RESEARCH TEAMS:
• Remote Sensing of Alpine Grasslands in the Tatra Mountains
Marlena Kycko, PhD
Prof. Bogdan Zagajewski
• Sentinel-2 and AI in Assessing the Condition of Spruce Forests in the Tatra Mountains
Marcin Kluczek, MSc
The Tatra Mountains are not only the highest mountains in Poland—they are also among the most sensitive and ecologically diverse regions in Europe. Thanks to the research conducted by our team from the Department of Geoinformatics, Cartography and Remote Sensing at the Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies, it has become possible to precisely monitor the health of forests and alpine grasslands. The use of satellite imagery, aerial photography, and field measurements enables us to understand how ecosystems are transforming under the influence of climate change, bark beetle infestations, and intensive tourism.
The spruce forests in the Tatras, which are protected within the UNESCO biosphere reserve, are particularly vulnerable to climate change and bark beetle invasions. One of the research projects focused on assessing how the health of spruce trees changed between 2015 and 2024 using optical data from the Sentinel-2 satellite. By applying machine learning methods and field data, the researchers:
• determined the rate of spruce dieback and mapped its spatial extent (with the peak infestation recorded in 2018),
• demonstrated that the dieback is shifting to higher altitudes (from 1,150 m to 1,400 m above sea level),
• identified particularly vulnerable locations—such as south-eastern slopes,
• selected spectral indices effective in distinguishing healthy from infested trees,
• used chlorophyll fluorescence measurements to detect plant stress before visible dieback symptoms appeared.
In a separate project, the team analysed the condition of alpine grasslands in the Tatras using:
• field data (spectral measurements, fluorescence),
• aerial imagery (HySpex hyperspectral data, 2 m resolution),
• satellite data (Sentinel-2).
Based on vegetation indices and machine learning algorithms (Random Forest, SVM), the researchers:
• identified degraded areas (analyses were conducted within a 15-metre buffer around trails),
• assessed the impact of tourism on water, nitrogen, and chlorophyll content in plants,
• achieved high classification accuracy (91%, Kappa = 0.85).
These projects enabled the development of precise methods for mapping changes in mountain forests. The findings of both teams support the advancement of the monitoring system for the Tatra National Park, including contributions to the TPN geoportal. The research demonstrates that integrating multi-platform data allows for the creation of tourism pressure maps and supports effective nature conservation.
Upper graphics:
↑ Spruce forests in the Tatra National Park (photo: M. Kluczek).
Lower graphics:
↑ FROM THE LEFT.
Location of the study area: The Tatra Mountains, designated as a transboundary protection zone between the national parks of Poland and Slovakia under the UNESCO Man and Biosphere (M&B) programme. (Kluczek and Zagajewski, 2025, CC-BY 4.0)
Spruce mortality (as a percentage of spruce forest area) in individual years for TPN (Poland), TANAP (Slovakia), and the entire Tatra range. (Kluczek and Zagajewski, 2025, CC-BY 4.0)
Classification categories of areas based on the extent of spruce dieback from 2015 to 2024.
(Kluczek and Zagajewski, 2025, CC-BY 4.0)
RESEARCH LOCATION: Poland (TATRA MOUNTAINS)