Using Sentinel-2 satellite image data and ground data to surveying and mapping poplar plantation of Tehran province

The Lack of timely, documentary and scientific information from the current status (level and distribution) of poplar plantation of Tehran province is one of the main problems facing the managers of the wood production sector in the planning and management of wood supply in the province and the country. Preparing a map and determining the areas of poplar plantation and their distribution in Tehran province are the objectives of this study to monitor and evaluate changes of poplar plantation area in short-term periods.

The present study was conducted from April 2018 to March 2020 for 2 years in the whole of Tehran province. In this study, multi-temporal data, from the beginning to the end of the poplar growing season (second half of March to December 2018), at least 6 time periods of 30 to 40 days were used from Sentinel-2 satellite image. Then, 355 poplar plantation fields with uniformly distribution in the province were taken as a training sample for use in the SVM classifier. Post-test and calibration of SVM model based on the phenology of poplar genus and harvested field samples, poplar plantation distribution map of province was extracted.

The results showed that the total area of poplar plantation of Tehran province is 511.1 ha which covers 0.04% of the total area of province. One percent of the total poplar plantation fields were randomly selected for field control and after that, the overall mapping error obtained was calculated. In this study, the exact location and area of current poplar plantations were estimated with acceptable accuracy (96.7%). The highest level of poplar plantations was obtained in Damavand (196.8 ha), and the lowest in Varamin (0.22 ha).

Using the resulting information (distribution map and mapping poplar plantation of province), can be initiated in studies on cultivation planning and development of wood farming for the present and future of the province.