Earth-Observation-Based Monitoring of Forests in Germany—Recent Progress and Research Frontiers: A Review
One-third of Germany’s land surface area is covered by forest (around 11.4 million hectares), and thus, it characterizes the landscape. The forest is a habitat for a large number of animal and plant species, a source of raw materials, important for climate protection, and a well-being refuge for peo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/17/4234 |
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| author | Stefanie Holzwarth Frank Thonfeld Patrick Kacic Sahra Abdullahi Sarah Asam Kjirsten Coleman Christina Eisfelder Ursula Gessner Juliane Huth Tanja Kraus Christopher Shatto Birgit Wessel Claudia Kuenzer |
| author_facet | Stefanie Holzwarth Frank Thonfeld Patrick Kacic Sahra Abdullahi Sarah Asam Kjirsten Coleman Christina Eisfelder Ursula Gessner Juliane Huth Tanja Kraus Christopher Shatto Birgit Wessel Claudia Kuenzer |
| author_sort | Stefanie Holzwarth |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | One-third of Germany’s land surface area is covered by forest (around 11.4 million hectares), and thus, it characterizes the landscape. The forest is a habitat for a large number of animal and plant species, a source of raw materials, important for climate protection, and a well-being refuge for people, to name just a few of its many functions. During the annual forest condition surveys, the crown condition of German forests is assessed on the basis of field samples at fixed locations, as the crown condition of forest trees is considered an important indicator of their vitality. Since the start of the surveys in 1984, the mean crown defoliation of all tree species has increased, now averaging about 25% for all tree species. Additionally, it shows a strong rise in the rate of dieback. In 2019, the most significant changes were observed. Due to the drastic changes in recent years, efforts are being made to assess the situation of the forest using different remote sensing methods. There are now a number of freely available products provided to the public, and more will follow as a result of numerous projects in the context of earth-observation (EO)-based monitoring and mapping of the forests in Germany. In 2020, the situation regarding the use of remote sensing for the German forest was already investigated in more detail. However, these results no longer reflect the current situation. The changes of the last 3 years are the content of this publication. For this study, 84 citable research publications were thoroughly analyzed and compared with the situation in 2020. As a major result, we found a shift in the research focus towards disturbance monitoring and a tendency to cover larger areas, including national-scale studies. In addition to the review of the scientific literature, we also reviewed current research projects and related products. In congruence to the recent developments in terms of publications in scientific journals, these projects and products reflect the need for comprehensive, timely, large-area, and complementary EO-based information around forests expressed in multiple political programs. With this review, we provide an update of previous work and link it to current research activities. We conclude that there are still gaps between the information needs of forest managers who usually rely on information from field perspectives and the EO-based information products. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:14:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-dbe9c112892c48d990f80288f6f229df |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:14:49Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-dbe9c112892c48d990f80288f6f229df2023-11-19T08:46:20ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922023-08-011517423410.3390/rs15174234Earth-Observation-Based Monitoring of Forests in Germany—Recent Progress and Research Frontiers: A ReviewStefanie Holzwarth0Frank Thonfeld1Patrick Kacic2Sahra Abdullahi3Sarah Asam4Kjirsten Coleman5Christina Eisfelder6Ursula Gessner7Juliane Huth8Tanja Kraus9Christopher Shatto10Birgit Wessel11Claudia Kuenzer12German Aerospace Center (DLR), German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD), Oberpfaffenhofen, 82234 Wessling, GermanyGerman Aerospace Center (DLR), German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD), Oberpfaffenhofen, 82234 Wessling, GermanyWorking Group Earth Observation, Institute of Geography and Geology, University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, GermanyGerman Aerospace Center (DLR), German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD), Oberpfaffenhofen, 82234 Wessling, GermanyGerman Aerospace Center (DLR), German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD), Oberpfaffenhofen, 82234 Wessling, GermanyGerman Aerospace Center (DLR), German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD), Oberpfaffenhofen, 82234 Wessling, GermanyGerman Aerospace Center (DLR), German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD), Oberpfaffenhofen, 82234 Wessling, GermanyGerman Aerospace Center (DLR), German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD), Oberpfaffenhofen, 82234 Wessling, GermanyGerman Aerospace Center (DLR), German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD), Oberpfaffenhofen, 82234 Wessling, GermanyGerman Aerospace Center (DLR), German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD), Oberpfaffenhofen, 82234 Wessling, GermanyDepartment of Biogeography, University of Bayreuth, 95447 Bayreuth, GermanyGerman Aerospace Center (DLR), German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD), Oberpfaffenhofen, 82234 Wessling, GermanyGerman Aerospace Center (DLR), German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD), Oberpfaffenhofen, 82234 Wessling, GermanyOne-third of Germany’s land surface area is covered by forest (around 11.4 million hectares), and thus, it characterizes the landscape. The forest is a habitat for a large number of animal and plant species, a source of raw materials, important for climate protection, and a well-being refuge for people, to name just a few of its many functions. During the annual forest condition surveys, the crown condition of German forests is assessed on the basis of field samples at fixed locations, as the crown condition of forest trees is considered an important indicator of their vitality. Since the start of the surveys in 1984, the mean crown defoliation of all tree species has increased, now averaging about 25% for all tree species. Additionally, it shows a strong rise in the rate of dieback. In 2019, the most significant changes were observed. Due to the drastic changes in recent years, efforts are being made to assess the situation of the forest using different remote sensing methods. There are now a number of freely available products provided to the public, and more will follow as a result of numerous projects in the context of earth-observation (EO)-based monitoring and mapping of the forests in Germany. In 2020, the situation regarding the use of remote sensing for the German forest was already investigated in more detail. However, these results no longer reflect the current situation. The changes of the last 3 years are the content of this publication. For this study, 84 citable research publications were thoroughly analyzed and compared with the situation in 2020. As a major result, we found a shift in the research focus towards disturbance monitoring and a tendency to cover larger areas, including national-scale studies. In addition to the review of the scientific literature, we also reviewed current research projects and related products. In congruence to the recent developments in terms of publications in scientific journals, these projects and products reflect the need for comprehensive, timely, large-area, and complementary EO-based information around forests expressed in multiple political programs. With this review, we provide an update of previous work and link it to current research activities. We conclude that there are still gaps between the information needs of forest managers who usually rely on information from field perspectives and the EO-based information products.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/17/4234remote sensingearth observationforestforest monitoringforest disturbancesforest structure |
| spellingShingle | Stefanie Holzwarth Frank Thonfeld Patrick Kacic Sahra Abdullahi Sarah Asam Kjirsten Coleman Christina Eisfelder Ursula Gessner Juliane Huth Tanja Kraus Christopher Shatto Birgit Wessel Claudia Kuenzer Earth-Observation-Based Monitoring of Forests in Germany—Recent Progress and Research Frontiers: A Review Remote Sensing remote sensing earth observation forest forest monitoring forest disturbances forest structure |
| title | Earth-Observation-Based Monitoring of Forests in Germany—Recent Progress and Research Frontiers: A Review |
| title_full | Earth-Observation-Based Monitoring of Forests in Germany—Recent Progress and Research Frontiers: A Review |
| title_fullStr | Earth-Observation-Based Monitoring of Forests in Germany—Recent Progress and Research Frontiers: A Review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Earth-Observation-Based Monitoring of Forests in Germany—Recent Progress and Research Frontiers: A Review |
| title_short | Earth-Observation-Based Monitoring of Forests in Germany—Recent Progress and Research Frontiers: A Review |
| title_sort | earth observation based monitoring of forests in germany recent progress and research frontiers a review |
| topic | remote sensing earth observation forest forest monitoring forest disturbances forest structure |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/17/4234 |
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