Mapping and monitoring deforestation and forest degradation in Sumatra (Indonesia) using Landsat time series data sets from 1990 to 2010

By B. Margono, Svetlana Turubanova, I. Zhuravleva, Peter V. Potapov, Alexandra Tyukavina, Alessandro Baccini, Scott J. Goetz, Matthew C. Hansen. 2012

402 citations recorded by the source corpus.

As reported by FAO (2005 State of the World’s Forests (Rome: UNFAO), 2010 Forest Resource Assessment (FRA) 2010/095 (Rome: UNFAO)), Indonesia experiences the second highest rate of deforestation among tropical countries. Hence, timely and accurate forest data are required to combat deforestation and forest degradation in support of climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation policy initiatives. Within Indonesia, Sumatra Island stands out due to the intensive forest clearing that has resulted in the conversion of 70% of the island’s forested area through 2010. We present here a hybrid approach for quantifying the extent and change of primary forest in Sumatra in terms of primary intact and primary degraded classes using a per-pixel supervised classification mapping followed by a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based fragmentation analysis. Loss of Sumatra’s primary intact and primary degraded forests was estimated to provide suitable information for the objectives of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD and REDD+) program. Results quantified 7.54 Mha of primary forest loss in Sumatra during the last two decades (1990–2010). An additional 2.31 Mha of primary forest was degraded. Of the 7.54 Mha cleared, 7.25 Mha was in a degraded state when cleared, and 0.28 Mha was in a primary state. The rate of primary forest cover change for both forest cover loss and forest degradation slowed over the study period, from 7.34 Mha from 1990 to 2000, to 2.51 Mha from 2000 to 2010. The Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) data set was employed to evaluate results. GLAS-derived tree canopy height indicated a significant structural difference between primary intact and primary degraded forests (mean height 28 m ± 8.7 m and 19 m ± 8.2 m, respectively). The results demonstrate a method for quantifying primary forest cover stand-replacement disturbance and degradation that can be replicated across the tropics in support of REDD+ initiatives.

Subfields: Ecology, Environmental Engineering, Global and Planetary Change

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/903851985c6d3edf83f08a5ddfb6535bfba84c77

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Ecology

In Environmental Engineering

In Global and Planetary Change

Citations in the corpus

Measurement and monitoring needs, capabilities and potential for addressing reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation under REDD+ (2015, background): “In contrast, Margono et al (2012) and Zhuravleva et al (2013) linked degradation to remote sensing in theDemocratic Republic of theCongobyusing Landsat imagery andLiDARdata to quantify structural differences between primary intact, primary degraded and other forests.”
Oil Palm Boom and Land-Use Dynamics in Indonesia: The Role of Policies and Socioeconomic Factors (2015, background): “Several studies have analyzed land-use changes in oil palm hotspots using satellite images (Hansen et al., 2009; Koh et al., 2011; Carlson et al., 2012; Margono et al., 2012).”
Change detection using landsat time series: A review of frequencies, preprocessing, algorithms, and applications (2017, methodology): “…thresholding (Chen et al., 2013; Hilker et al., 2009; Huang et al., 2010a, 2009; Lee, 2008), multi-date classiﬁcation (Hansen et al., 2016, 2014; Margono et al., 2012; Potapov et al., 2015, 2012; Sader and Legaard, 2008; Wilson and Sader, 2002), dif-ferencing (Bolton et al., 2015; Hayes and…”