Detection and Analysis of Forest Clear-Cutting Activities Using Sentinel-2 and Random Forest Classification: A Case Study on Chungcheongnam-do, Republic of Korea

This study provides the methodology for the development of sustainable forest management activities and systematic strategies using national spatial data, satellite imagery, and a random forest machine learning classifier. This study conducts a regional province-scale approach that can be used to analyze forest clear-cutting in South Korea; we focused on the Chungcheongnam-do region. Based on spatial information from digital forestry data, Sentinel-2 satellite imagery, random forest (RF) classifier, and digital forest-type maps (DFTMs), we detected and analyzed the characteristics of clear-cut areas. We identified forest clear-cut areas (accounting for 2.48% of the total forest area). The methodology integrates various vegetation indices and the RF classifier to ensure the effective detection of clear-cut areas at the provincial level with an accuracy of 92.8%. Specific leaf area vegetation index (SLAVI) was determined as the most important factor for accurately detecting clear-cut areas. Moreover, using a DFTM, we analyzed clear-cutting characteristics in different forest types (including private, national, natural, and planted forests), along with age class and diameter-at-breast-height class. Our method can serve as a basis for forest management and monitoring by analyzing tree-cutting trends in countries with forest areas, such as Republic of Korea.