Assessment of Forests of the Natural Park „Kandry-Kul” using the Earth Remote Sensing Data

Abstract

The study aims to substantiate the monitoring of protective forests actively used in recreational activities. Monitoring of the plantings state was carried out based on landscape and forest inventory and using geographic information systems, in particular Landsat satellite data allowing to cover the entire object area simultaneously and analyze the state of the object plantings over 30 years. The research involved the plantings of the natural park "Kandry-kul" located on the Belebeevskaya upland of the Southern Urals. Ground investigations and the results of processing satellite images allowed the conclusion that natural and artificial mixed coniferous-deciduous forests are basic. Artificial stands are mainly represented by young pine trees of IA-II growth class. Their sanitary and hygienic assessment is average since silver birch stands contain dropsy. Few landscaped and planted park areas and poorly developed pathway network have a negative impact on the plant community structure and reforestation. Thus, using technical capabilities of satellite systems working based on wide band electromagnetic radiation and ground inventory studies makes it possible to obtain data on the forest ecosystems state with high territorial and temporal resolution and use them when monitoring recreational facilities to solve forestry problems.