Remotely sensed digital data in forestry: A review

Landsat and other remotely sensed digital data offer many advantages for forest managers. Researchers and land managers have used Landsat to inventory forests, detect and monitor fire boundaries and clearing of forests, and monitor the spread of major forest pests. In North America, and to some extent in Australia, Landsat data are used operationally for some of these functions. The use of Landsat and other types of remotely sensed imagery by forest managers in Australia should become more widespread with improvements in sensors and computer algorithms and the increasing availability of cheaper computing facilities, including microcomputers, to analyse data.