Spatially Explicit Forest Characteristics of Europe Integrating NFI and Remote Sensing Data

Abstract:

Seeing the forest through the trees in Europe is easier said than done. European forest data is nationally collected using different methodologies and sampling techniques. This data can be difficult to obtain, and if made available often lacks spatial information and might only be provided in the local language. This makes analyzing forests in Europe difficult. The reporting systems of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the European Forestry Institute (EFI) permit several acquisition and calculation methodologies which lead to difficulties in comparing country level data. We have collected spatially explicit national forest inventory (NFI) data from 13 countries in Europe and harmonized these datasets. Using this data along with remote sensing data products we have derived spatially explicit forest characteristics maps of Europe on a 0.017^o resolution representing the time period 2000-2010. We have created maps for every NFI variable in our dataset including carbon stock, forest age, forest height, volume, basal area, etc. Cross-validating this data shows that this method produces accurate results for most variables while variables pertaining to forest cover type have lower accuracy. This data is in line with data from FAO and EFI in most cases. However, our dataset allows us to identify large incongruities quickly in FAO and EFI data. Our spatially explicit data is also accurate at predicting forest characteristics in areas where we have no NFI data. This data set provides a consistent harmonized view of the state of European forests in a way hitherto not possible, giving researchers the ability to analyze forests spatially across the entire continent. This method can also be useful for those researching areas that have little or no NFI data or areas where data acquisition is difficult or impossible. This data can also quickly give policy makers a greater view of how forest management practices have shaped our current European forests.