An Analysis of the Growth of the Palm Oil Industry in Sumatra, Indonesia: As Detected by Satellite Imagery, 2000-2018

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)

Shannon Lloyd (Creator)

Institution

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )

Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/

Advisor

Jeffrey Patton

Abstract: Palm oil trees are rapidly spreading across the landscape in Sumatra, Indonesia. The province of Bengkulu is a prime example of this, and it is hard to go anywhere and not see palm oil trees. Finding an accurate way to monitor plantation growth would be of great benefit as scientists and others attempt to monitor how Indonesia’s palm oil boom is affecting climate change. Several studies have indicated that the surge of palm oil production is causing great environmental and social harm to Indonesia as well as the rest of the world. This research details a methodology for utilizing satellite imagery to accurately differentiate palm trees from other forms of vegetation on a plantation scale. The research applied as unsupervised classification process found in ArcMap to a series of LANDSAT’s 4-5, 7, and 8 satellite imagery for palm tree detection. The results of this study show that the rate of palm oil expansion was still growing up to 2018. However, the study was inconclusive as to whether or not the Indonesian government is in compliance with the New York Declaration on Forests, signed in 2014, where they pledged to not deforest any new land.

An Analysis of the Growth of the Palm Oil Industry in Sumatra, Indonesia: As Detected by Satellite Imagery, 2000-2018
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Created on 4/25/2019
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Additional Information

Publication

Honors Project

Language: English

Date: 2019

Keywords

remote sensing, landsat, geography, palm oil, Indonesia, Sumatra, Bengkulu, unsupervised classification

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