Development and Testing of Landsat-Assisted Procedures for Cost-Effective Forest Management

摘要

The study examines the capability of Landsat data to make certain forest management activities on the Clearwater National Forest in Idaho more efficient and/or more effective. One task was designed to evaluate the utility of single-date categorized Landsat data as a source of land cover information for use in assessing elk habitat quality. Landsat data was used to categorize conifer forest on the basis of the percentage crown closure. This information was used to evaluate elk habitat quality on the basis of the ratio of cover to forage. Another task was designed to evaluate the utility of merged two-date Landsat data for updating the existing (1972) Clearwater Forest land cover information. Landsat data from 1972 and 1981 were merged, and change images were created. These products indicated where major changes were taking place.