Landsat: Unlocking Dynamic Insights for Forest Management

1. Entering a New Landsat Era: Already Operational! Randolph H. Wynne Presented to Pecora 17

2. Landsat data enable • Operations, not just science • Managing, not just monitoring • Dynamic, not just static, information • Management-scale, not just coarser-scale, analyses

3. Key Trend I: Land Use Change

4. Key Trend II: Climate Change

5. Key Trend III: Economic Change

6. Landsat Importance The Landsat program provides the only inventory of the global land surface over time at a scale where human vs. natural causes of change can be differentiated on a seasonal basis with superb radiometric qualities No other satellite system is capable/committed to even annual global coverage at this scale

7. Already Operational • While many of us have been working hard to ensure (finally!) operational status of the Landsat program, a large base of users has been relying on the data stream for many years • Examples will be given from the forestry sector

8. Landsat data enable • Operations, not just science • Managing, not just monitoring • Dynamic, not just static, information • Management-scale, not just coarser-scale, analyses

9. Forest Pest Hazard Mapping

10. Forest Fires: Risk, Response, Remediation

11. Leaves Grow Trees Potential Volume growth (ft3/ac/yr) Where do we stand? Current

12. Remote Sensing Estimation of LAI

13. Stand Boundaries

14. Productivity Assessment– all unthinned stands > age 5 1,009 acres with peak LAI > 3.0 1,130 acres < 1.0 5,420 acres <1.5 We need to look at these and diagnose the problem With LAI values, the Data Warehouse provides ability to query and report

15. Leaves Grow Trees 200N+20P Potential 36N+40P & 150 N 2 years later Volume growth (ft3/ac/yr) Current

16. SEASONAL DYNAMICS OF LEAF AREALoblolly Pine Total Stand LAI Hardwoods Total Pine LAI 2003 Cohort 2004 Cohort Hardwoods

17. Stand LAI Leaf-off vs Leaf-on Need Vegetation Control!

18. Areas with Increase in LAI > 0.7

19. Competition Control - Woody 3 year-old plantations Polygon > 20 acres

20. LAI (Leaf Area Index): • stand stratification for inventory • identification of poor-performing stands for early harvest • identification of stands with high levels of competition LAI plus GE (Growth Efficiency) Provides ability to estimate stand-level response to silviculture: (fertilization, release, tillage) Growth = 3.9 tons Growth = 7.2 tons Growth = 5.1 tons

21. Landsat Images of ABSF March 10, 2001 TM image March 5, 2002 ETM+ image

22. LAI Comparison between Two Years Mean LAI of ABSF pine stands.

23. Landsat Images 2001-2002 March 10, 2001 TM image March 5, 2002 ETM+ image

24. Aerial Photos Pre- and Post-Change True color Color-infrared

25. Decision Support for Forest Carbon Management: From Research to Operations • MODELS • ESE • NASA-CASA GYC • PTAEDA 3.1 • FASTLOB USDA Forest Service • FORCARB • DECISION SUPPORT: • Current DSTs • COLE (county-scale) • LobDST (stand-scale) • Growth and yield • Product output • Financial evaluations • CQUEST (1 km pixels) • Ecosystem carbon pools (g C/m2) • Partitioned NPP • (g C/m2/yr) • NEP (g C/m2/yr) • Linked DSTs and Common Prediction Framework • (multiscale) • Growth • Yield • Product output • Ecosystem carbon pools • Partitioned NPP • NEP • Total C sequestration • Forecasts and scenarios • VALUE & BENEFITS • Improve the rate of C sequestration in managed forests • Decrease the cost of forest carbon monitoring and management • Potentially slow the rate of atmospheric CO2 increase • Enhance forest soil quality • Information Products, Predictions, and Data from NASA ESE • Missions: • MODAGAGG • MOD 12Q1 • MOD 13 • MOD 15A2 • ETM+ Level 1 WRS • AST L1B and 07 • ESE MISSIONS • Aqua • Terra • Landsat 7 • ASTER Analysis Projects • IGBP-GCTE • IGBP-LUCC • USDA-FS FIA • USDA-FS FHM Ancillary Data • SPOT • AVHRR NDVI • Forest inventory data • VEMAP climate data • SRTM topographic data Inputs Outputs Outcomes Impacts

27. NASA-CASA model standing wood carbon in loblolly pine stands after 30 years of regrowth across the Virginia region. Units are in g C m-2 yr-1

28. Ecosystem Services • Resources and processes supplied by natural ecosystems • Include, but not limited to, water quality, biodiversity, carbon sequestration

29. Modeling Ecosystem Services at the Tract Level Using Remote Sensing EcoMetrix is a joint project of the Virginia Department of Forestry, USDA Forest Service, Virginia Tech, and other Commonwealth of Virginia and Federal agencies. EcoMetrix will provide spatially-explicit, web-based quantification of ecosystem services using extant best of breed models at the tract level. Two initial foci are carbon and water quality/quantity; short-term plans for biodiversity

31. Landsat data enable • Operations, not just science • Managing, not just monitoring • Dynamic, not just static, information • Management-scale, not just coarser-scale, analyses

32. Already Operational • While many of us have been working hard to ensure (finally!) operational status of the Landsat program, a large base of users has been relying on the data stream for many years

33. What Next? • The mandate we have is bigger than we thought, as Landsat, like the weather satellites, is now a key element of the infrastructure on which our economy and environmental monitoring and management increasingly depend

34. Thanks! Randolph H. Wynne