Multi-source forest inventory data for forest production and utilization analyses at different levels
Haakana H. (2017). Multi-source forest inventory data for forest production and utilization analyses at different levels. https://doi.org/10.14214/df.243
Abstract
National forest inventory (NFI) data are commonly used in national and regional scenario analyses on forest production and utilization possibilities. There is an increased demand for similar analyses at the sub-regional level, and further, to incorporate spatially explicit data into the analyses. However, the fairly sparse network of NFI sample plots allows analyses only for large areas. The present dissertation explored whether satellite imagery, NFI sample plot data and the k nearest neighbour estimation method can be employed in generating spatial forest data for scenario analyses at the local level. The method was first applied in the area of two villages in Eastern Finland to quantify the effects of administrative land use and technical land-form constraints on timber production. Secondly, the impacts of three alternative regional felling strategies on suitable habitat for the Siberian flying squirrel (Pteromys volans) were assessed.
As a scenario analysis tool, the Finnish forestry dynamics model MELA was used. Management units for simulations of forest development and management activities were delineated by means of image segmentation and digital maps on restriction areas, and new weights for NFI sample plots, that is, the representativeness in these units, were estimated by means of satellite image data. The performance of different segmentation methods and different spectral features in the estimation were examined. Image segments corresponding to forest stands enabled the use of patch- and landscape-level models in the prediction of suitable habitat.
Satellite image-based estimation of new NFI sample plot weights was found to be a feasible method for generating forest data for scenario analyses in areas smaller than is possible with the plot data only, for example, for municipalities. Satellite imagery with large geographic coverage and continuous NFI field measurements provide cost-efficient data sources for versatile impact and scenario analyses at the local level.
Keywords
forest planning;
remote sensing;
Landsat satellite image;
forestry scenario modeling;
k nearest neighbor estimation;
spatially explicit constraint
Published 8 August 2017
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Available at https://doi.org/10.14214/df.243 | Download PDF
Original articles
Mäkelä H., Pekkarinen A. (2001). Estimation of timber volume at the sample plot level by means of image segmentation and Landsat TM imagery. Remote Sensing of Environment 77(1): 66–75.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0034-4257(01)00194-8
Mäkelä H., Hirvelä H., Nuutinen T., Kärkkäinen L. (2011). Estimating forest data for analyses of forest production and utilization possibilities at local-level by means of multi-source National Forest Inventory. Forest Ecology and Management 262: 1245–1359.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2011.06.027
Kärkkäinen L., Nuutinen T., Hirvelä H., Mäkelä H. (2011). Effects of administrative land-use and technical land-form constraints on timber production at the landscape level. Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research 26(2): 120–127.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02827581.2010.536568
Haakana H., Hirvelä H., Hanski I. K., Packalen T. (2017). Comparing regional forest policy scenarios in terms of predicted suitable habitats for the Siberian flying squirrel (Pteromys volans). Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research 32(2): 185–195.