基于植被指数模型的淡水湖泊湿地景观信息提取

高邮湖湿地是江苏省重要湿地之一,对生态、环境控制、调节气候和保护生物多样性具有重要意义。采用2007年的LandsatTM影像作为遥感信息源,选择影像的光谱特征和比值植被指数(RVI)、差值植被指数(DVI)、归一化植被指数(NDVI)、归一化差异绿度指数(NDGI)、土壤调节植被指数(SAVI)和最佳土壤调节植被指数(OSAVI)6种植被指数做了光谱特征分析,从而确定出最佳指数模型,并基于决策树方法,实现研究区景观信息的遥感分类。研究结果表明,决策树分类法易于综合多种特征进行遥感影像分类,植被指数参与到决策树分类中能够提高分类的总体精度,其总体精度达到79.58%,Kappa系数为0.721 0,分类结果理想且人工参与灵活。     

Mapping beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forest structure with airborne hyperspectral imagery

Estimating forest structural attributes using multispectral remote sensing is challenging because of the saturation of multispectral indices at high canopy cover. The objective of this study was to assess the utility of hyperspectral data in estimating and mapping forest structural parameters including mean diameter-at-breast height (DBH), mean tree height and tree density of a closed canopy beech forest (Fagus sylvatica L.). Airborne HyMap images and data on forest structural attributes were collected from the Majella National Park, Italy in July 2004. The predictive performances of vegetation indices (VI) derived from all possible two-band combinations (VI_(i,j) = (R_i − R_j)/(R_i + R_j), where R_i and R_j = reflectance in any two bands) were evaluated using calibration (n = 33) and test (n = 20) data sets. The potential of partial least squares (PLS) regression, a multivariate technique involving several bands was also assessed. New VIs based on the contrast between reflectance in the red-edge shoulder (756–820 nm) and the water absorption feature centred at 1200 nm (1172–1320 nm) were found to show higher correlations with the forest structural parameters than standard VIs derived from NIR and visible reflectance (i.e. the normalised difference vegetation index, NDVI). PLS regression showed a slight improvement in estimating the beech forest structural attributes (prediction errors of 27.6%, 32.6% and 46.4% for mean DBH, height and tree density, respectively) compared to VIs using linear regression models (prediction errors of 27.8%, 35.8% and 48.3% for mean DBH, height and tree density, respectively). Mean DBH was the best predicted variable among the stand parameters (calibration R² = 0.62 for an exponential model fit and standard error of prediction = 5.12 cm, i.e. 25% of the mean). The predicted map of mean DBH revealed high heterogeneity in the beech forest structure in the study area. The spatial variability of mean DBH occurs at less than 450 m. The DBH map could be useful to forest management in many ways, e.g. thinning of coppice to promote diameter growth, to assess the effects of management on forest structure or to detect changes in the forest structure caused by anthropogenic and natural factors.     

Analysis of common canopy vegetation indices for indicating leaf nitrogen accumulations in wheat and rice

The common spectra wavebands and vegetation indices (VI) were identified for indicating leaf nitrogen accumulation (LNA), and the quantitative relationships of LNA to canopy reflectance spectra were determined in both wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and rice (Oryza sativa L.). The 810 and 870 nm are two common spectral wavebands indicating LNA in both wheat and rice. Among all ratio vegetation indices (RVI), difference vegetation indices (DVI) and normalized difference vegetation indices (NDVI) of 16 wavebands from the MSR16 radiometer, RVI (870, 660) and RVI (810, 660) were most highly correlated to LNA in both wheat and rice. In addition, the relations between VIs and LNA gave better results than relations between single wavebands and LNA in both wheat and rice. Thus LNA in both wheat and rice could be indicated with common VIs, but separate regression equations are better for LNA monitoring.     

不同传感器的模拟植被指数对水稻叶面积指数的估测精度和敏感性分析

本研究利用水稻冠层高光谱数据,模拟NOAA-AVHRR,Terra-MODIS和Landsat-TM的可见光波段反射率数据,计算各传感器的多种植被指数(NDVI,RVI,EVI,GNDVI,GRVI和Red-edge RVI),比较植被指数模型对水稻LAI的估测精度,分析不同植被指数对LAI变化的敏感性.相对于红波段植被指数,红边比值植被指数(Red-edge RVI)和绿波段指数GRVI与LAI有更好的线性相关关系,而GNDVI和LAI呈现更好的对数相关关系.MODIS的Red-edge RVI指数不仅模型拟合的精度最高,还有独立数据验证的估测精度也最高,而且它的验证精度较拟合精度下降幅度最小;其次是绿波段构建的GNDVI和GRVI植被指数的估测精度,再次是NDVI和EVI的估测精度,而RVI的估测精度最差.敏感性分析发现,13个植被指数对水稻LAI的估测能力都随着LAI的增加而下降,但归一化类植被指数和比值类植被指数对LAI变化反应的差异明显,归一化类植被指数在LAI较低时(LAI<1.5)对LAI变化的反应开始非常敏感,但迅速下降,而比值类植被指数在LAI较低时,明显小于归一化类植被指数,之后随着LAI的增大(LAI>1.5)比值类植被指数对LAI的变化敏感性,则明显高于归一化类植被指数.Red-edge RVI和绿波段指数GRVI和LAI不仅表现了很好的线性相关关系,而且在LAI大于2.9左右保持较高的敏感性.     

Predicting forest carbon stocks from high resolution satellite data in dry forests of Zimbabwe: exploring the effect of the red-edge band in forest carbon stocks estimation

In this study, we tested whether the inclusion of the red-edge band as a covariate to vegetation indices improves the predictive accuracy in forest carbon estimation and mapping in savanna dry forests of Zimbabwe. Initially, we tested whether and to what extent vegetation indices (simple ratio SR, soil-adjusted vegetation index and normalized difference vegetation index) derived from high spatial resolution satellite imagery (WorldView-2) predict forest carbon stocks. Next, we tested whether inclusion of reflectance in the red-edge band as a covariate to vegetation indices improve the model's accuracy in forest carbon prediction. We used simple regression analysis to determine the nature and the strength of the relationship between forest carbon stocks and remotely sensed vegetation indices. We then used multiple regression analysis to determine whether integrating vegetation indices and reflection in the red-edge band improve forest carbon prediction. Next, we mapped the spatial variation in forest carbon stocks using the best regression model relating forest carbon stocks to remotely sensed vegetation indices and reflection in the red-edge band. Our results showed that vegetation indices alone as an explanatory variable significantly (p < 0.05) predicted forest carbon stocks with R² ranging between 45 and 63% and RMSE ranging from 10.3 to 12.9%. However, when the reflectance in the red-edge band was included in the regression models the explained variance increased to between 68 and 70% with the RMSE ranging between 9.56 and 10.1%. A combination of SR and reflectance in the red edge produced the best predictor of forest carbon stocks. We concluded that integrating vegetation indices and reflectance in the red-edge band derived from high spatial resolution can be successfully used to estimate forest carbon in dry forests with minimal error.     

机载激光雷达及高光谱的森林乔木物种多样性遥感监测

利用机载LiDAR和高光谱数据并结合37个地面调查样本数据,基于结构差异与光谱变异理论,通过相关分析法分别筛选了3个最优林冠结构参数和6个最优光谱指数,在单木尺度上利用自适应C均值模糊聚类算法,在神农架国家自然保护区开展森林乔木物种多样性监测,实现了森林乔木物种多样性的区域成图。研究结果表明,(1)基于结合形态学冠层控制的分水岭算法可以获得较高精度的单木分割结果(R~2=0.88,RMSE=13.17,P0.001);(2)基于LiDAR数据提取的9个结构参数中,95%百分位高度、冠层盖度和植被穿透率为最优结构参数,与Shannon-Wiener指数的相关性达到R~2=0.39—0.42(P0.01);(3)基于机载高光谱数据筛选的16个常用的植被指数中,CRI、OSAVI、Narrow band NDVI、SR、Vogelmann index1、PRI与Shannon-Wiener指数的相关性最高(R~2=0.37—0.45,P0.01);(4)在研究区,利用以30 m×30 m为窗口的自适应模糊C均值聚类算法可预测的最大森林乔木物种数为20,物种丰富度的预测精度为R~2=0.69,RMSE=3.11,Shannon-Wiener指数的预测精度为R~2=0.70,RMSE=0.32。该研究在亚热带森林开展乔木物种多样性监测,是在区域尺度上进行物种多样性成图的重要实践,可有效补充森林生物多样性本底数据的调查手段,有助于实现生物多样性的长期动态监测及科学分析森林物种多样性的现状和变化趋势。     

WorldView-2纹理的森林地上生物量反演

使用高空间分辨率卫星WorldView-2的多光谱遥感影像,构建植被指数和纹理因子等遥感因子与森林地上生物量的关系方程,并计算模型估测精度和均方根误差,探索高分辨率数据的光谱与纹理信息在温带森林地上生物量估测应用中的潜力。以黑龙江省凉水自然保护区温带天然林及天然次生林为研究对象,通过灰度共生矩阵(GLCM)、灰度差分向量(GLDV)及和差直方图(SADH)对高分辨率遥感影像进行纹理信息提取,并利用外业调查的74个样地地上生物量与遥感因子建立参数估计模型。提取的遥感因子包括6种植被指数(比值植被指数RVI、差值植被指数DVI、规一化植被指数NDVI、增强植被指数EVI、土壤调节植被指数SAVI和修正的土壤调节植被指数MSAVI)以及3类纹理因子(GLCM、GLDV和SADH)。为避免特征变量个数较多对估测模型造成过拟合,利用随机森林算法对提取的遥感因子进行特征选择,将最优的特征变量输入模型参与建模估测。采用支持向量回归(SVR)进行生物量建模及验证,结果显示选入模型的和差直方图均值(sadh_mean)、灰度共生矩阵方差(glcm_var)和差值植被指数(DVI)等遥感因子对森林地上生物量有较好的解释效果;植被指数+纹理因子组合的模型获得较精确的AGB估算结果(R2=0.85,RMSE=42.30 t/ha),单独使用植被指数的模型精度则较低(R~2=0.69,RMSE=61.13 t/ha)。     

Estimating salinity stress in sugarcane fields with spaceborne hyperspectral vegetation indices

The presence of salt in the soil profile negatively affects the growth and development of vegetation. As a result, the spectral reflectance of vegetation canopies varies for different salinity levels. This research was conducted to (1) investigate the capability of satellite-based hyperspectral vegetation indices (VIs) for estimating soil salinity in agricultural fields, (2) evaluate the performance of 21 existing VIs and (3) develop new VIs based on a combination of wavelengths sensitive for multiple stresses and find the best one for estimating soil salinity. For this purpose a Hyperion image of September 2, 2010, and data on soil salinity at 108 locations in sugarcane (Saccharum officina L.) fields were used. Results show that soil salinity could well be estimated by some of these VIs. Indices related to chlorophyll absorption bands or based on a combination of chlorophyll and water absorption bands had the highest correlation with soil salinity. In contrast, indices that are only based on water absorption bands had low to medium correlations, while indices that use only visible bands did not perform well. From the investigated indices the optimized soil-adjusted vegetation index (OSAVI) had the strongest relationship (R² = 0.69) with soil salinity for the training data, but it did not perform well in the validation phase. The validation procedure showed that the new salinity and water stress indices (SWSI) implemented in this study (SWSI-1, SWSI-2, SWSI-3) and the Vogelmann red edge index yielded the best results for estimating soil salinity for independent fields with root mean square errors of 1.14, 1.15, 1.17 and 1.15 dS/m, respectively. Our results show that soil salinity could be estimated by satellite-based hyperspectral VIs, but validation of obtained models for independent data is essential for selecting the best model.     

Leaf Area Index Estimation Using Time-Series MODIS Data in Different Types of Vegetation

The aim of this study is to estimate leaf area index (LAI) in different type of plants using vegetation indices (VIs) and neural network algorithms retrieved from MODIS data. Four VI were calculated, and neural networks were built up based on MODIS surface reflectance products. Among the tested VIs, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and chlorophyll index (CI) appeared to be the best candidate indices in estimating LAI across sites with different vegetation types. The models having the highest accuracy were CI for grassland and deciduous broad leaf forest with determination coefficients (R-square above 0.70, and NDVI for crop R-square?=?0.78). Neural network showed better results than VI methods except in grassland sites. The added VI information showed no significant improvement of model accuracy for the neural networks in most sites.     

Estimating the Leaf Area Index,height and biomass of maize using HJ-1 and RADARSAT-2

New optical and microwave integrated vegetation indices (VIs) were designed based on observations from both field experiments and satellite (HJ-1 and RADARSAT-2) data. It was found that these VIs perform better in estimating the structure parameters of maize, such as Leaf Area Index (LAI), height and biomass, than the original ones. This investigation focused on the difference of interaction between the multispectral reflectance and microwave backscattering signatures with the maize growth variables. Because the maize was near the heading stage with large vegetation coverage in the experiment, the reflectance of the near-infrared band of HJ-1 was much less sensitive to the structure variables than that of the visible-light band. Thus, the optical VIs formulated using those bands were saturated to estimate the structure parameters. With respect to the RADARSAT-2 data, there was a relatively strong relationship between the HV cross-polarization and the volume scattering of the maize, which was mostly determined by the crown structure. The modified VIs were designed using both the VIs of HJ-1 and the HV cross-polarization of RADARSAT-2 to overcome the saturation limitation. The validation showed that this integrated method of determining VIs is a good alternative to that using only the optical or microwave observation.     

Combining UAV-based plant height from crop surface models,visible, and near infrared vegetation indices for biomass monitoring in barley

In this study we combined selected vegetation indices (VIs) and plant height information to estimate biomass in a summer barley experiment. The VIs were calculated from ground-based hyperspectral data and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based red green blue (RGB) imaging. In addition, the plant height information was obtained from UAV-based multi-temporal crop surface models (CSMs). The test site is a summer barley experiment comprising 18 cultivars and two nitrogen treatments located in Western Germany. We calculated five VIs from hyperspectral data. The normalised ratio index (NRI)-based index GnyLi (Gnyp et al., 2014) showed the highest correlation (R² = 0.83) with dry biomass. In addition, we calculated three visible band VIs: the green red vegetation index (GRVI), the modified GRVI (MGRVI) and the red green blue VI (RGBVI), where the MGRVI and the RGBVI are newly developed VI. We found that the visible band VIs have potential for biomass prediction prior to heading stage. A robust estimate for biomass was obtained from the plant height models (R² = 0.80–0.82). In a cross validation test, we compared plant height, selected VIs and their combination with plant height information. Combining VIs and plant height information by using multiple linear regression or multiple non-linear regression models performed better than the VIs alone. The visible band GRVI and the newly developed RGBVI are promising but need further investigation. However, the relationship between plant height and biomass produced the most robust results. In summary, the results indicate that plant height is competitive with VIs for biomass estimation in summer barley. Moreover, visible band VIs might be a useful addition to biomass estimation. The main limitation is that the visible band VIs work for early growing stages only.     

基于Landsat TM的城市热岛效应与地表特征参数稳健关系模型

 首先,利用Landsat TM热红外影像结合地面气象观测资料反演地面温度,揭示了济南市夏季城市热岛效应| 然后,基于稳 健的LTS与最小二乘回归（LS）分析探讨了城乡地面热辐射与地表特征参数的线性变化趋势,认为植被指数（NDVI、SAVI和TCG）、 湿度指数（NDMI和TCW）以及近红外反照率与地表温度的变化趋势相反,亮度指数（NDBI和TCB）和可见光反照率与地表温度的变化 趋势一致,而短光波段反照率与地表温度不存在明显相关趋势。研究结果表明,NDMI能很好地解释地表温度变化,且最为稳健; 其次是NDVI、SAVI、TCG和NDBI,它们对地表温度的解释程度高且稳健性较强; 可见光反照率虽能较好解释地表温度,但其稳健性 较差; 近红外反照率、TCW和TCB对地表温度的解释程度和稳健性相对较低。     

Using Advanced Land Imager (ALI) and Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) for the Detection of the Invasive Shrub Lonicera maackii in Southwestern Ohio Forests

We tested how accurately image data from the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) sensor vs. the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) predict the land cover of Lonicera maackii in the forest understory, taking advantage of this invasive shrub's extended leaf retention in the fall when the canopy is leafless. Percent cover of L. maackii in 20 woodlots in southwestern Ohio was regressed on values for spectral vegetation indices (SVIs) derived for each image. The land cover of L. maackii was best explained by the Simple Ratio (SR) using TM data (R ² = 0.537). The regression results for SVIs from TM vs. ALI suggest that the ALI image was acquired too late in the fall to accurately detect this invasive shrub.     

Non-destructive estimation of foliar chlorophyll and carotenoid contents: Focus on informative spectral bands

Leaf pigment content provides valuable insight into the productivity, physiological and phenological status of vegetation. Measurement of spectral reflectance offers a fast, nondestructive method for pigment estimation. A number of methods were used previously for estimation of leaf pigment content, however, spectral bands employed varied widely among the models and data used. Our objective was to find informative spectral bands in three types of models, vegetation indices (VI), neural network (NN) and partial least squares (PLS) regression, for estimating leaf chlorophyll (Chl) and carotenoids (Car) contents of three unrelated tree species and to assess the accuracy of the models using a minimal number of bands. The bands selected by PLS, NN and VIs were in close agreement and did not depend on the data used. The results of the uninformative variable elimination PLS approach, where the reliability parameter was used as an indicator of the information contained in the spectral bands, confirmed the bands selected by the VIs, NN, and PLS models. All three types of models were able to accurately estimate Chl content with coefficient of variation below 12% for all three species with VI showing the best performance. NN and PLS using reflectance in four spectral bands were able to estimate accurately Car content with coefficient of variation below 14%. The quantitative framework presented here offers a new way of estimating foliar pigment content not requiring model re-parameterization for different species. The approach was tested using the spectral bands of the future Sentinel-2 satellite and the results of these simulations showed that accurate pigment estimation from satellite would be possible.     

Fractional vegetation cover estimation in heterogeneous areas by combining a radiative transfer model and a dynamic vegetation model

ABSTRACT

A fractional vegetation cover (FVC) estimation method incorporating a vegetation growth model and a radiative transfer model was previously developed, which was suitable for FVC estimation in homogeneous areas because the finer-resolution pixels corresponding to one coarse-resolution FVC pixel were all assumed to have the same vegetation growth model. However, this assumption does not hold over heterogeneous areas, meaning that the method cannot be applied to large regions. Therefore, this study proposes a finer spatial resolution FVC estimation method applicable to heterogeneous areas using Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager reflectance data and Global LAnd Surface Satellite (GLASS) FVC product. The FVC product was first decomposed according to the normalized difference vegetation index from the Landsat 8 OLI data. Then, independent dynamic vegetation models were built for each finer-resolution pixel. Finally, the dynamic vegetation model and a radiative transfer model were combined to estimate FVC at the Landsat 8 scale. Validation results indicated that the proposed method (R²?=?0.7757, RMSE?=?0.0881) performed better than either the previous method (R²?=?0.7038, RMSE?=?0.1125) or a commonly used method involving look-up table inversions of the PROSAIL model (R²?=?0.7457, RMSE?=?0.1249).     

PROSAIL模型模拟下的植被指数土壤调节能力比较与适用环境分析

为了消除土壤背景信息对植被指数的影响,近几十年发展了土壤调节植被指数系列(SAVI family)。在不同环境条件下,不同指数抗土壤影响的能力不同。在总结了以消除土壤影响为目的的植被指数建立过程的基础上,利用PROSAIL辐射传输模型模拟的两组数据集,比较分析了NDVI、SAVI、TSAVI、MSAVI、OSAVI和GESAVI在不同叶面积指数(LAI)对应不同土壤背景的情况下抗土壤干扰、表达植被信息的能力,指出了不同植被指数应用的最适环境条件。结合植被指数—信噪比图,将这6种植被指数分成3类:在中低LAI值下,若植被覆盖度均匀,OSAVI和TSAVI有较强的消除土壤影响、表达植被信息的能力;当区域LAI分布不均、植被类型混杂时,MSAVI在表达植被信息时具有较好的稳定性。根据每类植被指数的特征,利用MODIS-VI和MODIS-LAI产品初步验证了上述结论的有效性。     

Sentinel-2数据的冬小麦地上干生物量估算及评价

作物生物量快速精确的监测对于农业资源的合理利用与农田的精准管理具有重要意义。近年来,遥感技术因其独特的优势已被广泛用于作物生物量的估算中。本文主要针对不同宽波段植被指数在冬小麦生物量(文中的生物量均是指地上干生物量)估算方面的表现进行探索。首先利用欧洲空间局最新的Sentinel-2A卫星数据提取出17种常见的植被指数,之后分别构建其与相应时期内采集的冬小麦地上生物量间的最优估算模型,通过分析两者间的相关性与敏感性,获取适宜进行生物量估算的指数。最后,绘制了研究区的生物量空间分布图。结果表明,所选的植被指数均与生物量显著相关。其中,红边叶绿素指数(CI_(re))与生物量的估算精度最高(决定性系数R~2为0.83;均方根误差RMSE为180.29 g·m~(–2))。虽然相关性较高,但部分指数,如归一化差值植被指数(NDVI)等在生物量较高时会出现饱和现象,从而导致生物量的低估。而加入红边波段的指数不仅能够延缓指数的饱和趋势,而且能够提高反演精度。此外,通过敏感性分析发现,归一化差值指数和比值指数分别在作物生长的早期和中后期对生物量的变化保持较高的敏感性。由于红边比值指数(SR_(re))和MERIS叶绿素敏感指数(MTCI)在冬小麦全生长季内一直对生物量的变化保持高灵敏性,二者是生物量估算中最为稳定的指数。     

Estimation of vegetation LAI from hyperspectral reflectance data: Effects of soil type and plant architecture

The retrieval of canopy biophysical variables is known to be affected by confounding factors such as plant type and background reflectance. The effects of soil type and plant architecture on the retrieval of vegetation leaf area index (LAI) from hyperspectral data were assessed in this study. In situ measurements of LAI were related to reflectances in the red and near-infrared and also to five widely used spectral vegetation indices (VIs). The study confirmed that the spectral contrast between leaves and soil background determines the strength of the LAI–reflectance relationship. It was shown that within a given vegetation species, the optimum spectral regions for LAI estimation were similar across the investigated VIs, indicating that the various VIs are basically summarizing the same spectral information for a given vegetation species. Cross-validated results revealed that, narrow-band PVI was less influenced by soil background effects (0.15 ≤ RMSE_cv ≤ 0.56). The results suggest that, when using remote sensing VIs for LAI estimation, not only is the choice of VI of importance but also prior knowledge of plant architecture and soil background. Hence, some kind of landscape stratification is required before using hyperspectral imagery for large-scale mapping of vegetation biophysical variables.     

Herbaceous Biomass Estimation from SPOT 5 Imagery in Semiarid Rangelands of Idaho

Eight vegetation indices (VI) commonly used for above-ground biomass (AGB) estimation were derived from Satellite Pour l'Observation de la Terre 5 (SPOT 5) imagery and used to predict herbaceous AGB at a semiarid rangeland study site in southeastern Idaho. The relationship between herbaceous AGB and vegetation water content was also evaluated and as a result, a suite of water-sensitive vegetation indices (WSVI) were developed. Correlation coefficients between herbaceous AGB, VIs, and WSVIs were calculated, demonstrating that WSVIs were correlated (r ² ≥ 0.51) with vegetation water content and performed better than standard VIs in herbaceous AGB estimates within the semiarid rangelands of Idaho.     

L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar imagery performs better than optical datasets at retrieving woody fractional cover in deciduous,dry savannahs

Woody canopy cover (CC) is the simplest two dimensional metric for assessing the presence of the woody component in savannahs, but detailed validated maps are not currently available in southern African savannahs. A number of international EO programs (including in savannah landscapes) advocate and use optical LandSAT imagery for regional to country-wide mapping of woody canopy cover. However, previous research has shown that L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) provides good performance at retrieving woody canopy cover in southern African savannahs. This study’s objective was to evaluate, compare and use in combination L-band ALOS PALSAR and LandSAT-5 TM, in a Random Forest environment, to assess the benefits of using LandSAT compared to ALOS PALSAR. Additional objectives saw the testing of LandSAT-5 image seasonality, spectral vegetation indices and image textures for improved CC modelling. Results showed that LandSAT-5 imagery acquired in the summer and autumn seasons yielded the highest single season modelling accuracies (R² between 0.47 and 0.65), depending on the year but the combination of multi-seasonal images yielded higher accuracies (R² between 0.57 and 0.72). The derivation of spectral vegetation indices and image textures and their combinations with optical reflectance bands provided minimal improvement with no optical-only result exceeding the winter SAR L-band backscatter alone results (R² of ∼0.8). The integration of seasonally appropriate LandSAT-5 image reflectance and L-band HH and HV backscatter data does provide a significant improvement for CC modelling at the higher end of the model performance (R² between 0.83 and 0.88), but we conclude that L-band only based CC modelling be recommended for South African regions.