Mapping the Progression of Phytophthora Ramorum

There has been a plant pathogen, Phytophthora Ramorum that has been causing trouble for the plant species in the forests of California and Oregon. Phytophthora is essentially a water mold that infects oak species like California black oak, coast live oak as well as California bay laurel (Lamsal). What this project aims to accomplish is to observe any changes in NDVI values between the years of 2002 and 1994. What the project hopes to observe is a decline of NDVI values between the two years because the infection of Phytophtora Ramorum will cause stress to the plant or kill the plant, which will lower the values of NDVI. The project will utilizes satellite data to create NDVI images over the study area and two types of change detection methods to observe the differences between the NDVI values of the two years. Preliminary results for the project, data obtained from Landsat 7 ETM+ with a resolution of 240 meters, was not able to observe any significant changes. A finer resolution to differentiate the NDVI values would be needed. In addition the best way to keep the pathogen from getting out of control is with ground level management, or complete eradication of the pathogen. These eradication methods include burning the infected host plants and spreading herbicide (Alexander). With that in mind it would be ideal to have an early detection of the pathogen infestation. Therefore another goal of the project is to continue to research if remote sensing could play a role in an early detection method for the presence of Phytophtora Ramorum.