Forest Structure Characterization in Germany: Novel Products and Analysis Based on GEDI, Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 Data
Monitoring forest conditions is an essential task in the context of global climate change to preserve biodiversity, protect carbon sinks and foster future forest resilience. Severe impacts of heatwaves and droughts triggering cascading effects such as insect infestation are challenging the semi-natu...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/8/1969 |
| _version_ | 1827743835799683072 |
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| author | Patrick Kacic Frank Thonfeld Ursula Gessner Claudia Kuenzer |
| author_facet | Patrick Kacic Frank Thonfeld Ursula Gessner Claudia Kuenzer |
| author_sort | Patrick Kacic |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Monitoring forest conditions is an essential task in the context of global climate change to preserve biodiversity, protect carbon sinks and foster future forest resilience. Severe impacts of heatwaves and droughts triggering cascading effects such as insect infestation are challenging the semi-natural forests in Germany. As a consequence of repeated drought years since 2018, large-scale canopy cover loss has occurred calling for an improved disturbance monitoring and assessment of forest structure conditions. The present study demonstrates the potential of complementary remote sensing sensors to generate wall-to-wall products of forest structure for Germany. The combination of high spatial and temporal resolution imagery from Sentinel-1 (Synthetic Aperture Radar, SAR) and Sentinel-2 (multispectral) with novel samples on forest structure from the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI, LiDAR, Light detection and ranging) enables the analysis of forest structure dynamics. Modeling the three-dimensional structure of forests from GEDI samples in machine learning models reveals the recent changes in German forests due to disturbances (e.g., canopy cover degradation, salvage logging). This first consistent data set on forest structure for Germany from 2017 to 2022 provides information of forest canopy height, forest canopy cover and forest biomass and allows estimating recent forest conditions at 10 m spatial resolution. The wall-to-wall maps of the forest structure support a better understanding of post-disturbance forest structure and forest resilience. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T04:35:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8fe06b51b67e4b43b837d852620d996c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T04:35:06Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-8fe06b51b67e4b43b837d852620d996c2023-11-17T21:10:10ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922023-04-01158196910.3390/rs15081969Forest Structure Characterization in Germany: Novel Products and Analysis Based on GEDI, Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 DataPatrick Kacic0Frank Thonfeld1Ursula Gessner2Claudia Kuenzer3Department of Remote Sensing, Institute of Geography and Geology, University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, GermanyGerman Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD), German Aerospace Center (DLR), 82234 Wessling, GermanyGerman Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD), German Aerospace Center (DLR), 82234 Wessling, GermanyDepartment of Remote Sensing, Institute of Geography and Geology, University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, GermanyMonitoring forest conditions is an essential task in the context of global climate change to preserve biodiversity, protect carbon sinks and foster future forest resilience. Severe impacts of heatwaves and droughts triggering cascading effects such as insect infestation are challenging the semi-natural forests in Germany. As a consequence of repeated drought years since 2018, large-scale canopy cover loss has occurred calling for an improved disturbance monitoring and assessment of forest structure conditions. The present study demonstrates the potential of complementary remote sensing sensors to generate wall-to-wall products of forest structure for Germany. The combination of high spatial and temporal resolution imagery from Sentinel-1 (Synthetic Aperture Radar, SAR) and Sentinel-2 (multispectral) with novel samples on forest structure from the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI, LiDAR, Light detection and ranging) enables the analysis of forest structure dynamics. Modeling the three-dimensional structure of forests from GEDI samples in machine learning models reveals the recent changes in German forests due to disturbances (e.g., canopy cover degradation, salvage logging). This first consistent data set on forest structure for Germany from 2017 to 2022 provides information of forest canopy height, forest canopy cover and forest biomass and allows estimating recent forest conditions at 10 m spatial resolution. The wall-to-wall maps of the forest structure support a better understanding of post-disturbance forest structure and forest resilience.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/8/1969forestforest structure Germanycanopy heightGlobal Ecosystem Dynamics InvestigationGEDISentinel-1 |
| spellingShingle | Patrick Kacic Frank Thonfeld Ursula Gessner Claudia Kuenzer Forest Structure Characterization in Germany: Novel Products and Analysis Based on GEDI, Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 Data Remote Sensing forest forest structure Germany canopy height Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation GEDI Sentinel-1 |
| title | Forest Structure Characterization in Germany: Novel Products and Analysis Based on GEDI, Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 Data |
| title_full | Forest Structure Characterization in Germany: Novel Products and Analysis Based on GEDI, Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 Data |
| title_fullStr | Forest Structure Characterization in Germany: Novel Products and Analysis Based on GEDI, Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 Data |
| title_full_unstemmed | Forest Structure Characterization in Germany: Novel Products and Analysis Based on GEDI, Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 Data |
| title_short | Forest Structure Characterization in Germany: Novel Products and Analysis Based on GEDI, Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 Data |
| title_sort | forest structure characterization in germany novel products and analysis based on gedi sentinel 1 and sentinel 2 data |
| topic | forest forest structure Germany canopy height Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation GEDI Sentinel-1 |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/8/1969 |
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