Assessing large area forest cover products derived from the same imaging source across Victoria, Australia

Forest cover products are an essential tool for land managers and policy makers. They are used at a variety of spatial scales to inform decision-making and policy across a range of ecosystem drivers and services. This article compares three forest cover products (FCP), all of which were created using Landsat satellite imagery, but using different methodologies and covering different spatial extents that range from global to state. It also explores their use and utility across the state of Victoria, Australia. It asks the question, how interchangeable are the forest cover maps? FCP are also validated against a very high-resolution reference data set. Overall accuracy was around 89% for the state and national FCP, and 84% for the global FCP. The global map produced the lowest estimate of total forest cover, while estimates obtained by the national and state FCP were similar across the study area. Spatially, differences, however, were apparent. The national forest cover map obtained higher estimates across most of Victoria except in the most arid region which is dominated by low open woodland. While the national and global scale forest cover maps were found to have good diagnostic ability for large area assessment and reporting, their use for land management is not optimal and can lead to gross error.