Land management and land-use planning in a forested country such as Pa
pua New Guinea, which is subject to various anthropogenic pressures, r
equires an accurate mapping of forest-cover disturbances. The central
hypothesis of this study was that remote sensing indicators of forest-
cover conditions can be used to measure and map the impact of long-ter
m forest-cover disturbances. This was tested with single year NOAA's A
dvanced Very-High Resolution Radiometer sensor (AVHRR) data at 1.1 km
resolution. First, an ordinal scale of forest-cover disturbance was de
fined from field observations, a set of thematic maps and high spatial
resolution satellite sensor data. Secondly, we analysed the relations
hip between the forest-cover disturbance scale and several biophysical
indicators derived from AVHRR data at two seasons. Thirdly, a statist
ical analysis identified the optimal combination of biophysical indica
tors and observation dates to discriminate between the forest disturba
nce levels defined previously. A forest cover disturbance map was then
produced over part of Papua New Guinea. Finally, a regionalization of
the study area in terms of aggregate degree of disturbance was produc
ed and the spatial patterns of forest disturbances were interpreted fo
r each region in terms of broad processes of forest-cover change. The
overall accuracy of the forest cover disturbance map was 79%. Nine reg
ions, homogeneous in regard to the distribution and spatial pattern of
disturbance categories, were identified.