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Conference paper2003Peer reviewed

Combining remote sensing and field data for deriving unbiased estimates of forest parameters over large regions

Nilsson M, Folving S, Kennedy P, Puumalainen J, Chirici G, Corona P, Marchetti M, Olsson H, Ricotta C, Ringvall A, Stahl G, Tomppo E

Abstract

Remote sensing data can be combined with field data to estimate forest variables over large regions. The accuracy of these estimates depends, for example, on how well the field measurements can be linked to satellite images and on how well forest areas can be identified. In practice, it is difficult to delineate forest areas from other land cover classes; this fact might cause biased estimates. In this study, a post-stratification approach was used to combine field data and satellite data to derive unbiased estimates of forest parameters over large regions. Images from Landsat TM and Terra MODIS were used in combination with field data from the National Forest Inventory in Northern Sweden. The results show that the standard deviation for estimates of total stem volume, stem volume for deciduous trees, and dead wood were reduced with 48%, 33%, and 23%, respectively, by using post-stratification based on Landsat TM data instead of field data alone. A significant improvement of the estimation accuracy was obtained also when using MOMS data.

Published in

Forestry Sciences
2003, Volume: 76, pages: 19-32
Title: Advances in Forest Inventory for Sustainable Forest Management and Biodiversity Monitoring
ISBN: 1-4020-1715-4
Publisher: Kluwer Academic Publisher

Conference

Conference on Collecting and Analyzing Information for Sustainable Forest Management and Biodiversity Monitoring

      SLU Authors

    • Nilsson, Mats

      • Department of Forest Resource Management and Geomatics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

      • Olsson, Håkan

        • Department of Forest Resource Management and Geomatics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

        • Hedström Ringvall, Anna

          • Department of Forest Resource Management and Geomatics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

          • Ståhl, Göran

            • Department of Forest Resource Management and Geomatics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

          Associated SLU-program

          Forest

          UKÄ Subject classification

          Forest Science

          Publication identifier

          DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0649-0_2

          Permanent link to this page (URI)

          https://res.slu.se/id/publ/4440