Student information
MSc thesis subject: Linking UAV and satellite imagery with forest ground measurements from the Peruvian Amazon
Typical forest ground measurements only sample small areas, whilst forest management decisions require precise information of the resources at local and regional scales. Remote sensing technology can contribute with the upscaling of the information if data collected at different scales is combined. For this reason it is important to first determine if the are some relationships among forest plot measurements, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and satellite imagery.
Recent developments with high resolution optical sensors mounted on UAVs have the potential to link field data and satellite imagery. This MSc thesis would contribute to assessing the possibility of linking ground forest measurements from the RAINFOR network with UAV and different types of satellite imagery. The study area consists of palm swamps with different densities of aguaje palm tree (Mauritia flexuosa). The plots are located in the region of Loreto, in northeastern Peru. Field data and UAV data were collected within the framework of the MonANPeru project.
Objective
- Assess the relationship of PlanetScope, Sentinel-2, Sentinel-1, ALOS-2PALSAR-2 with UAV imagery and forest ground measurements in palm swamps in Peru.
Literature
- Towards rapid assessments of tree species diversity and structure in fragmented tropical forests: A review of perspectives offered by remotely-sensed and field-based data
- Linking Terrestrial LiDAR Scanner and Conventional Forest Structure Measurements with Multi-Modal Satellite Data
- Programming in Python or R
- Agisoft Photoscan or Pix4D