Can Carbon Sinks be Operational? An RFF Workshop Summary

An RFF Workshop brought together experts from around the world to assess the feasibility of using biological sinks to sequester carbon as part of a global atmospheric mitigation effort. The chapters of this proceeding are a result of that effort. Although the intent of the workshop was not to generate a consensus, a number of studies suggest that sinks could be a relatively inexpensive and effective carbon management tool. The chapters cover a variety of aspects and topics related to the monitoring and measurement of carbon in biological systems. They tend to support the view the carbon sequestration using biological systems is technically feasible with relatively good precision and at relatively low cost. Thus carbon sinks can be operational.carbon, sinks, global warming, sequestration, forests

Literature review of the remote sensing of natural resources

Abstracts of 596 documents related to remote sensors or the remote sensing of natural resources by satellite, aircraft, or ground-based stations are presented. Topics covered include general theory, geology and hydrology, agriculture and forestry, marine sciences, urban land use, and instrumentation. Recent documents not yet cited in any of the seven information sources used for the compilation are summarized. An author/key word index is provided

Mapping and Monitoring Forest Cover

This book is a compilation of six papers that provide some valuable information about mapping and monitoring forest cover using remotely sensed imagery. Examples include mapping large areas of forest, evaluating forest change over time, combining remotely sensed imagery with ground inventory information, and mapping forest characteristics from very high spatial resolution data. Together, these results demonstrate effective techniques for effectively learning more about our very important forest resources

Photogrammetric techniques for the functional assessment of tree and forest resources in Khorezm, Uzbekistan

A system for inventorying and monitoring forests and tree plantings is indispensable for a proper management of this perennial vegetation. In the mid 1990s, the Government of Uzbekistan (GoU) launched various nationwide tree growing programs. Owing to limited funds and lack of a suitable methodology, the Main Forestry Department (MFD) has not been able to conduct a reliable and comprehensive forest inventory since 1991. On the other hand, photogrammetry combined with GIS-based tools has shown its value and accuracy for assisting in forest inventories worldwide. Given that aerial photographs 1:20,000 are taken in the leafless season every five years by the Land and Geodesy Cadastre Center of Uzbekistan for actualizing topographic maps, the intention of this study is (i) to examine to what extent these photographs can be used for the inventory of forests and tree plantations, and develop a standard methodology with photogrammetry for the MFD, and (ii) to map and perform a functional assessment of tree plantings and forests (e.g., the windbreak function of hedgerows or the spatial extent of tree plantations) and forests (the spatial extent and condition of natural floodplain forests (tugai) in the region of Khorezm in Uzbekistan. The selected study area in two transects (NS and WE) covers virtually all typical land uses and vegetation formations in an area comprising about 10% of the Khorezm region. An analytical stereo plotter and GIS-based tools were applied. The key results of interpretation and measurements of the aerial photographs are summarized as follows. First, detailed and accurate information on the extent of tree plantations and forests in developed thematic classes could be extracted. Also, windbreak design criteria, such as orientation to the prevailing winds, mean stand height, length (reaching the edges of the related field) and crown closure (as a proxy of porosity) could be determined. Second, species composition, vitality and age classes of tree plantations and forests, as well width (number of rows) of hedgerows/windbreaks could not be extracted with photogrammetry and would require field surveys. The inventory shows that most of the hedgerows in Khorezm did not meet principal windbreak design criteria and, consequently, are not effective for reducing soil erosion or improving microclimatic conditions. In particular, this is due to the small extent (tugai forests in 1990-2003, of which ca. 40% could be reversed into forests. With the applied methodology, the MFD should be able to develop better site-specific recommendations for protecting and improving the tugai forest ecosystem.Photogrammetrische Techniken zur funktionellen Beurteilung von Baum- und Waldressourcen in Khorezm, Usbekistan Für ein sachgerechtes Management von Wäldern und Baumpflanzungen ist ein System zu deren Inventur und Monitoring essentiell. Mitte der 90er Jahre führte die usbekische Regierung (GoU) verschiedene landesweite Baumpflanzungsprogramme ein. Aufgrund limitierter Mittel sowie fehlender geeigneter Methoden konnte die oberste Forstbehörde (MFD) aber seit 1991 keine verlässliche und umfassende Forstinventur durchführen. Photogrammetrische Methoden kombiniert mit Werkzeugen Geografischer Informationssysteme (GIS) haben ihren Wert und Genauigkeit zur Unterstützung von Forstinventuren weltweit bewiesen. Das Land- und Geodäsie-Katasterzentrum Usbekistans erstellt alle fünf Jahre in der unbelaubten Saison Luftbilder im Maßstab 1:20.000, um die topografischen Karten zur aktualisieren. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist daher (i) zu untersuchen, inwieweit diese Luftbilder zur Inventur von Forst- und Baumpflanzungen verwendet werden können und gleichzeitig eine photogrammetrische Standardmethode für das MFD zu entwickeln; (ii) eine Kartierung und funktionelle Beurteilung der Baumpflanzungen (z.B. die Windschutzfunktion der Heckenpflanzungen oder die räumliche Ausdehnung der Pflanzungen) und Wälder (die räumliche Ausdehnung und der Zustand des natürlichen Auenwalds tugai) in Khorezm, Usbekistan, durchzuführen. Das Untersuchungsgebiet liegt innerhalb von zwei Transekten (NS und WO) und deckt nahezu alle typischen Landnutzungsarten und Vegetationsformen und ca. 10% der Fläche Khorezms ab. Ein analytischer Stereoplotter sowie GIS-basierte Werkzeuge wurden angewendet. Die wichtigsten Resultate können wie folgt zusammengefasst werden: Erstens wurden detaillierte Informationen über die Ausdehnung der Baumpflanzungen und Wälder in Form von thematischen Klassen gewonnen. Kriterien zur Anlage von Windschutzpflanzungen (WSP) wie die Orientierung zur vorherrschenden Windrichtung, die mittlere Bestandshöhe, die Gehölzlänge und der Kronenschluss konnten festgelegt werden. Zweitens: Daten über die Artenzusammensetzung, die Vitalität und die Altersklassen der Baumpflanzungen und Wälder sowie die Anzahl der Reihen der WSP konnten nicht mit photogrammetrischen Methoden erhoben werden; hier ist Feldforschung notwendig. Die Inventur hat gezeigt, dass die meisten Heckenpflanzungen die prinzipiellen Kriterien zur Anlage einer WSP nicht erfüllen und somit auch nicht zur Reduzierung von Bodenerosion oder zur Verbesserung des Mikroklimas beitragen. Dies liegt an dem niedrigen Anteil von WSP auf bewässerten Feldern (tugai um 60% zwischen 1990-2003, wovon 40% wieder in Wälder umgewandelt werden könnten. Mit den vorgestellten Methoden könnte die MFD bessere standortspezifische Empfehlungen zum Schutz und zur Verbesserung des Ökosystems tugai entwickeln

Quarterly literature review of the remote sensing of natural resources

The Technology Application Center reviewed abstracted literature sources, and selected document data and data gathering techniques which were performed or obtained remotely from space, aircraft or groundbased stations. All of the documentation was related to remote sensing sensors or the remote sensing of the natural resources. Sensors were primarily those operating within the 10 to the minus 8 power to 1 meter wavelength band. Included are NASA Tech Briefs, ARAC Industrial Applications Reports, U.S. Navy Technical Reports, U.S. Patent reports, and other technical articles and reports

Earth Resources: A continuing bibliography with indexes, issue 17

This bibliography lists 775 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between January 1 and March 31, 1978. Emphasis is placed on the use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation in spacecraft and aircraft to survey and inventory natural resources and urban areas. Subject matter is grouped according to agriculture and forestry, environmental changes and cultural resources, geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economic analysis

Der Zusammenhang zwischen Produktivität und Standortfaktoren analysiert basierend auf Forstinventurdaten

This thesis aims at developing statistical models that describe the relationship between productivity or mortality and site factors, particularly climate factors. The focus lies on predictions for Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) in Germany. Large-scale forest inventories provide data covering the wide climatic gradients required for model application to future climate scenarios. Thus, at the same time, this thesis explores the potential as well as the limitations of large-scale forest inventories to investigate forest growth.Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es statistische Modelle zu entwickeln, die den Zusammenhang zwischen Produktivität bzw. Mortalität auf der einen Seite und Standortfaktoren auf der anderen Seite beschreiben. Der Schwerpunkt liegt auf Vorhersagen für Fichte (Picea abies [L.] Karst.) und Buche (Fagus sylvatica L.) in Deutschland. Die Daten von großräumigen Forstinventuren decken weite Klimagradienten ab, welche die Voraussetzung für eine Anwendung der Modelle auf zukünftige Klimaszenarien bilden. Damit lotet diese Arbeit gleichzeitig sowohl die Möglichkeiten als auch die Grenzen der Verwendung großräumiger Forstinventurdaten für die Waldwachstumsforschung aus

Earth resources: A continuing bibliography (issue 26)

This bibliography lists 480 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between April 1, 1980 and June 30, 1980. Emphasis is placed on the use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation in spacecraft and aircraft to survey and inventory natural resources and urban areas. Subject matter is grouped according to agriculture and forestry, environmental changes and cultural resources, geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economic analysis

Earth resources: A continuing bibliography with indexes, issue 3

This bibliography lists 472 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between July 1974 and September 1974. Emphasis is placed on the use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation in spacecraft and aircraft to survey and inventory, natural resources and urban areas. Subject matter is grouped according to agriculture and forestry, environmental changes and cultural resources, geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, oceanography and marine resources, hydrology and water management, data processing, and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economic analysis

Assessing land use/cover change in Costa Rica

The need for accurate estimates of forest cover and forest fragmentation is a critical issue for developing countries such as Costa Rica. Accurate estimates of forest cover can help in several sectors related to the environment and economic development. This dissertation focuses on providing an accurate and precise estimate of forest cover in Costa Rica. The year 1991 was used as a baseline. Landsat Thematic Mapper was the remote sensing sensor used in this analysis. This dissertation concludes that: (1) Twenty-nine percent ($\sim$1,400,000 ha) of the country was under primary forest (80% canopy closure) in 1991. Of the total forest cover, 71% is outside national parks and 29% is protected by the national parks. (2) Forest loss (for scene path 15/row 53) during five years period (1986-1991) was 224,970 ha, and it was estimated that the rate was $\sim$44,994 ha/yr. (3) Deforestation produced an increase in island fragments during the study period. Between 1986 and 1991, the total number of islands between three and 50 ha, and 50 and 100 ha increased by 524 and 45, respectively. Fifteen new islands with areas greater than 500 ha were created. (4) Results suggest that the extent of tropical deforestation go beyond estimations of total forest loss at the national level. The impacts at the national level have greater roots deeper roots when the data at the life zone level is considered. The results have important implication for biodiversity conservation and restoration, water resource management and climate change. The issue of partial sampling of remote sensing data base was also explored through this dissertation. Partial sampling is important for the definition of sound deforestation monitoring systems in tropical environments. A data set from the Brazilian Amazon was analyzed in order to understand how stratified sampling, using persistence, would improve estimates of tropical deforestation over random sampling. Results show that stratification based on persistence contributes to the reduction of error, regarding estimates of total deforestation, when contrasted against random sampling without stratification (FAO methodology). Results are important to future monitoring programs in Costa Rica and the Central American region