In the Shirakami-sanchi and Yakushima world heritage site, it is important to develop suitable preservation monitoring method with a viewpoint of biodiversity. For this purpose various investigations have been conducted to clarify the forest ecosystem by collecting basic field ecosystem data. But it is not fully carried out to grasp actual forest ecosystem exactlly because of inaccessibility to the monitoring site and its geo-climatological condition. In the meeting of world heritage committee of UNESCO, it is necessary to report site situation and importance of investigation. Hence it has been decided to promote the investigation and research of the both forest ecosystem for the management plan. It is important to develop a monitoring method, using rapid and economical observation method dynamically which we can achieve.
A topographic analysis study has been undertaken to understand the environmental change around Shirakamisanchi, a world heritage site, and make contribution for the maintenance of its biodiversity. It has been understood that snow depth and topographic features may have influence on the vegetation distribution. To map these two factors, airborne sensor was flown twice, autumn and winter, to acquire necessary data, in the south slope of Shirakami-sanchi Kushiishiyama monitoring site. The topographic feature, Digital Terrain Model (DTM), was mapped using autumn data. The snow-depth was calculated by subtracting autumn DTM from winter DTM. The snow depth estimated value, which was 250mm, was verified by using observed value at Kushiishiyama meteorological observation facilities.
