Remote Sensing Analysis of Forest Disturbances
AssigneeCarnegie Institution of Washington
InventorGregory P. Asner
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Abstract
The present invention provides systems and methods to automatically analyze Landsat satellite data of forests. The present invention can easily be used to monitor any type of forest disturbance such as from selective logging, agriculture, cattle ranching, natural hazards (fire, wind events, storms), etc. The present invention provides a large-scale, high-resolution, automated remote sensing analysis of such disturbances.
Claims10
An automated image processing system to detect and quantify selective logging activity using spatial resolution data obtained using various sensors aboard orbiting objects, such as satellites, wherein the system comprises:
- a computer programmed to process orbital images of regional and global events, the computer including
- an atmospheric correction module for correcting the image data of atmospheric effects;
- an AutoMCU module for deconvoluting spectral signatures into sub-pixel fractional cover of live forest canopy, forest debris, and bare substrates;
- an atmospheric adjustment module for cloud, water, and deforestation masking;
- and
- a pattern recognition module having pattern recognition algorithms for forest disturbance mapping.
(canceled)
An automated process to detect and quantify selective logging activity using spatial resolution data from sensors aboard orbiting bodies, such as satellites, the steps comprising of obtaining orbital image data of regional and global events, correcting the data for atmospheric effects, spectrally decomposing spectral signatures into sub-pixel fractional cover of live forest canopy, forest debris, and bare substrates, masking the data for cloud, water, and deforestation, and applying pattern recognition algorithms for forest disturbance mapping.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.