In cooperation with the USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station, an algorithm has been developed to replace the current aerial-photography-derived FIA Phase 1 estimates of forest/non-forest with a Landsat Thematic Mapper-based forest area estimation. Corrected area estimates were obtained using a new hybrid classifier called Iterative Guided Spectral Class Rejection (IGSCR) for portions of three physiographic regions of Virginia. Corrected area estimates were also derived using the Landsat Thematic Mapper-based Multi-Resolution Land Characteristic Interagency Consortium (MRLC) cover maps. Both satellite-based corrected area estimates were tested against the traditional photo-based estimates. Forest area estimates were not significantly different (at the 95% level) between the traditional FIA, IGSCR, and MRLC methods, although the precision of the satellite-based estimates was lower. The estimated percent forest area and the standard error (respectively) of the estimates for each region and method are as follows; Coastal Plain- Phase 1 66.06% and 1.08%, IGSCR 68.88% and 2.93%, MRLC 69.84% and 3.08%. Piedmont- Phase 1 63.87% and 1.91%, IGSCR 65.52% and 3.50%, MRLC 59.19% and 3.83%. Ridge and Valley- Phase 1 69.74% and 1.22%, IGSCR 70.02%, and 2.43%, MRLC 70.53% and 2.52%. Map accuracies were not significantly different (at the 95% level) between the IGSCR method and the MRLC method. Overall accuracies ranged from 80% to 89% using FIA definitions of forest and non-forest land use. Given standardization of the image rectification process and training data properties, the IGSCR methodology is objective and repeatable across users, regions, and time and outperforms the MRLC for FIA applications. / Master of Science

The goal of this project was to develop an operational Landsat TM image classification protocol for FIA forest area estimation. A hybrid classifier known as Iterative Guided Spectral Class Rejection (IGSCR) was automated using the ERDAS C Toolkit and ERDAS Macro Language. The resulting program was tested on 4 Landsat ETM+ images using training data collected via region-growing at 200 random points within each image. The classified images were spatially post-processed using variations on a 3x3 majority filter and a clump and eliminate technique. The accuracy of the images was assessed using the center land use of all plots, and subsets containing plots with 50, 75 and 100% homogeneity. The overall classification accuracies ranged from 81.9-95.4%. The forest area estimates derived from all image, filter and accuracy set combinations met the USDA Forest Service precision requirement of less than 3% per million acres timberland. There were no consistently significant filtering effects at the 95% level; however, the 3x3 majority filter significantly improved the accuracy of the most fragmented image and did not decrease the accuracy of the other images. Overall accuracy increased with homogeneity of the plots used in the validation set and decreased with fragmentation (estimated by % edge; R2 = 0.932). We conclude that the use of random points to initiate training data collection via region-growing may be an acceptable and repeatable addition to the IGSCR protocol, if the training data are representative of the spectral characteristics of the image. We recommend 3x3 majority filtering for all images, and, if it would not bias the sample, the selection of validation data using a plot homogeneity requirement rather than plot center land use only. These protocol refinements, along with the automation of IGSCR, make IGSCR suitable for use by the USDA Forest Service in the operational classification of Landsat imagery for forest area estimation. / Master of Science

The impacts of training data sample size and sampling method on the accuracy of forest/nonforest classifications of three mosaicked Landsat ETM+ images with the nearest neighbor decision rule were explored. Large training data pools of single pixels were used in simulations to create samples with three sampling methods (random, stratified random, and systematic) and eight sample sizes (25, 50, 75, 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500). Two forest area estimation techniques were used to estimate the proportion of forest in each image and to calculate forest area precision estimates. Training data editing was explored to remove problem pixels from the training data pools. All possible band combinations of the six non-thermal ETM+ bands were evaluated for every sample draw. Comparisons were made between classification accuracies to determine if all six bands were needed. The utility of separability indices, minimum and average Euclidian distances, and cross-validation accuracies for the selection of band combinations, prediction of classification accuracies, and assessment of sample quality were determined. Larger training data sample sizes produced classifications with higher average accuracies and lower variability. All three sampling methods had similar performance. Training data editing improved the average classification accuracies by a minimum of 5.45%, 5.31%, and 3.47%, respectively, for the three images. Band combinations with fewer than all six bands almost always produced the maximum classification accuracy for a single sample draw. The number of bands and combination of bands, which maximized classification accuracy, was dependent on the characteristics of the individual training data sample draw, the image, sample size, and, to a lesser extent, the sampling method. All three band selection measures were unable to select band combinations that produced higher accuracies on average than all six bands. Cross-validation accuracies with sample size 500 had high correlations with classification accuracies, and provided an indication of sample quality. Collection of a high quality training data sample is key to the performance of the nearest neighbor classifier. Larger samples are necessary to guarantee classifier performance and the utility of cross-validation accuracies. Further research is needed to identify the characteristics of "good" training data samples. / Ph. D.

Forest and forestland are important roles and sources of livelihood for the population living in or near forests and in mountainous areas of Vietnam. The objectives of this paper analysed the change in forest resource, and policy of forestry in Vietnam. In recent several years, forest area rapidly covered an average rate of 240,000 ha/year and had about 13.39 million hectares in 2010. It has contributed to the use of bare land, job creation and improvement of livelihoods for 25% of Vietnam’s population living in mountainous areas. Those results were the purpose of reforestation program and the production of wood industry in Vietnam. In this addition, government policies and regulations have provided a solid foundation for development of the forest plantations and conservation of forest ecosystems though forest land allocation and lease to organizations, households, and individuals. Therefore, the forest utilization has motivated by both environmental and commercial factors in Vietnam based on dividing into three forest categories special use, protection and production forests. However, the development strategy of forest management plan is the difficulties associated with conflicting land claims and boundary disputes due to the value of the established forest. / Rừng và đất rừng đóng vai trò quan trọng và là nguồn sinh kế cho người dân sống trong hoặc gần rừng ở các khu vực miền núi của Việt Nam. Mục tiêu của nghiên cứu này phân tích sự thay đổi về tài nguyên rừng và chính sách về lâm nghiệp. Trong một vài năm gần đây, diện tích rừng bao phủ nhanh với tốc độ trung bình 240.000 ha/năm và có khoảng 13,39 triệu ha trong năm 2010 này đã góp phần vào việc sử dụng đất trống, tạo việc làm và cải thiện đời sống cho 25% dân số sống ở khu vực miền núi của Việt Nam. Kết quả này là mục đích của chương trình trồng rừng và sản xuất gỗ công nghiệp tại Việt Nam. Bên cạnh đó, chính sách và các quy định của chính phủ đã cung cấp một nền tảng vững chắc cho việc phát triển diện tích trồng rừng và bảo tồn hệ sinh thái rừng mặc dù rừng và đất rừng đã được giao và khoán cho các tổ chức, hộ gia đình, cá nhân. Vì vậy, việc sử dụng rừng đã thúc đẩy bởi hai yếu tố môi trường và thương mại ở Việt Nam, dựa trên phân loại rừng: rừng đặc dụng, rừng sản xuất và rừng phòng hộ. Tuy nhiên, chiến lược kế hoạch quản lý phát triển rừng có những khó khăn liên quan đến xung đột khiếu nại đất và tranh chấp biên giới do giá trị của rừng được thành lập.

Miškų plotas Lietuvoje didėja nuo XX amžiaus vidurio. Mažiausias miškingumas – 19,7% užfiksuotas 1948 metais, 2009 metais siekia 32,9%. Pagal Lietuvos miškingumo didinimo programą per 2004 – 2020 m. laikotarpį bendrą šalies miškingumą planuojama padidinti 3%. Programoje numatytos miško įveisimo apimtys, atsižvelgiant į nenašių ir žemės ūkiui nenaudojamų žemės ūkio naudmenų plotus. Norint efektyviai didinti miškingumą želdinimu arba miško žėlimo skatinimu, būtina atsižvelgti į visą kompleksą aplinkos veiksnių (ekonominių, ekologinių ir socialinių – etnokultūrinių), darančių įtaką miško želdinimui ir žėlimui, želdinių ir žėlinių augimui, būklei ir miško naudojimui mažo našumo, apleistose ir pažeistose žemėse. Planuojant miško plotų didinimą Kauno apskrityje išnagrinėta žemės valstybinės apskaitos duomenys ir išduotų leidimų įveisti mišką žemės ūkio paskirties žemėje apimtys. / The forest area of Lithuania has been increasing from the mid-twentieth century. Minimum Forest area - 19.7% recorded in 1948 and in 2009 increased up to 32.9%. According to the Lithuanian forest improvement program through 2004 - 2020 on period, the total forest country is planned to increase by 3%. The program involves the establishment of forest volume, taking into account the low-performing agriculture and farmland quantity. From 652.7 thousand. ha of agricultural land and non-life area of 163.2 thousand. hectare (30-32 performance ratings) has been proposed temporarily to preserve, and 489.5 thousand. ha of forest produce in the future is appropriate. In order to effectively increase the forest afforestation and forestry promotion Iit should be taken into account a whole range of environmental factors (economic, environmental and social - ethnographic), affecting the forest and afforestation, plantations and Zelin on growth, condition and use of low-productivity forests, abandoned and damaged lands.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-29T16:21:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Fernando Landa Sobral.pdf: 687284 bytes, checksum: 9d1a927bc9b256832a9a05b06ad62d7e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-05-26 / Communities are assemblages of co-occurring species that potentially interact with each other. They are the result not only of a series of ecological processes or "assembly rules", but also of past and ongoing evolutionary processes. In recent years, the assembly rules have received increased attention from ecologists and two different processes have been explored: environmental filtering and limiting similarity. As the processes involved in the formation of the assemblages appear to vary in a manner dependent on scale, it is expected that such assembly rules have different effects over different spatial scales. Understanding this relationship between ecological processes and spatial scales in which they act has been a great challenge among scholars. In this context, the incorporation of phylogenetic and functional data to diversity classical approaches have established the basis for an emerging area of research in community ecology, promoting the development of many tools to detect the underlying structure of the assemblages and, therefore, to infer the processes assembly responsible for the formation of the assemblages. Here, we demonstrate how the use of different measures of phylogenetic and functional diversity along with the use of different null models can be a promising approach in solving paradigms still poorly understood, discussing how such methods can increase the predictive power of this growing area of research. / As comunidades são assembleias de espécies co-ocorrentes que interagem potencialmente umas com as outras. Elas são resultado não apenas de uma série de processos ecológicos ou regras de montagem , mas também de processos evolutivos passados e contínuos. Nos últimos anos, as regras de montagem têm recebido maior atenção dos ecólogos e dois processos diferentes têm sido explorados: os filtros ambientais e a similaridade limitante. Como os processos envolvidos na formação das assembleias parecem variar de uma forma dependente de escala, espera-se que tais regras de montagem tenham diferentes efeitos ao longo de diferentes escalas espaciais. Compreender essa relação entre os processos ecológicos e as escalas espaciais nas quais eles atuam tem sido um grande desafio entre os estudiosos. Nesse contexto, a incorporação de dados filogenéticos e funcionais às abordagens clássicas de diversidade tem estabelecido a base de uma emergente área de pesquisa em ecologia de comunidades, impulsionando o desenvolvimento de muitas ferramentas para detectar a subjacente estrutura das assembleias e, portanto, inferir os processos de montagem responsáveis pela formação das assembleias. Aqui, demonstramos como a utilização de diferentes medidas de diversidade filogenética e funcional juntamente com o uso de diferentes modelos nulos pode ser uma abordagem promissora na solução de paradigmas ainda pouco compreendidos, discutindo como tais métodos podem aumentar o poder preditivo dessa crescente área de pesquisa.

Forest and forestland are important roles and sources of livelihood for the population living in or near forests and in mountainous areas of Vietnam. The objectives of this paper analysed the change in forest resource, and policy of forestry in Vietnam. In recent several years, forest area rapidly covered an average rate of 240,000 ha/year and had about 13.39 million hectares in 2010. It has contributed to the use of bare land, job creation and improvement of livelihoods for 25% of Vietnam’s population living in mountainous areas. Those results were the purpose of reforestation program and the production of wood industry in Vietnam. In this addition, government policies and regulations have provided a solid foundation for development of the forest plantations and conservation of forest ecosystems though forest land allocation and lease to organizations, households, and individuals. Therefore, the forest utilization has motivated by both environmental and commercial factors in Vietnam based on dividing into three forest categories special use, protection and production forests. However, the development strategy of forest management plan is the difficulties associated with conflicting land claims and boundary disputes due to the value of the established forest. / Rừng và đất rừng đóng vai trò quan trọng và là nguồn sinh kế cho người dân sống trong hoặc gần rừng ở các khu vực miền núi của Việt Nam. Mục tiêu của nghiên cứu này phân tích sự thay đổi về tài nguyên rừng và chính sách về lâm nghiệp. Trong một vài năm gần đây, diện tích rừng bao phủ nhanh với tốc độ trung bình 240.000 ha/năm và có khoảng 13,39 triệu ha trong năm 2010 này đã góp phần vào việc sử dụng đất trống, tạo việc làm và cải thiện đời sống cho 25% dân số sống ở khu vực miền núi của Việt Nam. Kết quả này là mục đích của chương trình trồng rừng và sản xuất gỗ công nghiệp tại Việt Nam. Bên cạnh đó, chính sách và các quy định của chính phủ đã cung cấp một nền tảng vững chắc cho việc phát triển diện tích trồng rừng và bảo tồn hệ sinh thái rừng mặc dù rừng và đất rừng đã được giao và khoán cho các tổ chức, hộ gia đình, cá nhân. Vì vậy, việc sử dụng rừng đã thúc đẩy bởi hai yếu tố môi trường và thương mại ở Việt Nam, dựa trên phân loại rừng: rừng đặc dụng, rừng sản xuất và rừng phòng hộ. Tuy nhiên, chiến lược kế hoạch quản lý phát triển rừng có những khó khăn liên quan đến xung đột khiếu nại đất và tranh chấp biên giới do giá trị của rừng được thành lập.

This paper will explore the possibilities of using an automated self-made procedural tool to create real-time environments based on simple image masks. The purpose of this is to enable a concept artist or level designer to quickly get out results in a game engine and to be able to explore ideas. The goal of this thesis was to better understand how you can break down simple ideas and shapes into more complex details and assets. In the first part of this thesis, I go over the traditional workflow of creating a real-time environment. I then go on and break down my tool, what it does and how it works. I start off with a Photoshop file, make tools in Houdini and then utilize those in Unreal for the end result. I also argument about the time-saving possibilities with these tools. From the work, I draw the conclusion that these kinds of tools save a lot of time for repeating tasks and the creation of similar environments.

Contexte. Après des siècles de diminution, la surface forestière de la plupart des pays développés augmente, un phénomène appelé « transition forestière ». Le stock de bois sur pied présente une augmentation plus rapide mais son évolution, associée à des problématiques actuelles majeures, reste négligée. Il est indispensable de caractériser et comprendre ces évolutions, d’en connaître les causes sous-jacentes, et de les reconstituer sur le long terme afin de pouvoir situer les ressources forestières dans une trajectoire d’ensemble et anticiper leur dynamique future. Cette thèse est consacrée aux forêts françaises métropolitaines et repose principalement sur les données de l’IFN. Objectifs. (1) Analyser les changements de surfaces, de stock et de densité de stock et leurs hétérogénéités spatiales et temporelles, sur 40 ans (1975 – 2015) en fonction de facteurs présumés structurer ces évolutions (géographie, propriété et composition). L’existence de changements de vitesse d’expansion a été recherchée. Le lien entre les changements de stock et des propriétés de la forêt (stock et densité de stock initiaux, augmentation récente de surface) ont été analysés. (2) Analyser les mécanismes des changements de stock et décomposer l’expansion selon des ensembles forestiers homogènes du point de vue de leur dynamique. L’analyse se fonde sur une estimation des flux de stock : croissance, recrutement, mortalité et prélèvement. (3) Situer l’expansion actuelle du stock dans une dynamique séculaire. Les stocks de 1892, 1908 et 1929 (associés aux surfaces de statistiques anciennes) ont été estimés par une approche d’imputation conditionnelle de la densité. Un modèle synthétique de densification du stock des forêts a été testé afin d’étudier à quelles conditions sur cette densification il est possible de retracer la chronologie présumée du stock. Résultats. (1) Sur 40 ans, l’expansion en stock a été trois fois plus rapide que celle des surfaces, soulignant l’intensité de la densification des forêts, et ne présente aucun signe de saturation. Les forêts privées, et principalement les forêts feuillues, présentent les expansions de stock et de densité de stock les plus marquées, suggérant le rôle important de l’expansion naturelle et de l’abandon de terres agricoles. Les modèles statistiques révèlent l’effet positif du stock initial et des variations passées de surface sur l’expansion. (2) L’analyse des mécanismes d’expansion a mis en évidence le moindre niveau des prélèvements relativement à la croissance des forêts, et la contribution des forêts jeunes au développement des ressources. Quatre ensembles forestiers synthétiques de dynamiques distinctes et principalement composés de stocks en forêt privée expliquant l’expansion du stock sont identifiés. (3) La reconstitution du stock depuis 1850 suggère une faible densité de stock au début de la période (25 m3/ha) et une augmentation de stock de presque +300% entre 1892 et 2010, soulignant l’importance de cette expansion. Un modèle convexe a été nécessaire pour représenter la densification des forêts, attestant d’une inertie importante à la reconstitution des ressources, interprétée relativement à la baisse progressive des prélèvements ou à une reconstitution progressive de fertilité. Les analyses suggèrent enfin une évolution différenciée dans le temps du modèle de densification pour les forêts provenant de plantations. Conclusion. Ces travaux ont permis de montrer l’importance de l’expansion en stock et la nécessité de contextualiser cette expansion. Cette expansion ancienne ne montre pour l’instant aucune saturation et constitue un stock de carbone croissant qui ne devrait pas diminuer dans les prochaines décennies à conditions contextuelles identiques. L’analyse causale révèle qu’une part importante de l’expansion du stock ne constitue pas une ressource immédiatement disponible. Les futures politiques d’intensification des prélèvements doivent donc être circonstanciées et échelonnées dans le temps / Context. After centuries of decrease, the forest area of most developed countries increase, a phenomenon termed “forest transition”. While current increase in growing stock (GS) is greater than that in area, it remains far less studied. These changes are linked to major current issues. It is essential to assess these changes, to decipher their underlying causes, and to quantify them over the longer term in order to locate current forest resources on a broad trajectory and to anticipate their future dynamics. This thesis is dedicated to French metropolitan forests, which exhibit the most intensive changes in the growing stock in Europe, and relies on data from the French NFI program. Objectives. (1) Analyse forest areal, GS and GS density (GSD) changes and their spatio-temporal variations over 40 years (1975-2015). They were related to factors hypothesized to feature forest changes (geographical contexts, ownership and species composition). We screened for changes in the rate of expansion. The relationships between GS changes and some forest attributes (initial GS and GSD, recent forest area increase) were investigated. (2) Uncover the processes of GS changes and to split the GS expansion magnitude across dynamically-homogeneous forest ensembles. The study was based on GS flux estimation (growth, ingrowth, mortality and harvest). (3) Locate the actual GS expansion in a secular perspective. This analysis consisted in reconstructing the GS chronology since 1850. Levels of GS in 1892, 1908 and 1929 (associated to area of ancient statistics) were estimated using a conditional imputation approach for GSD estimation. Then, a holistic growing stock densification model was implemented to inquire the conditions required on densification patterns and magnitude to simulate the reconstituted GS chronology. Results. (1) Over 40 years, GS increases were three times faster than the areal ones, underlining the intensity of forest densification. No sign of saturation was found. Private forests, and mainly broadleaved ones, presented the greatest GS and GSD increases, suggesting the essential role of natural expansion and agricultural land abandonment. Regression models revealed the positive effect of initial GS and of recent areal increases on GS expansion. (2) The analysis of GS expansion processes evidenced the low level of harvests in comparison to forest growth, and the contribution of recent forests to wood resource development. It led to identify 4 synthetic forest ensembles contributing to the expansion and of distinct dynamics, mainly composed of private forests. (3) GS suggested a very low mean GSD at the beginning of the period (25 m3/ha) and a GS increase by almost +300% between 1892 and 2010, underlying the importance of this expansion. A convex growth model was required to simulate historical forest densification, attesting of a significant inertia in wood resource reconstitution after the forest transition, interpreted based on a gradual decrease in harvest rates for which indices were collected, or to a gradual recovery of site fertility. The analysis also suggested a distinct kinetics for GS densification in plantation forests. Conclusions. These researches reveal the magnitude of GS expansion and the importance of its analysis across forest contexts. This ancient expansion does not present any current sign of saturation and constitute a persistent carbon sink which should not decrease in the next decades assuming similar contextual conditions. According to the process analysis of GS expansion, a significant fraction of the GS increases does not constitute readily available additional wood resources. Thus, future harvest intensification policies must be contextualized and evolving in time