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Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2023

Assessing the detectability of European spruce bark beetle green attack in multispectral drone images with high spatial- and temporal resolutions

Huo, Langning; Lindberg, Eva; Bohlin, Jonas; Persson, Henrik Jan

Abstract

Detecting disease- or insect-infested forests as early as possible is a classic application of remote sensing. Under conditions of climate change and global warming, outbreaks of the European spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus, L.) are threatening spruce forests and the related timber industry across Europe, and early detection of infestations is important for damage control. Infested trees without visible discoloration (green attack) have been identified using multispectral images, but how early green attacks can be detected is still unknown. This study aimed to determine when infested trees start to show an abnormal spectral response compared with healthy trees, and to quantify the detectability of infested trees during the infestation process. Pheromone bags were used to attract bark beetles in a controlled experiment, and subsequent infestations were assessed in the field on a weekly basis. In total, 977 trees were monitored, including 208 attacked trees. Multispectral drone images were obtained before and during the insect attacks, representing different periods of infestation. Individual tree crowns (ITC) were delineated by marker-controlled watershed segmentation, and the average reflectance of ITCs was analyzed based on the duration of infestation. The detectability of green attacks and driving factors were examined. We propose new Multiple Ratio Disease-Water Stress Indices (MR-DSWIs) as vegetation indices (VI) for detecting infestations. We defined a VI range of 5-95% as a healthy tree, and a VI value outside that range as an infested tree. Detection rates using multispectral images were always higher than discoloration rates observed in the field, and the newly proposed MR-DSWIs detected more infested trees than the established VIs. Infestations were detectable at 5 and 10 weeks after an attack at a rate of 15% and 90%, respectively, from the multispectral drone images. Weeks 5-10 of infestation therefore represent a suitable period for using the proposed methodology to map infestation at an early stage.

Keywords

Spruce bark beetles; Remote sensing; Green attack; Multispectral imagery; Drone; Forest vitality

Published in

Remote Sensing of Environment
2023, Volume: 287, article number: 113484