Chilean Forests

The two LANDSAT images on the next page show forested area in Chile and were taken in 1986 and 2000 (images courtesy of European Space Agency and NASA). The images are in false colour (red colour shows near infrared reflectance, green shows red reflectance and blue shows green reflectance)

1)	Can you identify the areas where trees have been removed between 1986 and 2000? Why do you think there are no trees in those areas in 2000?

2)	Can you identify the areas where trees have appeared?

3)	Explain why these changes have occurred.

4)	If we assume that the two images were taken at a similar time in the year, can you spot any changes in the agricultural fields of the area?

1986

2000

Answers

Image of 2000, showing the areas where forest cover has changed, and ch

The areas where forest has been removed or has appeared are noted with a yellow outline. The forests have been removed as part of a management plan of the forests. Areas where the forest was removed before 1986 have been replanted and are occupied by trees in the 2000 image.

The areas enclosed in a green outline, show agricultural fields that appear occupied by vegetation in one image but empty in the other. Since the images were taken at different times, we are lead to believe that the fields are occupied by different crops in the two years.