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The progress on remote sensing technology in identifying tropical forest degradation: a synthesis of the present knowledge and future perspectives

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Abstract

Since the launch of the first satellite in 1972, ecologists have been equipped with new tools to address the degradation of tropical forests, previously limited by field-based methods. This article is a review of the state of remote sensing technology in characterizing the degradation of tropical forest. The factors responsible for the structural and functional degradation of the tropical forest and its likely impacts are described in view of generating remote sensing based inputs. In order to assess the degradation and utility of geo-informatics tools, 32 parameters are identified. The research developments at different levels of information extraction from the historic to recent periods are elaborated, and future challenges are predicted. The article concludes that an additional momentum of research is required to answer many unresolved questions of tropical forest degradation.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are sincerely thankful to P. S. Roy, Edward J Milton, Ben Smith, Shivam Trivedi, and George Alan Blackburn for their encouragement and beneficial discussions, and Kathryn Sund for editing the manuscript, and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on the previous version of the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Natural Resources, International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), 7500 AA, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Shijo Joseph

  2. Forestry and Ecology Division, National Remote Sensing Centre, Indian Space Research Organization, Hyderabad, 500 037, India

    M. S. R. Murthy

  3. School of Environmental Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, 686 560, Kerala, India

    Shijo Joseph & A. P. Thomas

  4. Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Jakkur Post, Bangalore, India

    Shijo Joseph

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Joseph, S., Murthy, M.S.R. & Thomas, A.P. The progress on remote sensing technology in identifying tropical forest degradation: a synthesis of the present knowledge and future perspectives. Environ Earth Sci 64, 731–741 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-010-0893-8

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