Using Sentinel 2 satellite images for estimating the spatial and altitudinal distribution of the coniferous and deciduous species of the Eastern Carpathians of Romania

Abstract

: The morphometric characteristics of the terrestrial surface - especially the terrain elevation - are a determining climatogenetic factor, especially in the areas with a high degree of fragmentation such as mountainous areas. Terrain elevation and fragmentation, slope, as well as the orientation of the slopes have an important impact on the local climate. Thus, the morphoclimatic variability is reflected in the stratified distribution of the vegetation, determining the existence of the vegetal associations specific to each climatic area, more thermophilic species being specific to low terrain elevations. Using high resolution satellite images such as Sentinel 2, the spatial distribution of the tree species can be mapped, for very large areas of interest. State of the art classification algorithms were used to extract and classify the forest cover. The resulted layer was used to determine the preferred morphometric conditions for the deciduous and the coniferous tree species within the study area.