ForstEO
The ForstEO project (use of earth observation to record climate-induced damage to forests in Germany) is funded by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) through the Forest Climate Fund. ForstEO is a joint project between the DLR, the Bavarian State Institute of Forestry (LWF) and the Gotha Forest Research and Competence Center of ThüringenForst.
The project is developing information products that describe the state of the forest in Germany and depict the current forest damage dynamics. One focus is on recording damage in deciduous forests, especially beech forests, using innovative machine learning approaches. Another pillar is the differentiation of causes of damage on the basis of detailed information from forest condition surveys. The development of the information products is based on the specific needs of users that were identified within the project.
DFD coordinates the ForstEO project and is focusing on the further development of methods for detecting forest disturbances. For this purpose, time series from optical satellite data (including Sentinel-2A/B, Landsat-8/9) are evaluated to identify clear-cut areas and standing dead trees (see figure) as well as anomalies in intact stands.
