Mountain pine beetle red-attack forest damage classification using stratified Landsat TM data in British Columbia, Canada

The identification and classification of mountain pine beetle, Dentroctonus ponderosa (Hopkins), red-attack damage patterns in a mature lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) forest located in the Fort St. James Forest District, British Columbia, was accomplished using 1999 Landsat TM satellite imagery, 1999 mountain pine beetle field and aerial survey point data, and GIS forest inventory data. Unrelated variance in the observed spectral response at mountain pine beetle field and aerial survey points was reduced following image stratification with the GIS forest inventory data and removal of other factors uncharacteristic of Fed-attack damage. Locations of known mountain pine beetle infestation were used to train a maxi. mum-likelihood algorithm; overall classification accuracy was 73 percent, based on an assessment of 360 independent validation points. If local stand variability is reduced prior to signature generation, accuracies and map products can be useful for those involved in active forest management decision-making regarding mountain pine beetle infestations.