Image processing for surveying natural vegetation: possible effects on classification accuracy.

Scientists studying the biosphere are concerned that massive forest clearing will result in net carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere that would promote global warming and associated environmental effects. Data from sensors aboard orbiting spacecraft may facilitate the production of accurate world forest maps that are needed to evaluate this concern. It is important to understand the limits of satellite-borne sensor data and data processing techniques for world forest mapping. Tests of data processing approaches using Landsat data from a complex forested scene in California show the relative performances of ratioing, filtering and principal components approaches. -Authors