About this book
The main aim of this book is to provide a comprehensive text in a worldwide perspective of remote sensing in forestry. It is intended for those concerned with the management of forest resources, forestry students and researchers commencing studies on the remote sensing of the forest environment. The book is divided in five parts, aiming to provide a stepwise approach to studying applied remote sensing and also to facilitate the reader in proceeding directly to topics of interest. The first section focuses on the scientific and technological background. Later emphasis is placed on aerial photography and aerial photographic interpretation, since in field forestry aerial photographs are a major source of forest data extracted from remotely sensed imagery. Satellite remote sensing is a main field of research and increasingly used in forest inventory and management as well as in policy decisions.
Contents
Part 1 Background to remote sensing of forest resources: development of remote sensing - airborne and satellite remote sensing; reflective properties of tree foliage - leaf structure and pigments, radiant geometry, spectral reflective characteristics, thermal infrared reflectivity and emissivity. Part 2 Collection of remotely sensed data for forest records: aerial photography - cameras, fil-filter combination, processing and printing; flight planning - in flight factors, ground control, costs, technical specifications; electro-optical sensing and side looking airborne radar - passive microwave image sensing, radar; satellite remote sensing - earth resources satellite systems, data processing, planning, choice of dish, telecommunication aids. Part 3 Image analysis in forestry: visual imagery analysis - testing vision, stereoscopes, diagnostic elements, preliminary aids, equipment; elements of photogrammetry - scribing vertical aerial photographs, geometric characteristics, parallax measurement, satellite photography; computer assisted image analysis - image analysis systems, data storage, interactive analysis, accuracy. Part 4 Data integration for forest resources: thematic mapping in forestry - map projections, photographs as maps, developing and finalizing the forest map, instruments, digital mapping; spatial information systems for forest resources, manual systems, GIS database, input and output. Part 5 Remotely sensed data in forest practice: planning for remote sensing applications - programme formulation, structuring the system; education and training; phytogeomorphic and land use considerations - geomorphic and vegetal factors, combining landforms and vegetation; airborne remote sensing application - constraints of forest composition, aerial photographic scale, high altitude and small format aerial photography, forest damage, side looking airborne radar; tree and forest stand measurements from aerial photographs - tree and stand measurements, timber volume estimates, aerial volume tables, conservation measurement; satellite remote sensing application - application of visual and computer assisted analysis, synthetic aperture radar, environmental satellites; statistical considerations in forest fieldwork using aerial photographs and satellite data - forest stratification, sampling, sub-sampling; towards the global monitoring of forest change using satellite data - technical considerations of monitoring by satellite, international considerations, the next decade. Appendices: units of measurement; tri-lingual terminology - selected terms in English, French and Spanish.
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