Vegetation cover dynamics mapping of the Curonian Spit National Park usingsatellite imagery Alos and Sentinel-2

Abstract

This article presents the results of assessing the quantitative changes in the area characteristics of the vegetation cover of the Curonian Spit National Park using materials from different-time multispectral imaging from satellite devices Alos and Sentinel-2 of high spatial resolution. Algorithms of automated classification “Random Forest” and “Maximum Likelihood Method” (Maximum Likelihood Estimation) were tested. Based on the obtained data of automated decoding of satellite images, indicators ecosystems monitoring of the national park were calculated, maps of the dynamics of these indicators and a map of different-time state of vegetation were compiled. The results show the direction of changes in the vegetation of the Curonian Spit over the ten-year period from 2007 to 2017: an increase in the proportion of forests and the proportion of sands fixed by vegetation near the Curonian Lagoon as a result of forest protection measures, a decrease in the proportion of forests and an increase in the proportion of waving sands near the sea coast as a result of the destruction of foredune under the influence of wind, wave and recreational loads.

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