Using an Expert System to Update Forest Maps

An important application for satellite images is to monitor environmental temporal changes. The comparison of an old image to a recent one allows the detection of change that occurred during the period between which both images were taken. To date, change identification is essentially done by human experts. Experts can use image processing software to quickly obtain an approximate map, however obtaining an accurate one remains a lengthy process which requires knowledge about the field, sensors, image processing, and image interpretation. In this paper, we present an emerging application that uses multi-agent and expert-system technology to help users in updating forest maps. This is achieved by assisting them in three tasks: selection of the appropriate images and ancillary data for updating a map; processing of the selected image and data to generate interpretable output (e.g., classifying them into thematic regions); interpretation of the output.