From a forest biosecurity perspective, there is growing interest in forest surveillance processes capable of providing information on foliar disease present within the planted estate. Monitoring strategies often rely on aerial surveys to provide this information; they are, however, infrequent and only cover a small proportion of the forest estate.
In this article, Indufor Asia Pacific and New Zealand Forest Research (Scion) introduce a forest monitoring framework that uses repeat visit satellite images to detect foliar diseases over large areas. We present the results of a collaborative project that aimed to develop a monitoring framework capable of detecting Red Needle Cast (RNC) from remotely sensed imagery. In the past, sporadic outbreaks of RNC (caused by a fungal-like organism, Phytophthora pluvialis) have significantly impacted the growth rates of radiata pine, particularly within the North Island of New Zealand.
