felled large volumes of timber in Italy causing serious ecological and financial losses. Remote sensing is fundamental for primary assessment of damages and post-emergency phase. An explicit estimation of the timber loss caused by Vaia using satellite remote sensing was not yet undertaken. In this investigation, three different estimates of timber loss were compared in two study sites in the Alpine area: pre-existing local growing stock volume maps based on lidar data, a recent national-level forest volume map, and an novel estimation of AGB values based on active and passive remote sensing. The compared datasets resemble the type of information that a forest manager might potentially find or produce. The results show a significant disagreement in the different biomass estimates, related to the methods used to produce them, the study areas characteristics, and the size of the damaged areas. These sources of uncertainty highlight the difficulty of estimating timber loss, unless a unified national or regional European strategy to improve preparedness to forest hazards is defined. Considering the frequent impacts on forest resources that occurred in the last years in the European Union, remote sensing-based surveys targeting forests is urgent, particularly for the many European countries that still lack reliable forest stocks data. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:45:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-795c816cb6cd4044963cc73fce2718cd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:45:29Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-795c816cb6cd4044963cc73fce2718cd2023-11-23T02:58:27ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922021-12-011323492410.3390/rs13234924Estimated Biomass Loss Caused by the Vaia Windthrow in Northern Italy: Evaluation of Active and Passive Remote Sensing OptionsGaia Vaglio Laurin0Nicola Puletti1Clara Tattoni2Carlotta Ferrara3Francesco Pirotti4DIBAF, Department for Innovation in Biological, Agro-Food, and Forest System, Via San Camillo de Lellis snc, 01100 Viterbo, ItalyCREA-FL, Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Forestry and Wood, 52100 Arezzo, ItalyDiSTA—Dipartimento di Scienze Teoriche ed Applicate, Università degli Studi dell’Insubria, 21100 Varese, ItalyCREA-FL, Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Forestry and Wood, Via Valle della Quistione 27, 00166 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry (TESAF), University of Padua, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, ItalyWindstorms are a major disturbance factor for European forests. The 2018 Vaia storm, felled large volumes of timber in Italy causing serious ecological and financial losses. Remote sensing is fundamental for primary assessment of damages and post-emergency phase. An explicit estimation of the timber loss caused by Vaia using satellite remote sensing was not yet undertaken. In this investigation, three different estimates of timber loss were compared in two study sites in the Alpine area: pre-existing local growing stock volume maps based on lidar data, a recent national-level forest volume map, and an novel estimation of AGB values based on active and passive remote sensing. The compared datasets resemble the type of information that a forest manager might potentially find or produce. The results show a significant disagreement in the different biomass estimates, related to the methods used to produce them, the study areas characteristics, and the size of the damaged areas. These sources of uncertainty highlight the difficulty of estimating timber loss, unless a unified national or regional European strategy to improve preparedness to forest hazards is defined. Considering the frequent impacts on forest resources that occurred in the last years in the European Union, remote sensing-based surveys targeting forests is urgent, particularly for the many European countries that still lack reliable forest stocks data.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/23/4924forestwindthrownbiomassSARlidar |
| spellingShingle | Gaia Vaglio Laurin Nicola Puletti Clara Tattoni Carlotta Ferrara Francesco Pirotti Estimated Biomass Loss Caused by the Vaia Windthrow in Northern Italy: Evaluation of Active and Passive Remote Sensing Options Remote Sensing forest windthrown biomass SAR lidar |
| title | Estimated Biomass Loss Caused by the Vaia Windthrow in Northern Italy: Evaluation of Active and Passive Remote Sensing Options |
| title_full | Estimated Biomass Loss Caused by the Vaia Windthrow in Northern Italy: Evaluation of Active and Passive Remote Sensing Options |
| title_fullStr | Estimated Biomass Loss Caused by the Vaia Windthrow in Northern Italy: Evaluation of Active and Passive Remote Sensing Options |
| title_full_unstemmed | Estimated Biomass Loss Caused by the Vaia Windthrow in Northern Italy: Evaluation of Active and Passive Remote Sensing Options |
| title_short | Estimated Biomass Loss Caused by the Vaia Windthrow in Northern Italy: Evaluation of Active and Passive Remote Sensing Options |
| title_sort | estimated biomass loss caused by the vaia windthrow in northern italy evaluation of active and passive remote sensing options |
| topic | forest windthrown biomass SAR lidar |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/23/4924 |
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