Forest

Changelog     Description          Summary          Product Sheets          MSPA          Download          Examples     


News:

2024/03:

  • working on GTB update....

2024/02:

2023/12:

  • GWB 1.9.4 is out, more details in the changelog
  • GTB 3.3 Revision 0 is out, more details in the changelog
  • Testing new IDL 9.0...
  • GTB 3.2 Revision 3 is out, more details in the changelog
2023/11:

2023/10:

  • released GWB revision with compatibility for glibc2.38
  • GTB 3.2 Revision 2 is out, more details in the changelog
  • working on GTB update with compatibility for glibc2.38

2023/09:

  • GTB 3.2 Revision 1 is out, more details in the changelog

2023/08:

  • new R-extension for GraySpatCon
  • GWB 1.9.3, more details in the changelog

2023/07:

  • updated MSPA extensions now also for macOS, big thanks to Diego Migliavacca!
  • GTB 3.2 Revision 0 is out, more details in the changelog
  • GWB 1.9.2, more details in the changelog
  • working on updated GTB/GWB with the new IDL and grayscale clustering 

2023/05:

  • testing the new IDL release for GTB and GWB 

2023/04:

2023/03:

  • working on GWB manual website
  • integrated new GraySpatCon into GTB

2023/02:

  • integrating new GraySpatCon into GWB
  • working on GWB update with memory monitoring

2023/01:

  • GTB 3.1 Revision 2 is out, more details in the changelog
  • GWB 1.9.0 now with full access to spatcon, more details in the changelog

2022/12:

  • working on new version of GWB including full access to spatcon
  • new paper using GTB Restoration Planner: https://doi.org/10.3390/f13122132
  • GuidosToolbox 3.1 Revision 1 is out, more details in the changelog

2022/11:

  • working on updated version of GTB

2022/10:

  • forest connectivity in Eurostat Regional Yearbook 2022, doi:10.2785/915176
  • new report on global forest attribute layers, doi:10.2760/41048

2022/09:

  • coding new FAC into GTB and GWB
  • updated fragmentation productsheet with alternative option FAC

2022/08:

2022/07:

  • GuidosToolbox 3.1 Revision 0 is out, more details in the changelog
  • added support for macOS Ventura and Apple silicon

2022/05:

  • updated GWB to version 1.8.8, more details in the changelog
  • GuidosToolbox 3.0 Revision 6 is out, more details in the changelog 
  • GTB and GWB source code is now released under GPL v3 

2022/04:

  • updated GWB to version 1.8.7, more details in the changelog
  • GuidosToolbox 3.0 Revision 5 is out, more details in the changelog
  • updated MSPA-plugins to verison 1.7
  • preparing GitHub repo for opensource of GWB and GTB
  • fixed a regression for FAD-change analysis in GTB 3.004

2022/03:

  • updated GWB to version 1.8.6, more details in the changelog
  • GuidosToolbox 3.0 Revision 4 is out, more details in the changelog
  • working on proxy-support in GTB

2022/02:

2022/01:

  • working on new features in GTB 3.004
  • updated Fragmentation & Morphology product sheet

2021/11:

  • processing global maps of fragmentation for the upcoming EU observatory
  • preparing workshop material on fragmentation and restoration at TU Munich

2021/10:

  • updated GTB for macOS (incl. Monterey) is now available
  • Warning: GTB does not work on macOS Monterey, trying to find a fix...
  • updated GWB to version 1.8.4, more details in the changelog
  • GTB working fine on MS-Windows 11
  • revise modules to improve computational efficiency

2021/09:

  • working on multi-threaded moving window analysis

2021/07:

  • updated GWB to version 1.8.3, more details in the changelog
  • GuidosToolbox 3.0 Revision 3 is out, more details in the changelog

2021/06:

  • added TIF-Compression tool to GTB
  • added simplified data directory setup

2021/05:

  • GuidosToolbox 3.0 Revision 2 is out, more details in the changelog
  • GuidosToolbox 3.0 Revision 1 is out
  • updated GWS (GTB Workshop material) is now online
  • updated and fixed GWB 1.8.2 for FC34 installation
  • updated AnisView packages.

2021/04:

  • updating workshop material...
  • updated MSPA website and Morphology product sheet
  • updated GTB overview presentation
  • updated Landscape Mosaic product sheet
  • GWB is now available on the FAO-SEPAL platform (https://sepal.io)

2021/03:

  • fixed GoogleEarth Overlay files
  • GWB 1.8.1 with bug-fixes
  • GWB 1.8.0 with spatcon integration

2021/02:

  • fixing big number issues in GWB

2021/01:

  • uploaded updated GWB installation media with memory detection fix
  • reworking GTB/GWB to work on Linux systems without swap partition
  • fixed dependencies for GTB debian package

2020/12:

  • reworking GWB to add headless mode
  • updated GWB now offers optional 4-connectivty for RSS

2020/11:

  • after upgrading to MacOS Big Sur: reinstall gdal-complete (kyngchaos.com/software/frameworks/)
  • added Restoration Planner product sheet
  • updated MSPA-plugins for QGIS, R, ArcGIS

2020/10:

  • added md5sum info for all downloads
  • GWB 1.7: new release with SPA2 & Restoration Status 
  • GTB 3.0: new major update including Restoration Planner

2020/09:

  • successfully tested GTB 3.0 on macOS Big Sur
  • preparing GTB version 3.0 release
  • finalising restoration planner
  • testing upgraded IDL framework for GTB

2020/06:

  • working on restoration planner
  • redesigned cost analysis for restoration
  • consolidated connectivity assessment scheme

2020/05:

  • decoupled network from cost analysis
  • network analysis: added component connectors

2020/04:

  • added GTB Mageia package

2020/03:

  • improved reading of custom geotiff
  • added Save/Restore of custom color tables

2020/02:

  • GTB installation instructions now address latest changes in OSX 
  • fixed an OSX installer limitation and uploaded updated OSX installers
  • GuidosToolbox 2.9, Revision 1 is now available, more details in the changelog

2020/01:

  • updated simple change algorithm
  • improved statistics for Accounting
  • added features to Reconnect

2019/12:

2019/11:

2019/10:

  • The automatic update checker in GuidosToolbox 2.8 and earlier does not work with our new secure website. Please download the current version 2.9 manually.
  • GuidosToolbox and AnisView work correctly on MacOS Catalina, you may have to reinstall Xquartz.

2019/09:

  • GWB (GuidosToolbox Workbench) version 1.6 with flexible fragmentation analysis
  • GuidosToolbox 2.9, Revision 0 is now available, more details in the changelog

2019/08:

  • updated GWB (GuidosToolbox Workbench) to version 1.5
  • collaborating with Forest Europe and FAO on forest data analysis

2019/07:

  • fixed some small program errors
  • added more detailed landscape mosaic output
  • processing new CLC data for MAES

2019/04:

2019/03:

  • working on fragmentation change mapping

2019/01:

  • working on website update

2018/12:

  • GuidosToolbox Workbench 1.4 is now available
  • GuidosToolbox 2.8, Revision 0 is now available, more details in the changelog

2018/11:

  • testing/upgrading GTB to new IDL 8.7.1 code base

2018/10:

  • working on new license scheme allowing all kind of use

2018/09:

  • 10 years GuidosToolbox!
  • MSPA is now available on FAO-SEPAL (System for earth observations, data access, processing & analysis for land monitoring)
  • GWB 1.3 is now available, Linux server cmd-line version of the most popular GTB-modules
  • Added GTB and GWB to JRC-JEODPP
  • Built and tested rpm and deb-packages for GTB

2018/08:

  • Added GWB to JRC-JEODPP
  • Built and tested rpm and deb-packages for GWB
  • adding Recode to GWB and option for installation into the operating system
  • updated GWS workshop material
  • GuidosToolbox 2.7, Revision 2 is now available, more details in the changelog

2018/07:

  • updated MSPA-plugins and new plugin for QGIS3 are now available
  • updated Parcellation productsheet for upcoming changes in 2.702
  • updated FAD/FOS productsheet for upcoming changes in 2.702
  • working with Forest Europe on fragmentation indicator 4.7
  • Landscape Mosaic productsheet is now available
  • FAD/FOS productsheet updated
  • added LM-heatmap
  • finalizing GWB for public release

2018/06:

  • Euclidean Distance productsheet is now online

2018/05:

2018/04:

  • GuidosToolbox 2.7, Revision 1 is now available, more details in the changelog

2018/03:

  • working on enhanced accounting scheme
  • patched and uploaded MS-Windows 32bit version to run on Windows XP
  • GuidosToolbox 2.7, Revision 0 is now available, more details in the changelog
  • updated GWS workshop material
  • added accounting for labelFGobjects
  • added SPA6

2018/02:

  • added Product Sheets section on homepage
  • working with Dario on integrating SPA3,5,6 and MSPA into ImpactToolbox
  • upgrading IDL framework to the new version 8.7
  • GuidosToolbox 2.6, Revision 9 is now available, more details in the changelog
  • updated GWS workshop material
  • added Simple Pattern Analysis SPA3/SPA5
  • fine-tuned Parcellation

2018/01:

  • all 2006 GoogleEarth overlays are now working again
  • GuidosToolbox 2.6, Revision 8 is now available, more details in the changelog
  • updated GWS workshop material
  • updated MSPA-website to show Border- and Core-Openings
  • updated MSPA-plugins now also detect Border- and Core-Openings

2017/12:

  • New: MSPA now also detects/quantifies Border- and Core-Openings
  • added a bug reporting tool

2017/11:

  • GuidosToolbox 2.6, Revision 7 is now available, more details in the changelog
  • New: MSPA-plugin for ArcGIS on the MSPA-website (thanks to Diego Migliavacca!)

2017/10:

  • New: MSPA-plugin for R on the MSPA-website (thanks to Diego Migliavacca!)

2017/09:

  • GuidosToolbox 2.6, Revision 6 is now available, more details in the changelog
  • updated workshop material 2017.09 is now available: GTB -> Help -> GuidosToolbox Workshop
  • updating workshop material
  • GuidosToolbox 2.6, Revision 5 is now available, more details in the changelog
  • working on FAD change analysis

2017/08:

  • New: MSPA-plugin for QGIS on the MSPA-website (thanks to Diego Migliavacca!)
  • GuidosToolbox 2.6, Revision 4 is now available, more details in the changelog
  • working on multiscale Landscape Mosaic

2017/07:

  • working on MSPA-plugin for QGIS
  • added GoogleEarth overlay output for FAD
  • GuidosToolbox 2.6, Revision 3 is now available, more details in the changelog

2017/06:

  • Linux installer now includes 32bit libs for OpenEV
  • GuidosToolbox 2.6, Revision 2 is now available, more details in the changelog
  • GuidosToolbox 2.6, Revision 1 is now available, more details in the changelog
  • GuidosToolbox 2.6, Revision 0 is now available, more details in the changelog
  • GuidosToolbox: universal digital image object analysis, https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/22797254.2017.1330650
  • Preparing new release 2.6

2017/05:

  • New paper: An inventory of continental U.S. terrestrial candidate ecological restoration areas based on landscape context, available at: https://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/54168
  • working on new fragmentation assessment scheme

2017/04:

  • GuidosToolbox 2.5, Revision 5 is now available, more details in the changelog
  • fixed bug in HMC calculation
  • improved setup of Conefor Inputs

2017/01:

  • GuidosToolbox 2.5, Revision 4 is now available, more details in the changelog
  • updated workshop material
  • GuidosToolbox 2.5, Revision 3 is now available, more details in the changelog

2016/12:

  • fixed MSPA-tiling for empty subtiles
  • adjusted image orientation in Conefor Inputs

2016/11:

  • updated GTB workshop material 2016.11 available via Help -> GuidosToolbox Workshop
  • uploaded patched GTB-MacOS version, which now works with the latest Xquartz version

2016/10:

  • finalising license agreement for commercial use of GuidosToolbox
  • fixing a bug and optimizing the calculation of Contortion
  • GuidosToolbox 2.5, Revision 2 is now available, more details in the changelog
  • working on updated workshop material

2016/09:

  • new QGIS/gdal 2.11 from Kyngchaos working fine in GTB and new GoogleEarth on macOS Sierra
  • looking into upgrading gdal to version 2 on MS-Windows

2016/08:

  • new GTB workshop material 2016.08 available via Help -> GuidosToolbox Workshop
  • added automatic update check for workshop material

2016/07:

  • added new stepping stone detection tool Reconnect.
  • added Proximity efficiency measure.
  • GuidosToolbox 2.5, Revision 1 is now available, more details are available in the changelog
  • working on updated workshop material.
  • uploaded GuidosToolbox overview presentation to homepage.

2016/06:

  • fixed GoogleEarth overlay examples for new server location.
  • fixed crash when pointer is at top/right viewport.
  • working on restoration planning scheme.

2016/05:

  • GoogleEarth overlay: significantly faster and for any image size.
  • MSPA GoogleEarth overlay: new option for fully transparent background.
  • Adding more batch-processing options.
  • Working on enhancement for Influence Zones and Proximity.

2016/04:

  • GuidosToolbox scientific seminar at the Geospatial Forum, NCSU.
    Click here and scroll down to March 31 for the 1-hour video summary.
  • Fixed empty line in MCD.

2016/03:

  • fixed some regressions
  • working on proximity analysis
  • finally upgraded outdated gdal in MS-Windows
  • upgrading workshop material and preparing new GTB2.5 release
  • GuidosToolbox 2.5, Revision 0 is now available, more details are available in the changelog

2016/02:

  • fixed saving geotiff info in MSPA image with statistics
  • revision update and workshop installation now work in non-default installations
  • adding option in MS-Windows installer to install into non-default locations
  • GuidosToolbox 2.4, Revision 2 is now available, more details are available in the changelog
  • updated MS-Windows installer to show full progress bar
  • working on watershed analysis

2016/01:

  • fixed setup of module Component Connectors
  • added News browser to the Help menu
  • preparing incremental revision update
  • GuidosToolbox 2.4, Revision 1 is now available, more details are available in the changelog

2015/12:

  • OS-X only: if you use GTB 2.4 and get crashes when doing MSPA, moving window, recode or cost analysis please download and run the small patch GTB2400_OSXFix.zip.
    Note: this patch is already included in the current updated installer of GuidosToolbox 2.4.

2015/11:

  • GuidosToolbox 2.4, Revision 0 is now available, more details are available in the changelog
  • uploaded updated workshop material with new examples for cost analysis

2015/10:

  • uploaded patch for current GuidosToolbox to run on OS-X 10.11 El Capitan
  • cost analysis is working now, some small glitches need to be addressed still
  • updating installer packages for upcoming GTB version 2.4

2015/09:

  • testing/upgrading GTB to new IDL 8.5 code base
  • added a patch to fix 'save as kml' under certain versions of MS-Windows Vista/7
  • MS-Windows system-inherent batch-processing problem:
    can not be fixed but bypassed using GTB Linux or OS-X version
  • added elasticity to change detection
  • successfully upgraded GTB installers for new IDL code base and upcoming GTB version 2.4

2015/08:

  • working on cost map and least cost path
  • redesigned websites and merged download statistics into a new application
  • GuidosToolbox has surpassed 11500 downloads
  • WWF conducting webinar on forest degradation using MSPA

2015/07:

  • migrated to a new webserver to resolve downloading problems
  • GuidosToolbox 2.3, Revision 1 is now available, more details are available in the changelog
  • If you have version 2.3 Revision 0 installed you can upgrade via the menu option Help - Check for Updates
  • if you have version 2.2 or earlier installed you should download and install the latest program version

 


Summary: 

GuidosToolbox (Graphical User Interface for the Description of image Objects and their Shapes - GTB) contains a wide variety of generic raster image processing routines, including related free software such as GDAL (to process geospatial data and to export them as raster image overlays in Google Earth), and FWTools (pre/post-process and visualize any raster or vector data). The GuidosToolbox Workbench (GWB) contains most popular image analysis modules setup as commandline-only scripts for automated mass-processing on Linux 64bit servers.

GTB, a collection of geometric analysis tools following three principles:
1. Spatial information:
 Where are hotspots/changes? Provide spatially explicit information, which is crucial for monitoring progress and spatial planning. Statistical summaries can always be derived from a map, but they do not capture the spatial variability of the spatial map product.
2. Quantitative indicators: How much? Provide intuitive, ideally normalized, indicators for effective reporting. Quantify the status and measure trends.
3. Generic and flexible: How? Make exclusive use of geometric concepts resulting in a generic reference framework that can be equally applied to any kind of raster data and at any scale; parameterize the analysis setup allowing to fine-tune the analysis to end-user requirements.

The graphical user interface of GuidosToolbox.

 

Product Sheets:

The image below shows a subset of image analysis modules in GuidosToolbox (more information can be found in the GuidosToolbox Manual). Please click on any of the light-blue rectangles to open the respective product sheet:

flowchartAccountingParcellationMorphologyLandscape MosaicFAD/FOSEuclideanRestoration Planner

Feature summary:
Details on GTB are summarized in the workshop presentation GWS3, the GuidosToolbox Manual, or click on the icons below to view the GuidosToolbox

         reference paper                or download the overview presentation (pptx or small-size pdf).

       


Download: 

GTB is free and open-source software.
Using the compiled versions of GTB requires accepting the GuidosToolbox End User Licence Agreement: EULA. The open source code of GTB and all dependencies is released under GPL version 3 on GitHub. GTB is available in the following options (revision history, see changelog):

 

1. GTB: GuidosToolbox - Desktop Application (current version: 3.3 Revision 0): 
First download and read the GTB Installation instructions. They contain important additional information to ensure a correct installation and functioning of the application. Please always use the latest version to benefit from new features and bug-fixes. You can upgrade via the menu option Help → GTB Online → Check for UpdatesDownload and run the installer for your operating system (please use right-click - Save as and download the file to a local directory):
Linux: system installer: FedoraSuse, MageiaDebian/*buntu or the generic installer
macOS:  GTB_macOS.dmg
MS-Windows:  GTB_windows.exe
(or the archived, unsupported 32bit version GuidosToolbox2.7_32windows.exe

To ensure the package integrity, compare the md5sum of your downloaded package against the GTB md5sum list.
At each start, GTB will test for and inform about new revision releases. To install a revision release, select: Help → GTB Online → Check for Updates and follow the instructions. Support will be provided for the current version only.

 

2. GWB: GuidosToolbox Workbench - Linux server (or desktop) application: 
The GuidosToolbox Workbench (GWB) contains most popular image analysis modules extracted from GuidosToolbox and setup as commandline-only scripts for automated mass-processing on Linux 64bit servers. More information and download is available on the GWB website.
 

​3. GWS: GuidosToolbox Workshop: 
Information on this 1-3 day training course is summarized in the document GWS_Info.pdf.
The course material, composed of presentations and exercises, should be installed directly from within GTB (Help  GTB Online  GWS).
If you do not have GTB installed, you can download and browse through the pdf versions of the four workshop presentations (2021.05):
GWS1: Introduction and Motivation
GWS2: MSPA
GWS3: GTB Overview
GWS4: Training examples
The presentations provide details on the motivation, functioning and application fields of the different methodologies available in GTB. They are complemented by sample data and instructions to illustrate using these tools. The course material is designed for the 1-3 day GuidosToolbox Workshop but any interested GTB user can follow it as well.
Locations of past, upcoming, and future workshops/seminars are summarized on the GuidosToolbox Workshop page.​

Note: GTB and GWB include MSPA (Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis), a customized sequence of mathematical morphological operators targeted at the description of the geometry and connectivity of the image components. The MSPA website provides further information on MSPA features, application examples as well as links to download MSPA-plugins for GIS applications. GTB and GWB also include GraySpatCon, providing a series of moving window analysis schemes. A separate R-extension for GraySpatCon can be downloaded here.


Citation:


Key features of version 3.3: 

  • Accounting in up to six object size class categories
  • Custom-scale and multi-scale fragmentation analysis
  • Measure ecosystem coherence
  • Evaluate efficiency of restoration planning
  • Grouping of resulting range into small/medium/large
  • Recoding of image classes and much more...

Examples

1) Accounting: How much forest do we have? Where and how large are the forest patches? Visualization and statistics of image objects in up to six user-selected area categories plus three largest objects (pink).


2) Fragmentation - FAD: Where and how much fragmented is the forest cover? How does the degree of fragmentation change over different observation scales?  Fragmentation analysis over 5 observation scales and providing 6 classes of fragmentation: Intact, Interior, Dominant, Transitional, Patchy and Rare foreground cover.


3) Restoration Planner: Which is the most efficient way to go from A to B? Automatically detect optimum restoration paths between user-selectable objects. Measure expense for restoration effort and assess the overall network coherence.


4) Restoration Planner: How efficient is a given restoration pathway? How much does it cost? How does it impact the coherence of the network? Use the Setup Tools to modify the landscape for your application needs. Insert custom shapes of habitat, blocking elements (i.e. motorways) and landcover specific resistance. Interactively add a restoration pathway to get instant feedback on expense and efficiency.


5) Distance - Influence zones: How far apart are patches from each other? Which separate patches may be functionally connected when impacted by a pest disease? Highlight core areas of minimum size and show outreach buffer zones.


6) Pattern - MSPA: Where are isolated small fragments, core areas, connecting pathways, and holes in intact forest areas? How often do they occur and what is their area? Show spatial distribution and statistics for morphological pattern classes and different type of openings inside foreground (median-grey: border-opening, dark-grey: core-opening). The Integrity of the integral foreground is 88.24% <=> 11.76% are Openings.


7) Pattern - SPAx: MSPA too complex? Less is more: How are the Core areas structured? Where and how many holes do we have? Use SPA3 to focus on Core area and Core-Openings; SPA5 to further distinguish inside and outside Core-boundaries; or SPA6 to additionally detect small fragments. Use MSPA for more elaborate analysis.


8) Change - Morphological Change Detection (MCD): Can you remove the spurious changes and show the essential change areas only? MCD showing gain, loss, unchanged foreground (dark) and background (light). 


9) Landscape Mosaic: Which land cover type is dominant in which part of the landscape? Where do we find homogeneous land cover and where a strong intermix of different land cover types? Left: Showing for each pixel the relative proportions of 3 classes (here: Agriculture, Natural, Developed) at a user-selectable observation scale. Right: The heatmap summary showing the relative pixel occurence frequency in each mosaic category.


10) Google Earth overlays: Export/save your results as Google Earth image overlays. Click any of the maps below to open them in Google Earth on your PC:

MSPA EU 2000, 25m MSPA EU 2006, 25m Global 2005, 300m Global 2009, 300m
Forest, US 2001, 30m Forest EU 2000, 25m Forest EU 2006, 25m Forest type EU 2006, 25m

Instructions: Make sure you have Google Earth (version 4 or higher) installed or download and install the latest version here. Click on the overlay of interest and select 'Open with Google Earth' in the popup window. Alternatively, right-click one of the links below and save the kmz-file to your PC. Then double-click this file, or right-click and select: 'Open with Google Earth', or drag and drop this file over Google Earth.

Important: For proper display in Google Earth ensure that in 
Google Earth: Tools --> Options --> 3D View --> Texture Colors, the Compress option is unchecked,
then restart Google Earth. Please read and follow the instructions in the initial Information window.

Then in the Panel section (left side in Google Earth):
  • Toggle the check box to show/hide the entry of interest,
  • Double-click to zoom to the selected entry,
  • Move the slider at the bottom of the 'Places' panel.

Note: the transparency of the image overlay is only
applicable to the currently active (tickmarked) and selected
(highlighted) entry in the Panel section. In the example on
the right image moving the slider will change the
transparency for the overlay Europe, Africa.

 


Contact: peter.vogt[at]ec.europa.eu