The frequency of extreme storm events has significantly increased in the past decades, causing significant damage to European forests. To mitigate the impacts of extreme events, a rapid assessment of forest damage is crucial, and satellite data are an optimal candidate for this task. The integration of satellite data in the operational phase of monitoring forest damage can exploit the complementarity of optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) open datasets from the Copernicus programme. This study illustrates the testing of Sentinel 1 and Sentinel 2 data for the detection of areas impacted by the Vaia storm in Northern Italy. The use of multispectral Sentinel 2 provided the best performance, with classification overall accuracy (OA) values up to 86 percent; however, optical data use is seriously hampered by cloud cover that can persist for months after the event and in most cases cannot be considered an appropriate tool if a fast response is required. The results obtained using SAR Sentinel 1 were slightly less accurate (OA up to 68 percent), but the method was able to provide valuable information rapidly, mainly because the acquisition of this dataset is weather independent. Overall, for a fast assessment Sentinel 1 is the better of the two methods where multispectral and ground data are able to further refine the initial SAR-based assessment.

Satellite open data to monitor forest damage caused by extreme climate-induced events: A case study of the Vaia storm in Northern Italy / Laurin G.V.; Francini S.; Luti T.; Chirici G.; Pirotti F.; Papale D.. - In: FORESTRY. - ISSN 0015-752X. - STAMPA. - 94:(2021), pp. 407-416. [10.1093/forestry/cpaa043]

Satellite open data to monitor forest damage caused by extreme climate-induced events: A case study of the Vaia storm in Northern Italy

Francini S.;Luti T.;Chirici G.;
2021

Abstract

The frequency of extreme storm events has significantly increased in the past decades, causing significant damage to European forests. To mitigate the impacts of extreme events, a rapid assessment of forest damage is crucial, and satellite data are an optimal candidate for this task. The integration of satellite data in the operational phase of monitoring forest damage can exploit the complementarity of optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) open datasets from the Copernicus programme. This study illustrates the testing of Sentinel 1 and Sentinel 2 data for the detection of areas impacted by the Vaia storm in Northern Italy. The use of multispectral Sentinel 2 provided the best performance, with classification overall accuracy (OA) values up to 86 percent; however, optical data use is seriously hampered by cloud cover that can persist for months after the event and in most cases cannot be considered an appropriate tool if a fast response is required. The results obtained using SAR Sentinel 1 were slightly less accurate (OA up to 68 percent), but the method was able to provide valuable information rapidly, mainly because the acquisition of this dataset is weather independent. Overall, for a fast assessment Sentinel 1 is the better of the two methods where multispectral and ground data are able to further refine the initial SAR-based assessment.
2021
94
407
416
Goal 13: Climate action
Goal 15: Life on land
Laurin G.V.; Francini S.; Luti T.; Chirici G.; Pirotti F.; Papale D.
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
Satellite open data_Laurin et al 2021 Forestry.pdf

Accesso chiuso

Tipologia: Pdf editoriale (Version of record)
Licenza: Tutti i diritti riservati
Dimensione 685.49 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
685.49 kB Adobe PDF   Richiedi una copia

I documenti in FLORE sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificatore per citare o creare un link a questa risorsa: https://hdl.handle.net/2158/1259221
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 35
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 31
social impact