Mapping Cork Oak Mortality Using Multitemporal High-Resolution Satellite Imagery

In the Mediterranean region, a significant decline in the vitality of vegetation has been observed in the last two decades, with a high forest mortality rate for several species. The increase in mortality has been attributed to water stress resulting from an increase in temperature and long periods of drought. To detect and quantify the impact of these events on tree mortality, an efficient and easy-to-use methodology for rapid damage assessment is required. Our study aims to assess the potential of high spatial resolution multispectral images from the Pleiades constellation to detect and map cork oak mortality in a pasture environment with multiple forest species. An approach based on change detection and the use of an unsupervised classifier is proposed to detect mortality at the cork oak level. The change in the values observed for three vegetation indices, NDVI, RGI, and GNDVI, between two epochs is used in an unsupervised classification algorithm to estimate the dead tree class. The classification results are accurate, with precision and recall values higher than 90%. Detailed cork oak mortality mapping is of significant use in comprehending ecosystem change as a result of tree mortality and for the implementation of mitigation mechanisms for the ongoing desertification process.