Updated landscape map of the Pinega State Reserve

• Main Author: Popov Sergey Yu.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Fund for Support and Development of Protected Areas 2016-05-01
• Series: Nature Conservation Research: Zapovednaâ Nauka
• Subjects: digital elevation model; discriminant analysis; GIS technology; Landsat; Landscape map; SDA
• Online Access: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/article/3

The article discusses the cycle of updating the landscape map of the Pinega State Reserve. This reserve is located in the Arkhangelsk District, in the northern taiga subzone (64˚35N, 42˚58E) in Russia. A landscape map of the reserve made in 1999 was established on the basis of only the topographical maps and is very schematic. The modern technique of the combined spatial data stepwise discriminant analysis (SDA) of Landsat and DEM data was used aiming to update the map of landscapes of the Pinega State Reserve. The stepwise criterion of lambda values have shown a high level of SDA reliability (the quality of classification is 90.2%). The independent variables for PDA were the brightness characteristics of Landsat channels, the spectral indices and the characteristics of the terrain. A numbers of 73 independent variables have been used in the analysis. Areas of the old landscape map were used as a predictor. All operations with spatial and statistical data are made in the geo-information packages ArcGIS, ERDAS IMAGINE, IBM SPSS, ENVI, Statictica. A detailed analysis of the quality of SDA is provided. Two new landscape types have been revealed as a result of using SDA; moreover, the updated map of landscapes of the Pinega State Reserve has more accurate boundaries now. Obtained on the basis of multivariate analysis the landscape map of the Pinega State Reserve is statistically significant. Landscape squares are calculated.