Forest@ (Jan 2007)
Experimental comparison between coppice clearcuts observed by high resolution satellite images and administrative statistics in central-southern Italy
Abstract
The aim of this work is to test the potential of SPOT5 satellite images for monitoring coppice clearcuts. The clearcuts, delineated by on screen interpretation of the satellite images, are compared with the administrative statistics reported for a sample of 230 administrative units. Administrative statistics result significantly lower than those by satellite images, with an average ratio between clearcut area observed by SPOT5 images within each sample unit and the corresponding administrative statistics equal to 1.45. The underestimation by the administrative data is likely due to the simplified process of authorization of coppice clearcuts as well as the eventual lack of timeliness and/or loss of data that sometimes hinder the information flow from administrative bodies to National Forest Service, that is in charge of feeding the official forest statistics. In the light of the experimentation carried out, an operational procedure by SPOT5 images is proposed for the statistical calibration of administrative data about coppice clearcuts.
