Skip to content
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Quantifying forest cover loss in Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2000-2010, with Landsat ETM+ data
Remote Sensing of Environment, Volume 122, Year 2012
Notification
URL copied to clipboard!
Description
Forest cover and forest cover loss for the last decade, 2000-2010, have been quantified for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) using Landsat time-series data set. This was made possible via an exhaustive mining of the Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM. +) archive. A total of 8881 images were processed to create multi-temporal image metrics resulting in 99.6% of the DRC land area covered by cloud-free Landsat observations. To facilitate image compositing, a top-of-atmosphere (TOA) reflectance calibration and image normalization using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) top of canopy (TOC) reflectance data sets were performed. Mapping and change detection was implemented using a classification tree algorithm. The national year 2000 forest cover was estimated to be 159,529.2. thousand hectares, with gross forest cover loss for the last decade totaling 2.3% of forest area. Forest cover loss area increased by 13.8% between the 2000-2005 and 2005-2010 intervals, with the greatest increase occurring within primary humid tropical forests. Forest loss intensity was distributed unevenly and associated with areas of high population density and mining activity. While forest cover loss is comparatively low in protected areas and priority conservation landscapes compared to forests outside of such areas, gross forest cover loss for all nature protection areas increased by 64% over the 2000 to 2005 and 2005 to 2010 intervals. © 2012 Elsevier Inc.
Authors & Co-Authors
Potapov, Peter V.
United States, Brookings
South Dakota State University
Turubanova, Svetlana A.
United States, Brookings
South Dakota State University
Hansen, Matthew C.
United States, Brookings
South Dakota State University
Adusei, Bernard
United States, Brookings
South Dakota State University
Broich, Mark
United States, Brookings
South Dakota State University
Altstatt, Alice
United States, College Park
University of Maryland, College Park
Mané, Landing
Democratic Republic Congo
Observatoire Satellital Des Forets D'afrique Central Osfac
Justice, Christopher Owen
United States, College Park
University of Maryland, College Park
Statistics
Citations: 374
Authors: 8
Affiliations: 3
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1016/j.rse.2011.08.027
ISSN:
00344257
Research Areas
Environmental
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study
Study Locations
Congo