Quebec Forest Vegetation Vigor Index from Satellite Imagery 2025

Government and Municipalities of Québec produces a forest vegetation vigor index using the NBR metric derived from Landsat and Sentinel-2 satellite data. The data is masked to forest territories using Quebec's ecoforest mapping and focuses on the acquisition period from July 15 to September 15 to optimize observation of spruce budworm damage. Products include DNBr images, pre-epidemic DNBr images, and a time series from 2014 to the present.

Use Cases

• Analyze the NBR index across Quebec's forest territories to monitor vegetation health changes from 2014 onward.
• Apply the forest mask using the 'CO_TER = Null' attribute from ecoforest mapping to isolate analysis to non-road forest areas.
• Correlate satellite acquisitions from the July 15 to September 15 period with known spruce budworm damage events.
• Compare DNBr and pre -epidemic DNBr images to assess the impact of specific disturbance events on forest vigor.

Strengths

• Data leverages the integrated 'Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 surface reflectance data set' from NASA and ESA.
• Time series provides longitudinal coverage from 2014 to the present, enabling trend analysis.
• Spatial data is delivered in the standardized 'Québec Lambert' coordinate reference system (EPSG: 32198).
• Acquisition period is optimized for observing damage from a key forest pest, the spruce budworm.

Limitations

• Satellite measurements are blocked by clouds or heavy air pollution like forest fire smoke, creating data gaps.
• Sample data and specific row/column counts or dataset size are unavailable for assessing granularity.
• The forest mask may exclude some vegetated areas incorrectly classified as non-forest or roads.

Provenance

Source

Forest Protection Directorate of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests (MRNF), Québec.

Collection Method

NBR index calculated from combined Landsat (NASA) and Sentinel-2 (ESA) satellite surface reflectance data.

Time Range

Time series from 2014 to present, with annual products focused on July 15 to September 15.

Freshness

Data was last updated on March 25, 2026, with production beginning in 2025.

Geography

Forest territories of Quebec, Canada, using a Quebec-specific coordinate system (EPSG: 32198).