Authors
Martin Karlson
Publication date
2015
Publisher
Linköping University Electronic Press
Description
Woodlands constitute the subsistence base of the majority of people in the Sudano-Sahelian zone (SSZ). Trees and grasses provide key ecosystem goods and services, including soil protection, fuelwood, food products and fodder. However, climate change in combination with rapidly increasing populations and altered land use practices put increasing pressure on the vegetation cover in this region. Low availability of in situ data on vegetation structure and composition hampers research and monitoring of this essential resource. Satellite and aerial remote sensing represents important alternative data sources in this context. The main advantages of remote sensing are that information can be collected with high frequency over large geographical areas at relatively low costs. This thesis explores the utility of remote sensing for mapping and analysing vegetation, primarily trees, in the SSZ. A comprehensive literature review was first conducted to describe how the application of remote sensing for analysing vegetation has developed in the SSZ between 1975 and 2014, and to identify important research gaps. Based on the gaps identified in the literature review, the capabilities of two new satellite sensors (WorldView-2 and Landsat 8) for mapping woodland structure and composition were tested in an agroforestry landscape located in central Burkina Faso. The tree attributes in focus included tree crown area (m2), tree species, tree canopy cover (%) and aboveground biomass (tons ha-1). The data processing methods encompassed objectbased image analysis for tree crown delineation, and use of the Random Forest algorithm for tree species …
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