Tree detection and counting have been performed using conventional methods or high costly remote sensing data. In the past few years, deep learning techniques have gained significant progress in the remote sensing area. Namely, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have been recognized as one of the most successful and widely used deep learning approaches and they have been used for object detection. In this paper, we employed a Mask R-CNN model and feature pyramid network (FPN) for tree extraction from high-resolution RGB unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) data. The main aim of this paper is to explore the employed method in images with different scales and tree contents. For this purpose, UAV images from two different areas were acquired and three big-scale test images were created for experimental analysis and accuracy assessment. According to the accuracy analyses, despite the scale and the content changes, the proposed model maintains its detection accuracy to a large extent. To our knowledge, this is the first time a Mask R-CNN model with FPN has been used with UAV data for tree extraction.

It is very important to map the burned forest areas economically, quickly and with the high accuracy of issues such as damage assessment studies, fire risk analysis, and management of forest regeneration processes. Remote sensing methods give advantages such as fast, easy-to-use and high accuracy for burned area mapping. Recent years machine learning algorithms have become more popular in satellite image classification, due to the effective solutions for the analysis of complex datasets which have a large number of variables. In this study, the success of object based random forest algorithm was investigated for burned forest area mapping. For this purpose, Object based image analysis (OBIA) was performed using Landsat 8 image of the Adrasan and Kumluca fires which occurred in 24 – 27 June 2016. The study consisted of five steps. In the first step, the multi-resolution image segmentation was performed for obtaining image objects from Landsat 8 spectral bands. In the second step, the image object metrics such as spectral index and layer values were calculated for all image objects. In the third step, a random forest classifier model was developed. Then, the developed model applied to the test site for classification of the burned area. Finally, the obtained results evaluated with confusion matrix based on the randomly sampled points. According to the results, we obtained 0.089 commission error (CE) with 0.014 omission error (OE). An overall accuracy was obtained as 0.99. The results show that this approach is very useful to be used to determine burned forest areas.

Forest area losses are one of the most significant changes in land cover. These losses negatively affect ecosystems and cause severe economic and social life problems. It is necessary to monitor the process carefully and analyze the effects well to minimize all these negative effects in forest land losses and improve the development in urban areas positively. It is of great importance that these analyses are carried out quickly and accurately in terms of developing the natural environment. In this study, the effects that cause forest losses in the Mediterranean Region over the years are examined with the data obtained with the Google Earth Engine (GEE). Within the scope of the study, the changes in forest areas in the Mediterranean Region between 2004 and 2019 have been examined by considering many factors. In the study, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), precipitation, temperature, land surface temperature, aerosol optical depth, ozone, fire, urban areas, and population data were obtained with GEE. The data obtained were analyzed statistically, and the factors affecting the losses in forest areas the most were determined.