Satellite remote sensing for forest inventory—experiences in the nordic countries

Satellite data were used in developing methods for forest inventory and mapping in a cooperation project involving Finland, Norway and Sweden. A goal was to improve the technical competence in forestry remote sensing in those countries. Landsat TM- and simulated SPOT-imageries were classified using, e. g., filtered input data and contextual classifiers. The relative area distribution of usual forest classes was estimated at an acceptable accuracy. A two-phase sampling scheme was introduced for compartmentwise (in-place) inventories. The first phase involves analysis of satellite data, the second phase measurement of field plots. Correlations between satellite-and field-measured values of various forest characteristics were relatively high, close to those obtained using aerial photo interpretation.