Digital Mapping of East Fennoscandian Vegetation Based on Remote Sensing Data

Digital mapping of boreal zone vegetation based on remote sensing data is of the utmost significance for monitoring the natural and anthropogenic dynamics of North Russian forest ecosystems. Revealing the actual state and qualitative changes of the forest cover at the regional and local levels can help achieve a wide range of sustainable development targets. Interpretation of alternative Landsat multispectral images has enabled spatial models to be developed for a number of East Fennoscandian regions. Over the last 30 years, four zones with active logging operations and substantial reduction in mature conifer forest areas have been revealed along with a substantial increase in clear cutting and the area occupied by deciduous stands. During this period, the natural landscapes of the Onezhskoe Pomorye National Park and Kostomukshsky Strict Nature Reserve managed to avoid large scale catastrophic events. So, most appear stable at the moment. Keywords: multispectral space images, supervised classification, Landsat program, vegetation spatial dynamics, forests, remote sensing data, interpretatio