FOREST DYNAMICS IN EASTERN EUROPE (1985–2012) USING LANDSAT DATA ARCHIVE

Abstract

The collapse of the “Eastern Bloc” and the breakdown of the Soviet Union in the late 1980’s – early 1990’s led to dramatic political and economic changes in Eastern European countries. Reduction of crop area, changes in the forest legislation, land privatization, markets change and other social and economic factors have caused changes in forested area within these countries. Statistical data on forest extent provided by the countries are not always comparable due to the use of different methods and definitions. Long-term archive of Landsat satellite data allows independent evaluation of the extent and change of forest area. We have developed an algorithm for the automatic processing of images obtained by different sensors (TM and ETM+) and compilation of a consistent image time series to map the total forest area, its loss and gain. The algorithm was used to estimate the forest area change in Eastern Europe from 1985 to 2012. The results showed that the forested area increased by 4,7 % in 2012 compared to 1985. The average annual forest loss was 0,41 % of the total forest area, and disturbance area increased from 1985 to 2012. Forest cover is quickly restored after the disturbance, and only 12 % of forest disturbance area occurred before 1995 was not recovered by 2012. The main factor of the forest disturbance was timber harvesting. The annual logging area declined after the collapse of the planned economy in the late 80’s, increased by the year 2000, and then decreased again due to the economic crisis of 2007–2009. Our results and regional maps are available online at http://glad.umd.edu/europe/ and may be used to analyze changes in forest area at national and sub-national levels.

Keywords

• Landsat
• Forest Cover
• Forest Cover Loss
• Logging
• Afforestation
• Forest Fire