Micro-detail comparative forest site analysis using high-resolution satellite imagery

This study presents comparative analysis of high-resolution satellite imagery taken on different dates around a detected incident of interest. Under an assumption of a micro-detail land monitoring and disturbance detection interests we compared the patterns of image captured disturbances on the analyzed site and leveraged their interpretation with knowledge published on relevant subjects. The incident of interest was the Polish Air Force One TU-154M plane destruction on April 10, 2010. We analyzed the image changes on a micro-detail level, tracked over time and considered with respect to the patterns of destruction and the plane debris size distribution in space, and compared these against information from the broader engineering literature describing destruction patterns of thin walled structures, such as planes and cars. Then, we compared the spatial distribution of the debris between the pictures taken on different dates. In this analysis, we also considered onground changes in soil moisture and landscape features between different images. © 2013 Publisher of the Mathematical and Computational Forestry & Natural-Resource Sciences.