MAPPING THE DENSE HUMID FOREST OF CAMEROON AND ZAIRE USING AVHRR SATELLITE DATA

Central Africa contains the second largest contiguous rain forest in the world. The current state of this forest is poorly known. The most recent comprehensive national forest distribution maps of the central African region are from the period between 1950-1980 and are not representative of more recent forest degradation or conversion. In this study NOAA-AVHRR data at 1 km resolution have been used to develop current maps of the dense humid forest extent for Zaire and Cameroon. Preliminary estimates of the areal extent of the rain forest are made. Validation of the AVHRR maps is performed through comparison with high resolution satellite imagery (Landsat-MSS) and existing maps. Forest cover maps generated by this study are a fundamental step leading to multi-scale mapping and monitoring of global tropical forests.