Remote sensing across scales and platforms: monitoring Castelporziano nature reserve forest insect outbreaks
This study investigates the decline of Mediterranean stone pine forests caused by climate stress and insect outbreaks, focusing on Castelporziano Estate in Italy. It proposes a multi-source remote sensing approach combining high-resolution (Pléiades, DigitalGlobe), Sentinel-2, and PlanetScope data to detect and monitor disturbances. Sentinel-2 enables near-real-time yearly mapping using an improved unsupervised algorithm, while PlanetScope […]
This study investigates the decline of Mediterranean stone pine forests caused by climate stress and insect outbreaks, focusing on Castelporziano Estate in Italy. It proposes a multi-source remote sensing approach combining high-resolution (Pléiades, DigitalGlobe), Sentinel-2, and PlanetScope data to detect and monitor disturbances. Sentinel-2 enables near-real-time yearly mapping using an improved unsupervised algorithm, while PlanetScope reveals an average detection delay of 8.5 days. The method achieves high accuracy (85–92%) when validated against detailed imagery. Overall, integrating multiple data sources improves the timeliness and reliability of monitoring, supporting effective management of forests increasingly threatened by climate change and insect infestations.