Spatially explicit information on forest management at a global scale is critical for understanding the status of forests, for planning sustainable forest management and restoration, and conservation activities. Here, we produce the first reference data set and a prototype of a globally consistent forest management map with high spatial detail on the most prevalent forest management classes such as intact forests, managed forests with natural regeneration, planted forests, plantation forest (rotation up to 15 years), oil palm plantations, and agroforestry. We developed the reference dataset of 226 K unique locations through a series of expert and crowdsourcing campaigns using Geo-Wiki (https://www.geo-wiki.org/). We then combined the reference samples with time series from PROBA-V satellite imagery to create a global wall-to-wall map of forest management at a 100 m resolution for the year 2015, with forest management class accuracies ranging from 58% to 80%. The reference data set and the map present the status of forest ecosystems and can be used for investigating the value of forests for species, ecosystems and their services.

During December 2020, a crowdsourcing campaign to understand what has been driving tropical forest loss during the past decade was undertaken. For 2 weeks, 58 participants from several countries reviewed almost 115 K unique locations in the tropics, identifying drivers of forest loss (derived from the Global Forest Watch map) between 2008 and 2019. Previous studies have produced global maps of drivers of forest loss, but the current campaign increased the resolution and the sample size across the tropics to provide a more accurate mapping of crucial factors leading to forest loss. The data were collected using the Geo-Wiki platform (www.geo-wiki.org) where the participants were asked to select the predominant and secondary forest loss drivers amongst a list of potential factors indicating evidence of visible human impact such as roads, trails, or buildings. The data described here are openly available and can be employed to produce updated maps of tropical drivers of forest loss, which in turn can be used to support policy makers in their decision-making and inform the public.

Several global high-resolution built-up surface products have emerged over the last five years, taking full advantage of open sources of satellite data such as Landsat and Sentinel. However, these data sets require validation that is independent of the producers of these products. To fill this gap, we designed a validation sample set of 50 K locations using a stratified sampling approach independent of any existing global built-up surface products. We launched a crowdsourcing campaign using Geo-Wiki (https://www.geo-wiki.org/) to visually interpret this sample set for built-up surfaces using very high-resolution satellite images as a source of reference data for labelling the samples, with a minimum of five validations per sample location. Data were collected for 10 m sub-pixels in an 80 × 80 m grid to allow for geo-registration errors as well as the application of different validation modes including exact pixel matching to majority or percentage agreement. The data set presented in this paper is suitable for the validation and inter-comparison of multiple products of built-up areas.

This paper reports an analysis of the flame retardants for fabrics that has revealed the fact that the meagerness of data to explain and describe the process of fire protection, specifically the neglect of elastic coatings, leads to that the structures made from fabrics are ignited under the influence of a flame. Devising reliable methods to study the fire protection conditions for fabrics results in the design of new types of fireproof materials. Therefore, there is a need to determine the conditions for the formation of a barrier for water mass transport and to establish a mechanism for slowing down water penetration through the material. In this regard, an estimation-experimental method has been constructed for determining mass transfer under the action of water when using a hydrophobic coating, which makes it possible to assess water penetration. Based on the experimental data and theoretical dependences, the intensity of mass flow under the action of water has been determined, which is 0.000177 kg/m2, which ensures fabric resistance. The study results have proven that the process of waterproofing the fabric involves inhibition of the mass transfer process under the action of water by insulating the surface of the fireproof fabric with a hydrophobic coating. It should be noted that the presence of a hydrophobic coating leads to blocking the fabric surface from moisture penetration. Such a mechanism behind the effect of the hydrophobic coating is likely the factor in adjusting the process through which the integrity of an object is preserved. Thus, the sample of fireproof fabric coated with a water repellent demonstrated, after exposure to water, that the amount of water absorbed did not exceed 0.00012 kg, and, for a fabric without a water repellent, was 0.01 kg. Thus, there is reason to assert the possibility of targeted adjustment of the processes related to water penetration of the fabric by using hydrophobic coatings that could form a protective layer on the surface of the material, which inhibits the rate of water penetration.

Use of woody biomass of logging residues at plots where different types of logging has occurred as a planned management activity has to be based on the analysis of relevant environmental risks. These risks include biodiversity losses, soil fertility reduction, and formation of dangerous volumes of flammable materials in forests during the fire-hazardous period, which is especially relevant on plots with high recreational load. As a result of the research, we propose indicative utilization rates for logging residues at sites where care or final cuts occur in spruce, beech and fir dominated stands in various growth conditions. The information basis of the research is formed by the research data on distribution of the relevant forest stands in different types of forest growth conditions, as well as on influence of forest growth conditions on processes of biological destruction and accumulation of forest flammable materials at plots with intensive recreational load. The proposed utilization rates for logging residues serve as an information component in the process of formation of regional strategy of forest bioenergy development.