Title: Perspectives of Maine Forest Cover Change from Landsat Imagery and Forest Inventory Analysis (FIA)

Author: Sader, Steven; Hoppus, Michael; Metzler, Jacob; Jin, Suming

Year: 2005

Publication: Journal of Forestry

Abstract: A forest change detection map was developed to document forest gains and losses during the decade of the 1990s. The effectiveness of the Landsat imagery and methods for detecting Maine forest cover change are indicated by the good accuracy assessment results: forest-no change, forest loss, and forest gain accuracy were 90, 88, and 92% respectively, and the good correlation of mapped areas of forest cover loss with forest inventory analysis (FIA) tree size class decrease at the county level. The combination of annually collected permanent FIA plots with accurate statewide forest change maps offers a complementary perspective of Maine's forest resource.