B05 - Land use patterns in Jambi - quantification of structure, heterogeneity and changes of vegetation and land use as a basis for the explanation of ecological and socioeconomic functions
Project history
In Phase 2, B05 Kleinn focussed on the classification of land cover and its spatial arrangement as well as the variability within the defined land cover classes, with a main focus on assessing forest structure.Additionally, the potential of SAR imageries for the assessment of changes in land cover and forest structure and also for mapping of riparian sites was tested. The evaluation of SAR data is an ongoing task until the end of the second phase funding. During the second phase, a high resolution digital surface model (WorldDEM DSM), high resolution optical data (WorldView-2) and long wavelength SAR data (PALSAR-2) were obtained. In addition, the complementary RESA proposal from Phase 1 was extended, which allows us to acquire additional RapidEye scenes and to extend a respective time series. Further, a master thesis on remote sensing techniques for land cover classification was conducted. A doctoral researcher (Mr. Edwine Purnama, former staff at IPB) funded by a DAAD scholarship is now contributing to B05 Kleinn activities, completing the analyses.
The work program of B05 Kleinn was in parts adapted depending on the availability of suitable data sources. Permanent cloud cover over the study area complicated analyses of higher resolution optical remote sensing data in an unexpected manner, and made that we needed to shift our focus towards exploration of SAR data. The analysis and interpretation of SAR data requires advanced knowledge on RADAR physics, a quite complex topic. The doctoral researcher Ms. Kira Urban successfully completed an internship at Airbus Defence and Space GmbH where she built up the required capacity for complex Radar image analyses. Her experience in forest cover mapping and assessment of forest structure was well received and she is now working at Airbus Space and Defence GmbH, while she is continuing her doctoral research at the University of Göttingen. For the remaining duration of the funding period Mr. Jens Wiesehahn is continuing remaining analysis steps, mainly focussing on producing an updated land cover classification based on Sentinel 2 imagery.