Temporal Change Detection Analysis of Monroe County, NY tree cover from 2009 to 2017

Forests provide many ecosystem services which are enjoyed by nearby residing communities. This includes pollution and flood mitigation, carbon sequestration, oxygen production, food, fuel, education, recreation, and aesthetics. These ecosystem services also come from urban and suburban forests. Urban ecosystems, specifically urban green spaces services have been noted to improve human health significantly. Yet urban forests and ecosystem services have not and are not distributed. Understanding where and when forest cover and green spaces are changing can give insight into corresponding changes in services and access within and between communities. Thus, our objective was to complete a temporal analysis of the tree canopy-cover in the city of Rochester, NY was performed to examine change in tree cover and green spaces from 2009-2017. We did this using three-band orthorectified data; red, green, and blue bands and unsupervised and supervised classifications. A stacked-PCA image was created and applied to the change-detection PCA technique. In running the stack PCA analysis band 3 was found to be indicative of change, highlighting the expansion of agriculture as a major drive of change. The stacked PCA change detection technique determined that 8,448,898,967 tons/ha of vegetation was gained during these two time periods. The attempted NDVI change detection indicated that 1.89089353510 tons/ha of vegetation was gained. The NDVI change detection analysis revealed the most vegetation gains occurring in the rural and suburban regions of Monroe County, NY between 2090 and 2017. Given the many benefits of forests and green spaces for health and well-being, we make recommendations for future researchers attempting this kind of assessment for Monroe County and identify local programs that may be mitigating some of the green space disparities in the county.