ABSTRACT
Olympic National Park (ONP) was established in the 1930s to protect the diversity of its ecosystems. It has some of the best examples of intact temperate rainforest in the Paci‰c Northwest and is home to 24 endemic species, including 8 plant species and 16 animal species (National Park Service 2007). In 1976, it was designated by the United Nations Educational, Scienti‰c, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as an International Biosphere Reserve, and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1981. The old growth forests that were once widely distributed across the Olympic Peninsula provide critical
CONTENTS
4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 75 4.2 Data and Methods ....................................................................................... 76
4.2.1 Study Area ........................................................................................ 76 4.2.2 Landsat Imagery ..............................................................................77 4.2.3 Image Corrections ............................................................................ 79 4.2.4 Forest Change Mapping .................................................................. 79
4.2.4.1 Single-Image Masking and Normalization ...................80 4.2.4.2 Tracking Forest Change Using the IFZ .......................... 81
4.2.5 Validation of the Disturbance Products .......................................83 4.3 Results ...........................................................................................................84
