Time-Series Satellite-Based Monitoring of Land-Use Change and Forest Loss in Bhutan: Implications for Forest Carbon Measurement, Reporting, and Verification
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Area
2.2. Data Acquisition and Preparation
2.3. Pre-Processing and Classification
2.4. Assessment of Classification Accuracy
2.5. Land Cover and Forest Carbon Sink Change Analysis
- = Change in forest carbon stock (tonnes of C);
- = Change in forest area between two time periods (ha);
- = Forest type-specific carbon stock density (tonnes C ha−1).
3. Results
3.1. Land Cover Change
3.2. Validation Results and Accuracy Metrics
3.3. Forest Cover Change
3.4. Forest Carbon Stocks
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
| COP | Conference of the Parties |
| DEM | Digital Elevation Model |
| ENVI | Environment for Visualizing Images |
| FAO | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |
| FLAASH | Fast Line-of-sight Atmospheric Analysis of Hypercubes |
| FRL | Forest Reference Level |
| FREL | Forest Reference Emission Level |
| IPCC | Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |
| LDC | Least Developed Country |
| LULUCF | Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry |
| MNDWI | Modified Normalized Difference Water Index |
| MRV | Measurement, Reporting, and Verification |
| NAP | National Adaptation Plan |
| NDBI | Normalized Difference Built-up Index |
| NDC | Nationally Determined Contribution |
| NIR | Near-Infrared |
| NDVI | Normalized Difference Vegetation Index |
| REDD+ | Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in developing countries |
| UNFCCC | United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change |
Appendix A


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| Landsat Scene ID | Date | Path/Row | Cloud (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| LT51370411995309BKT01 | 5 November 1995 | 137/41 | 2 |
| LT51380411999327BKT00 | 23 November 1999 | 138/41 | 5 |
| LT51390411999334BKT01 | 30 November 1999 | 139/41 | 6 |
| LT51370412004334BKT01 | 29 November 2004 | 137/41 | 8 |
| LT51390412011239KHC00 | 27 August 2011 | 139/41 | 16 |
| LT51380412011296KHC00 | 23 October 2011 | 138/41 | 7 |
| LC81380412017312LGN00 | 8 November 2017 | 138/41 | 4.09 |
| LC81390412017335LGN00 | 1 December 2017 | 139/41 | 6.71 |
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Hong, M.; Yu, H.; Song, Y.; Song, M.; Kim, K.; Lee, W.-K. Time-Series Satellite-Based Monitoring of Land-Use Change and Forest Loss in Bhutan: Implications for Forest Carbon Measurement, Reporting, and Verification. Land 2026, 15, 432. https://doi.org/10.3390/land15030432
Hong M, Yu H, Song Y, Song M, Kim K, Lee W-K. Time-Series Satellite-Based Monitoring of Land-Use Change and Forest Loss in Bhutan: Implications for Forest Carbon Measurement, Reporting, and Verification. Land. 2026; 15(3):432. https://doi.org/10.3390/land15030432
Chicago/Turabian StyleHong, Mina, Hangnan Yu, Yongho Song, Minkyung Song, Kyoungmin Kim, and Woo-Kyun Lee. 2026. "Time-Series Satellite-Based Monitoring of Land-Use Change and Forest Loss in Bhutan: Implications for Forest Carbon Measurement, Reporting, and Verification" Land 15, no. 3: 432. https://doi.org/10.3390/land15030432
APA StyleHong, M., Yu, H., Song, Y., Song, M., Kim, K., & Lee, W.-K. (2026). Time-Series Satellite-Based Monitoring of Land-Use Change and Forest Loss in Bhutan: Implications for Forest Carbon Measurement, Reporting, and Verification. Land, 15(3), 432. https://doi.org/10.3390/land15030432

