Ecophysiological, morphological and growth response of fir and beech along geographical gradient – basis for predicting future development trends

In the project led by the Forest Institute of Slovenia, we are working together with the Czech institution CzechGlobe on a study of forest response from Earth observation data. By analysing time series of satellite data, we will investigate the response of beech and fir forest at selected sites (Carpatian gradient). The response of the forest will be monitored by different vegetation indicators (drought, vegetation indices, soil moisture index) obtained from the MODIS, Landsat and Sentinel-2 Earth observation data. Twenty years of MODIS and Landsat data are used together with meteorological parameters (precipitation and temperature) to compare forest development from year to year and to obtain phenological indicators of the growing season over a longer period. The Sentinel-2 data will be used to identify and classify beech, fir and mixed stands in the vicinity of the studied sites. We will also monitor the development and response of the forest in wider area, link vegetation indicators to meteorological and geographical features (altitude, orientation, slope; geological basis ) and thus gain more detailed spatial insights into annual changes in forest conditions.