Integrating time and space with Landsat to learn from the past, monitor the present, and prepare for the future @mikewulder J. White, G. Hobart – CFS, N.C. Coops, T. Hermosilla – UBC
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Proposed contributions: • Forest recovery following disturbance; • Generating national estimates of forest structure (e.g., height, biomass) and related temporal dynamics; • Analyzing land cover/land use change in transactional / interface environments (i.e. forests/agriculture/urban); • Understanding climate change impacts on forests via analysis of the Landsat data record; and • Integrating both new (Sentinel, Landsat 9) and old (MSS) data into forest monitoring applications. • Contribute to the information needs of the Landsat program 2
LS TEAM • LST 2006 – 2011 • from limited to open vision; cloud, TIRS, L8, open access (tactical)
• LST 2012 – 2017 • implications of open access, L9; water, time series
• LST 2018 – 2023 • L9 integration; L10 forward, ARD, QA, TBD (strategic) Image: https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/commissioning-the-landsat-data-continuity-mission/
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Information needs for forest monitoring • Countries have national and international reporting commitments and obligations, national programs (NFI, Carbon Accounting) • Need information that is synoptic, consistent, spatially explicit, sufficiently detailed to capture anthropogenic impacts, and national in scope • Longer baseline required to determine trends, define present, inform future • National needs mirror international needs
• Fit these interests to inform program & community
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Landsat provides / enables: • Much needed information is not available or is not available in the required form • It is important for nations to produce and stand behind high quality data products used for science, reporting, and monitoring • Proactive: develop and share the narratives around Canada’s forested ecosystems • Science informed policy development
• Evidence driven science vs agenda driven science • Authoritative source of data and information 5
Key attributes for NFI and Carbon Accounting programs Basic attributes: • • • • • • •
Land cover Crown closure Age Species Height Volume Biomass
Disturbance-related attributes: • • • • • •
Pre-disturbance land cover Post-disturbance land cover Disturbance agent Disturbance year Disturbance extent (area) Disturbance intensity
White, J.C., Wulder, M.A., Hobart, G,W., Luther, J.E., Hermosilla, T., Griffiths, P., Coops, N.C., Hall, R.J., Hostert, P., Dyk, A., Guindon. L. 2014. Pixel-based image compositing for large-area dense time series applications and science. Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing, 40(3): 192–212. 6
Reflectance composites -> cover, change, structure
Virtual Land Cover Engine (VLCE)
Hermosilla, T., Wulder, M.A., White, J.C., Coops, N.C., Hobart, G.W. 2015. An integrated Landsat time series protocol for change detection and generation of annual gap-free surface reflectance composites. Remote Sensing of Environment, 158: 220–234.
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VLCE 2015
Class-level likelihoods (annual, pixel-level)
Hermosilla, T., Wulder, M.A., White, J.C., Coops, N.C., Hobart, G.W., (2018). Disturbance-informed annual land cover classification maps of Canada’s forested ecosystems for a 29-year Landsat time 9 series. Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07038992.2018.1437719
C2C Information Outcomes: Forest Structure
Matasci, G., Hermosilla, T., Wulder, M.A., White, J.C., Coops, N.C., Hobart, G.W., Zald, H.S., (2018). Large-area mapping of Canadian boreal forest cover, height, biomass and other structural attributes 10 using Landsat composites and lidar plots. Remote Sensing of Environment.
C2C: Map of boreal forest tree heights at 30m spatial resolution
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Thank you! Mike Wulder
Joanne White
[email protected] @mikewulder
[email protected]
Publications: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michael_Wulder https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joanne_White2
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