Sader, S.A., T.A. Stone, and A.T. Joyce. 1990. Remote sensing of tropical forests: An overview of research applications using non-photographic sensors. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing 56(10):1343-1351.

Remote sensing techniques coupled with geographic information systems and modeling approaches offer an outstanding opportunity to monitor regional ecosystem processes in tropical environments that are undergoing rapid change. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of how remote sensing technology has been applied to tropical forest monitoring over the past 20 years and suggests research needs for monitoring the condition and extent of tropical forests. The discussion focuses on non-photographic sensors, especially those on orbiting satellites. For example, information derived from coarse spatial resolution sensors that have high temporal data acquisition rates (e.g., NOAA AVHRR) are required to accommodate the vast land areas included in tropical surveys. Higher resolution sensors (MSS, TM, SPOT, aircraft scanners and mapping cameras) are necessary tools to record the spectral and spatial detail needed to link intensive ecological field studies to the forest community and biome levels. In regions with frequent cloud cover where sensors operate in the visible and near-infrared have limited utility, active microwave sensors can provide information about the land surface and forest canopy that would otherwise be unobtainable. Additional research and technique development is needed to advance the utility of remotely sensed data for tropical forest monitoring. However, there is sufficient information available to form a basis for implementing a tropical forest monitoring system utilizing sensors currently available on-board orbiting satellites complemented with airborne sensors. Implementation of geographic information systems and multistage inventory techniques for tropical forest assessments are suggested as important components of a global tropical forest information system.

Return to Selected Publications