Forestry
Many governments, state, and private forestry organizations and agencies today utilize geospatial technology such as GIS (geographic information systems) and satellite imagery for various applications supporting analysis, assessment, and management of our forests.
Many applications of forestry and natural resources require accurate land cover and change analysis. Changing conditions due to urban sprawl, as well as increasing forest fragmentation, make a land cover and change detection analysis an extremely important consideration for management, planning, and inventory mapping. This includes ecosystem and species diversity, forest productivity, reforestation, forest health, conservation of soil, water resources, and nutrient cycling.
Copper Mountain Ski Resort, Colorado
IKONOS (0.82m) Satellite Image
(Image Copyright © DigitalGlobe)
Fire and Emergency Mapping
Satellite images and GIS maps support fire and emergency personnel for responding to emergency situations, hazardous fuels reduction, community assistance, firefighting, rehabilitation, and restoration. In order to model a forest fire, the techniques for obtaining, analyzing, and displaying spatial information in a timely and cost-effective manner are needed which has proven not only to be possible, but incredibly efficient and effective.
Wildfires in Bastrop, Texas, USA
WorldView-2 (0.5m) Satellite Sensor
(Image Copyright © DigitalGlobe)
Deforestation
Deforestation has been attributed to socio-demographic factors, such as population growth, and the political economy of class structure, and specific exploitation activities like commercial logging, forest farming, fuel wood gathering, agriculture, and pasture clearance for cattle production.
Visoke Volcano - Virunga National Parks, Congo (DRC) and Rwanda Deforestation
3D Terrain Model - IKONOS Stereo Satellite Imagery
(Image Copyright © DigitalGlobe and Processed by Satellite Imaging Corporation)
Satellite image processing in conjunction with GIS data are effective means for quantifying deforestation, assessment, and monitoring of our forests.
