Combining UAV and satellite images to assess forest changes: A case study in Phuoc Thuan commune, Xuyen Moc district, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province in the period 2020-2023

Abstract

In recent years, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) technology has advanced substantially, which created new opportunities in developing monitoring applications for forest resources management. UAVs are capable of flying and capturing at varying altitudes, angles, and attaining precise images. These collected data are continuously, quickly, efficiently, and crucially provide insight into forest health situations. Importantly, these captured images cover other useful factors such as changes in the status of biodiversity, deforestation, and forest recovery. The aim of this study is to combine UAV images with satellite imagery for a powerful tool in monitoring and evaluating forest dynamics and resources. Accordingly, Landsat 8 images in 2020, UAV images 2023 and GIS technology were employed to create a forest map in Xuyen Moc district, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province allowing an evaluation of changes in forest area over a spanning period of 2020-2023. The results indicated that the forest area changed at a rate of 4.1% (9.37 ha) in which the largest change was bare land with a substantial decrease of 8.08 ha meanwhile restored forests increased a remarkable area of 7.85 ha over the period 2020-2023. These changes were detected by overlaying forest maps 2020 and 2023 with the accuracy is 90.6% and Kappa coefficient was 0.87%. The findings suggest that the latest application of UAVs coupled with GIS technology brought significant conveniences with images retrieved from UAVs, providing a quick, reliable and competitive approach to the management practices of forest resources.