ABSTRACT
Remote sensing plays a key role in forest monitoring because it offers a cost-effective option for frequent observation of vast areas of forest. Forest attribute maps derived from remote sensing may be integrated with forest inventory data in a variety of ways within a forest monitoring framework. This chapter focuses on monitoring forest cover. The attention to forest cover allows for framing the monitoring objective as an area estimation problem, an objective commonly addressed in mapping applications using remotely sensed data. Sample-based forest monitoring using remotely sensed data has been successfully implemented to provide estimates of forest cover and forest cover change over the tropics and global forest biomes. The global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) remote sensing survey is another recent application of a sample-based forest monitoring activity. Two-phase sampling is often an effective design for general-purpose monitoring and has a relatively long history of use for forest inventory.
