Improved Capability in Stone Pine Forest
Mapping and Management in Lebanon Using
Hyperspectral CHRIS-Proba Data Relative
to Landsat ETM+
Mohamad Awad, Ihab Jomaa, and Fatima Arab
Abstract
The Stone Pine (pinus pinea) is native to the Mediterranean
region and has been used for their edible pine nuts since
prehistoric times. They are widespread in horticultural
cultivation as ornamental trees and planted in gardens and
parks around the world. Economically speaking, the Stone
Pine is very important for the agriculture sector, for tour-
ism, and for the health sector. In this research, a pilot area
located in Mount Lebanon is compared for changes in the
Stone Pine cover between the years of 1962 and 2012. The
comparison is based on processing a hyperspectral image
provided by the European Space Agency (
ESA
) and a Land-
sat
ETM
+ image as well as topographic maps. Several issues
related to the use of
CHRIS-Proba
hyperspectral images have
been investigated and analyzed. The results established
that hyperspectral data: (a) is 30 percent or more accurate
and efficient when compared with multispectral data, and
(b) helps determine precise extent of the Stone Pine cover.
Introduction
The Stone Pine (
pinus pinea
), also called Umbrella Pine, is a
tree native to the Mediterranean region, occurring in South-
ern Europe, North Africa, and the Levant. The Stone Pine is a
coniferous evergreen tree that can exceed 25 meters (82 feet)
in height. In youth, it is a bushy globe, in mid-age an umbrel-
la canopy on a thick trunk, and, in maturity, a broad and flat
crown over 8 meters (26 feet) in width.
Environmentally, the species is well-adapted to the
high temperatures, drought characteristic of Mediterranean
climates, and it is less sensitive to diseases and pests than
other Mediterranean pines (Montero
et al
. 2004). It is not a
fast growing species, nor is its timber very valuable. Its value
comes mainly from its nuts (Mutke
et al.
, 2005a) which are
the most important edible product of Mediterranean forests
(Calama
et al.
, 2007b). Stone pines kernels are used in the
Mediterranean as a culinary delicacy and have a protein value
two thirds that of lean steak (Moussouris and Regato, 1999).
For a particular Stone Pine stand, nut yields depend on
several factors including the age of the trees, site index,
health, number of trees per hectare, pruning, and thinning
(Montero and Canellas, 2000). Nut yields vary annually, and
it has been demonstrated that these are mainly due to cli-
matic factors, the most limiting being water stress (Mutke
et
al.
, 2005b). Nut weight/cone weight ratios depend upon the
precipitation from late-spring to early-summer of that year.
Good cone initiations to a good harvest in the third year occur
when there are neither extreme temperatures nor extreme
droughts (Calama
et al.
, 2007a).
Lebanon is a country located on the east shoreline of the
Mediterranean Sea, and it is bordered by Syria from the north
and east and Israel from the south; its area is about 10,250
km
2
. Its climate is characterized by being moderate/humid in
the coastal area, wet and cold in the mountains, and dry and
cold in the northeastern part of the country during the winter.
In the summer it is hot and humid in the coastal area, moder-
ate in the mountains, and hot and dry in the northeastern part
of the country.
The slope in Lebanon ranges from flat (0 to 2 percent) to
very steep (>60 percent), and there are more than 135 soil
types according to the new created map for Lebanon (Darwish
et al.
, 2005). Soils greatly influence the landscape by deter-
mining its floristic component.
Stone Pine is observed associated with other species, main-
ly
Erica spiculifora
,
Cistussalvifolius
L.,
Calycotomevillosa
L.,
Lavandulastoechas
L., and
Juniperusoxycedrus
L. This
explains its profusion in areas such as sandy soils in Beirut,
North of Beirut, and the Jezzine area (Choueiter and Ucenic,
2007).
The Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture based on years 2003
to 2005 data, estimates total annual production of pine nuts in
Lebanon between 1,200 and 1,500 tons with total annual value
of 16.5 to 25.8 million
USD
(Nehme and Johnson, 2006). Most
production comes from the Mount Lebanon area, especially
from North El-Metn and Jezzine. The current global trade
price of pine nuts is more than 40
USD
per kilogram. In addi-
tion the economic value of the pine nuts other indirect value
is obtained by the tourism sector and the agriculture sector.
The appropriate management of forests and other wooded
lands would play a very important economic role, allowing
Mohamad Awad is with the National Council for Scientific
Research, P. O. Box 11-8281, Beirut, Lebanon
(
).
Ihab Jomaa is with the Lebanese Agriculture Research
Institute, P. O. Box 287, Rayak, Zahle.
Fatima Arab is with Lebanese University, P.O. Box 6573/14,
Beirut, Lebanon.
Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing
Vol. 80, No. 8, August 2014, pp. 725–731.
0099-1112/14/8008–725
© 2014 American Society for Photogrammetry
and Remote Sensing
doi: 10.14358/PERS.80.8.725
PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
August 2014
725
