The forest classification and monitoring in Yamal-Nenetz region, Western Siberia

Since 1996 in Salekhard, Western Siberia, the Yamal-Nenetz Committee of Environmental Protection has performed an initiative to build up the regional system of ecological monitoring, based on the satellite remote sensing data. As the main step the satellite data receiving station was installed to receive data from the NOAA, METEOR and RESURS-01 satellites. The Department of Monitoring was organized which includes the satellite receiving devices, the Arc/Info GIS system to process data and the group of specialists dealing with processing and thematic mapping of satellite images. The important task for the Department of Monitoring is forest classification and monitoring. The main directions of our activity are follows: the mapping of forests and their properties, the monitoring of forest and tundra fires, the detection of range for water saving zones at the cutting of forests, the mapping of forests with scale 1:200 000. In this paper we present a set of samples according to the tasks listed above and discuss the methodological aspects of thematic mapping. The usage of the remote sensing system for regional applications in the case of forest classification and monitoring will lead to sustainable forest management. New software products and multispectral satellite images allow to improve the quality of the output products.