As a result of storms, extreme drought and high temperatures, Germany's forests are under severe threat from bark beetles. The current practice of tracking down infestation sites by means of search trips is time consuming and often comes too late to prevent the devaluation of affected stands. As an alternative to this practice, UNIQUE developed a new method for early infestation detection in pilot forestry operations on behalf of the Ministry of Rural Areas Baden-Württemberg. With the help of daily available satellite images and a semi-automatic data processing, infested sites were mapped in a 7 - 10 day rhythm. This made "guided search trips" for infestation detection possible. UNIQUE was responsible for the development and implementation of the infestation detection as well as the evaluation and validation in the field.

• Development of satellite image-based detections of vitality changes in coniferous forest patches
• Semi-automation of the detection processes
• Validation of the methods in practice by guided searches as ground truthing
• Provision of bark beetle damage information to forest owners at regular intervals
• Testing the scalability of the approach