The latest SPOT image (acquired in August 2009) fully coincides with the greenness peak of the tree i.e before the insect damage starts and this is what we needed.

However, the next image must be taken immediately after insect damage takes place and unfortunately we are facing uncontrollable factors:

- the rainy season which normally begins at the end of May or beginning of June, this year began at mid-July;

- the population density of the insect that is supposed to inflect the damage is low.

This has confused our expectations of choosing the exact imagery data acquisition... If possible, an extra image will be programmed in the beginning of October (before natural tree shedding and after insect-caused tree shedding).

Ahmed Safi