Assessing the distribution of poplar plantations in Ardabil province

Lack of wood resources and forest degradation in the country, on the one hand, and the inability to import wood and its products to the country, on the other hand, have doubled the importance of wood supply for the country. Lack of information on the current situation (area and distribution) of poplar planting in Ardabil province is one of the main problems of wood production managers in planning and managing wood supply. In this regard, preparing the distribution map and determining the area of poplar wood cultivation can help the planners of the province in assessing the situation of poplar planting as well as issues related to the cultivation and development of wood cultivation in the region. For this purpose, Multi-temporal Sentinel-2 satellite data were used from the beginning to the end of the poplar growth period (first half of March to December 2018), at least six time periods between 30 and 40 days. After processing, interpretation, data analysis, including atmospheric correction, geometric correction, selection of appropriate bandwidth and temporal composition of images, modeling based on time series data, and model testing in pilot areas with fieldwork information (training examples) for use in the model a map of poplar areas in Ardabil provinces was extracted. The results showed that the province's poplar plantations were equivalent to 1074 hectares in 1397. According to the distribution map, most poplar parts are located in Meshgin Shahr, Ardabil, and Khalkhal. Most of the poplar planting plots of less than 0.5 hectares are strip or linearly planted in the margins of gardens and streams to transfer water to farms, which in addition to producing wood, act as windbreaks and garden fences. Evaluation of the accuracy of maps extracted from Sentinel-2 satellite data using 140 samples was randomly selected. The overall accuracy of the prepared map was 93.2%, which indicates the acceptable accuracy in distinguishing poplar crops from other forest species and fruitful in the extracted maps. The findings of this study can be valuable basic information for use in monitoring the area of poplar planning and management decisions in wood farming in the province.