Vegetation damage monitoring in the Pasvik area, northern Norway, using airbornecasispatial mode data

This study presents a work undertaken with an airborne cast imaging spectrometer from the most air polluted area in Norway, Pasvik, close to the Russian border. The casi data were acquired during the summer of 1991. The overall objective of this work has been to assess the applicability of the casi spatial mode data for the detection of vegetation damage for studying air pollution impacts on the vegetation in the area. The available red‐to‐near‐infrared bands have been used for detection of vegetation damage. The data analysis indicated a red‐edge shift for the medium to heavy damaged vegetation cover types within the area. This was in agreement with chlorophyll measurements and other observations done in the area, but the spectral mode must be used for a detailed detection of such a shift. The most damaged vegetation types here are the open heath and Empetrum‐lichen heath vegetation. Our results coincide with the monitoring results from The Norwegian Forest Research Institute, which state that the reduced environmental vitality is caused partly by longtime exposure to air pollution from the Cu‐Ni plants in Nikel and Zapolyarnij. Additionally, our results are also in correspondence with the SO2‐concentration map modelled and constructed by the Norwegian Air Research Institute. Finally, the results from Pasvik were encouraging due to the fact that we got a good agreement between the casi spatial mode data and the Landsat TM data in order to delineate more or less damaged vegetation. The total accuracy of the classified casi map was estimated to be 87.6% ± 5%, which was better than the Landsat TM (c. 80.6% ±5.5%) based vegetation cover map from 1988.