FOREST AREA EVALUATION AND MAPPING USING SENTINEL-2 MULTISPECTRAL IMAGERY AND INDEX-BASED METHODS

Forest ecosystems play a crucial role in maintaining ecological balance, providing essential resources, and mitigating climate change. Accurate and up-to-date information on forest area and distribution is vital for sustainable forest management, conservation efforts, and policy-making. This paper presents a methodology for evaluating and mapping forest areas in Uzbekistan using Sentinel-2 multispectral imagery and various index-based methods. The high spatial and spectral resolution of Sentinel-2 data allows for detailed discrimination of forest from other land cover types. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), and other relevant indices are explored and compared for their effectiveness in identifying and quantifying forest cover. The study focuses on specific forest regions within Uzbekistan, demonstrating the applicability and accuracy of the proposed approach for national-level forest monitoring. The findings contribute to a better understanding of forest dynamics in Uzbekistan and provide valuable tools for environmental agencies and researchers.