Vegetation chlorophyll estimates in the Amazon from multi-angle MODIS observations and canopy reflectance model

As a preparatory study for future hyperspectral missions that can measure canopy chemistry, we introduce a novel approach to investigate whether multi-angle Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data can be used to generate a preliminary database with long-term estimates of chlorophyll. MODIS monthly chlorophyll estimates between 2000 and 2015, derived from a fully coupled canopy reflectance model (ProSAIL), were inspected for consistency with eddy covariance fluxes, tower-based hyperspectral images and chlorophyll measurements. MODIS chlorophyll estimates from the inverse model showed strong seasonal variations across two flux-tower sites in central and eastern Amazon. Marked increases in chlorophyll concentrations were observed during the early dry season. Remotely sensed chlorophyll concentrations were correlated to field measurements (r² = 0.73 and r² = 0.98) but the data deviated from the 1:1 line with root mean square errors (RMSE) ranging from 0.355 μg cm⁻² (Tapajós tower) to 0.470 μg cm⁻² (Manaus tower). The chlorophyll estimates were consistent with flux tower measurements of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and net ecosystem productivity (NEP). We also applied ProSAIL to mono-angle hyperspectral observations from a camera installed on a tower to scale modeled chlorophyll pigments to MODIS observations (r² = 0.73). Chlorophyll pigment concentrations (Chl_A+B) were correlated to changes in the amount of young and mature leaf area per month (0.59 ≤  r² ≤  0.64). Increases in MODIS observed Chl_A+B were preceded by increased PAR during the dry season (0.61 ≤ r² ≤  0.62) and followed by changes in net carbon uptake. We conclude that, at these two sites, changes in LAI, coupled with changes in leaf chlorophyll, are comparable with seasonality of plant productivity. Our results allowed the preliminary development of a 15-year time series of chlorophyll estimates over the Amazon to support canopy chemistry studies using future hyperspectral sensors.     

Modelling the standing timber volume of Baden-Württemberg—A large-scale approach using a fusion of Landsat,airborne LiDAR and National Forest Inventory data

Remote sensing-based timber volume estimation is key for modelling the regional potential, accessibility and price of lignocellulosic raw material for an emerging bioeconomy. We used a unique wall-to-wall airborne LiDAR dataset and Landsat 7 satellite images in combination with terrestrial inventory data derived from the National Forest Inventory (NFI), and applied generalized additive models (GAM) to estimate spatially explicit timber distribution and volume in forested areas. Since the NFI data showed an underlying structure regarding size and ownership, we additionally constructed a socio-economic predictor to enhance the accuracy of the analysis. Furthermore, we balanced the training dataset with a bootstrap method to achieve unbiased regression weights for interpolating timber volume. Finally, we compared and discussed the model performance of the original approach (r² = 0.56, NRMSE = 9.65%), the approach with balanced training data (r² = 0.69, NRMSE = 12.43%) and the final approach with balanced training data and the additional socio-economic predictor (r² = 0.72, NRMSE = 12.17%). The results demonstrate the usefulness of remote sensing techniques for mapping timber volume for a future lignocellulose-based bioeconomy.     

Aboveground total and green biomass of dryland shrub derived from terrestrial laser scanning

Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), a dominant shrub species in the sagebrush-steppe ecosystem of the western US, is declining from its historical distribution due to feedbacks between climate and land use change, fire, and invasive species. Quantifying aboveground biomass of sagebrush is important for assessing carbon storage and monitoring the presence and distribution of this rapidly changing dryland ecosystem. Models of shrub canopy volume, derived from terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) point clouds, were used to accurately estimate aboveground sagebrush biomass. Ninety-one sagebrush plants were scanned and sampled across three study sites in the Great Basin, USA. Half of the plants were scanned and destructively sampled in the spring (n = 46), while the other half were scanned again in the fall before destructive sampling (n = 45). The latter set of sagebrush plants was scanned during both spring and fall to further test the ability of the TLS to quantify seasonal changes in green biomass. Sagebrush biomass was estimated using both a voxel and a 3-D convex hull approach applied to TLS point cloud data. The 3-D convex hull model estimated total and green biomass more accurately (R² = 0.92 and R² = 0.83, respectively) than the voxel-based method (R² = 0.86 and R² = 0.73, respectively). Seasonal differences in TLS-predicted green biomass were detected at two of the sites (p < 0.001 and p = 0.029), elucidating the amount of ephemeral leaf loss in the face of summer drought. The methods presented herein are directly transferable to other dryland shrubs, and implementation of the convex hull model with similar sagebrush species is straightforward.     

Improving the prediction of arsenic contents in agricultural soils by combining the reflectance spectroscopy of soils and rice plants

Visible and near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy provides a beneficial tool for investigating soil heavy metal contamination. This study aimed to investigate mechanisms of soil arsenic prediction using laboratory based soil and leaf spectra, compare the prediction of arsenic content using soil spectra with that using rice plant spectra, and determine whether the combination of both could improve the prediction of soil arsenic content. A total of 100 samples were collected and the reflectance spectra of soils and rice plants were measured using a FieldSpec3 portable spectroradiometer (350–2500 nm). After eliminating spectral outliers, the reflectance spectra were divided into calibration (n = 62) and validation (n = 32) data sets using the Kennard-Stone algorithm. Genetic algorithm (GA) was used to select useful spectral variables for soil arsenic prediction. Thereafter, the GA-selected spectral variables of the soil and leaf spectra were individually and jointly employed to calibrate the partial least squares regression (PLSR) models using the calibration data set. The regression models were validated and compared using independent validation data set. Furthermore, the correlation coefficients of soil arsenic against soil organic matter, leaf arsenic and leaf chlorophyll were calculated, and the important wavelengths for PLSR modeling were extracted. Results showed that arsenic prediction using the leaf spectra (coefficient of determination in validation, R_v² = 0.54; root mean square error in validation, RMSE_v = 12.99 mg kg⁻¹; and residual prediction deviation in validation, RPD_v = 1.35) was slightly better than using the soil spectra (R_v² = 0.42, RMSE_v = 13.35 mg kg⁻¹, and RPD_v = 1.31). However, results also showed that the combinational use of soil and leaf spectra resulted in higher arsenic prediction (R_v² = 0.63, RMSE_v = 11.94 mg kg⁻¹, RPD_v = 1.47) compared with either soil or leaf spectra alone. Soil spectral bands near 480, 600, 670, 810, 1980, 2050 and 2290 nm, leaf spectral bands near 700, 890 and 900 nm in PLSR models were important wavelengths for soil arsenic prediction. Moreover, soil arsenic showed significantly positive correlations with soil organic matter (r = 0.62, p < 0.01) and leaf arsenic (r = 0.77, p < 0.01), and a significantly negative correlation with leaf chlorophyll (r = −0.67, p < 0.01). The results showed that the prediction of arsenic contents using soil and leaf spectra may be based on their relationships with soil organic matter and leaf chlorophyll contents, respectively. Although RPD of 1.47 was below the recommended RPD of >2 for soil analysis, arsenic prediction in agricultural soils can be improved by combining the leaf and soil spectra.     

Plant phenolics and absorption features in vegetation reflectance spectra near 1.66 μm

Past laboratory and field studies have quantified phenolic substances in vegetative matter from reflectance measurements for understanding plant response to herbivores and insect predation. Past remote sensing studies on phenolics have evaluated crop quality and vegetation patterns caused by bedrock geology and associated variations in soil geochemistry. We examined spectra of pure phenolic compounds, common plant biochemical constituents, dry leaves, fresh leaves, and plant canopies for direct evidence of absorption features attributable to plant phenolics. Using spectral feature analysis with continuum removal, we observed that a narrow feature at 1.66 μm is persistent in spectra of manzanita, sumac, red maple, sugar maple, tea, and other species. This feature was consistent with absorption caused by aromatic CH bonds in the chemical structure of phenolic compounds and non-hydroxylated aromatics. Because of overlapping absorption by water, the feature was weaker in fresh leaf and canopy spectra compared to dry leaf measurements. Simple linear regressions of feature depth and feature area with polyphenol concentration in tea resulted in high correlations and low errors (% phenol by dry weight) at the dry leaf (r² = 0.95, RMSE = 1.0%, n = 56), fresh leaf (r² = 0.79, RMSE = 2.1%, n = 56), and canopy (r² = 0.78, RMSE = 1.0%, n = 13) levels of measurement. Spectra of leaves, needles, and canopies of big sagebrush and evergreens exhibited a weak absorption feature centered near 1.63 μm, short ward of the phenolic compounds, possibly consistent with terpenes. This study demonstrates that subtle variation in vegetation spectra in the shortwave infrared can directly indicate biochemical constituents and be used to quantify them. Phenolics are of lesser abundance compared to the major plant constituents but, nonetheless, have important plant functions and ecological significance. Additional research is needed to advance our understanding of the spectral influences of plant phenolics and terpenes relative to dominant leaf biochemistry (water, chlorophyll, protein/nitrogen, cellulose, and lignin).     

Assessing plantation canopy condition from airborne imagery using spectral mixture analysis and fractional abundances

Pine plantations in Australia are subject to a range of abiotic and biotic damaging agents that affect tree health and productivity. In order to optimise management decisions, plantation managers require regular intelligence relating to the status and trends in the health and condition of trees within individual compartments. Remote sensing technology offers an alternative to traditional ground-based assessment of these plantations. Automated estimation of foliar crown health, especially in degraded crowns, can be difficult due to mixed pixels when there is low or fragmented vegetation cover. In this study we apply a linear spectral unmixing approach to high spatial resolution (50 cm) multispectral imagery to quantify the fractional abundances of the key image endmembers: sunlit canopy, shadow, and soil. A number of Pinus radiata tree crown attributes were modelled using multiple linear regression and endmember fraction images. We found high levels of significance (r² = 0.80) for the overall crown colour and colour of the crown leader (r² = 0.79) in tree crowns affected by the fungal pathogen Sphaeropsis sapinea, which produces both needle necrosis and chlorosis. Results for stands associated with defoliation and chlorosis through infestation by the aphid Essigella californica were lower with an r² = 0.33 for crown transparency and r² = 0.31 for proportion of crown affected. Similar analysis of data from a nitrogen deficient site produced an outcome somewhat in between the other two damaging agents. Overall the sunlit canopy image fraction has been the most important variable used in the modelling of forest condition for all damaging agents.     

Spectral resampling based on user-defined inter-band correlation filter: C3 and C4 grass species classification

In this paper, a user-defined inter-band correlation filter function was used to resample hyperspectral data and thereby mitigate the problem of multicollinearity in classification analysis. The proposed resampling technique convolves the spectral dependence information between a chosen band-centre and its shorter and longer wavelength neighbours. Weighting threshold of inter-band correlation (WTC, Pearson's r) was calculated, whereby r = 1 at the band-centre. Various WTC (r = 0.99, r = 0.95 and r = 0.90) were assessed, and bands with coefficients beyond a chosen threshold were assigned r = 0. The resultant data were used in the random forest analysis to classify in situ C₃ and C₄ grass canopy reflectance. The respective WTC datasets yielded improved classification accuracies (kappa = 0.82, 0.79 and 0.76) with less correlated wavebands when compared to resampled Hyperion bands (kappa = 0.76). Overall, the results obtained from this study suggested that resampling of hyperspectral data should account for the spectral dependence information to improve overall classification accuracy as well as reducing the problem of multicollinearity.     

Retrieval of leaf water content spanning the visible to thermal infrared spectra

The objective of this study was to investigate the entire spectra (from visible to the thermal infrared; 0.390–14.0 μm) to retrieve leaf water content in a consistent manner. Narrow-band spectral indices (calculated from all possible two band combinations) and a partial least square regression (PLSR) were used to assess the strength of each spectral region. The coefficient of determination (R²) and root mean square error (RMSE) were used to report the prediction accuracy of spectral indices and PLSR models. In the visible-near infrared and shortwave infrared (VNIR–SWIR), the most accurate spectral index yielded R² of 0.89 and RMSE of 7.60%, whereas in the mid infrared (MIR) the highest R² was 0.93 and RMSE of 5.97%. Leaf water content was poorly predicted using two-band indices developed from the thermal infrared (R² = 0.33). The most accurate PLSR model resulted from MIR reflectance spectra (R² = 0.96, RMSE = 4.74% and RMSE cross validation RMSE_CV = 6.17%) followed by VNIR–SWIR reflectance spectra (R² = 0.91, RMSE = 6.90% and RMSE_CV = 7.32%). Using thermal infrared (TIR) spectra, the PLSR model yielded a moderate retrieval accuracy (R² = 0.67, RMSE = 13.27% and RMSE_CV = 16.39%). This study demonstrated that the mid infrared (MIR) and shortwave infrared (SWIR) domains were the most sensitive spectral region for the retrieval of leaf water content.     

Remote quantification of phycocyanin in potable water sources through an adaptive model

Cyanobacterial blooms in water supply sources in both central Indiana USA (CIN) and South Australia (SA) are a cause of great concerns for toxin production and water quality deterioration. Remote sensing provides an effective approach for quick assessment of cyanobacteria through quantification of phycocyanin (PC) concentration. In total, 363 samples spanning a large variation of optically active constituents (OACs) in CIN and SA waters were collected during 24 field surveys. Concurrently, remote sensing reflectance spectra (R_rs) were measured. A partial least squares–artificial neural network (PLS–ANN) model, artificial neural network (ANN) and three-band model (TBM) were developed or tuned by relating the R_rs with PC concentration. Our results indicate that the PLS–ANN model outperformed the ANN and TBM with both the original spectra and simulated ESA/Sentinel-3/Ocean and Land Color Instrument (OLCI) and EO-1/Hyperion spectra. The PLS–ANN model resulted in a high coefficient of determination (R²) for CIN dataset (R² = 0.92, R: 0.3–220.7 μg/L) and SA (R² = 0.98, R: 0.2–13.2 μg/L). In comparison, the TBM model yielded an R² = 0.77 and 0.94 for the CIN and SA datasets, respectively; while the ANN obtained an intermediate modeling accuracy (CIN: R² = 0.86; SA: R² = 0.95). Applying the simulated OLCI and Hyperion aggregated datasets, the PLS–ANN model still achieved good performance (OLCI: R² = 0.84; Hyperion: R² = 0.90); the TBM also presented acceptable performance for PC estimations (OLCI: R² = 0.65, Hyperion: R² = 0.70). Based on the results, the PLS–ANN is an effective modeling approach for the quantification of PC in productive water supplies based on its effectiveness in solving the non-linearity of PC with other OACs. Furthermore, our investigation indicates that the ratio of inorganic suspended matter (ISM) to PC concentration has close relationship to modeling relative errors (CIN: R² = 0.81; SA: R² = 0.92), indicating that ISM concentration exert significant impact on PC estimation accuracy.     

A new 500-m resolution map of canopy height for Amazon forest using spaceborne LiDAR and cloud-free MODIS imagery

In the present study, we aimed to map canopy heights in the Brazilian Amazon mainly on the basis of spaceborne LiDAR and cloud-free MODIS imagery with a new method (the Self-Organizing Relationships method) for spatial modeling of the LiDAR footprint. To evaluate the general versatility, we compared the created canopy height map with two different canopy height estimates on the basis of our original field study plots (799 plots located in eight study sites) and a previously developed canopy height map. The compared canopy height estimates were obtained by: (1) a stem diameter at breast height (D) – tree height (H) relationship specific to each site on the basis of our original field study, (2) a previously developed D–H model involving environmental and structural factors as explanatory variables (Feldpausch et al., 2011), and (3) a previously developed canopy height map derived from the spaceborne LiDAR data with different spatial modeling method and explanatory variables (Simard et al., 2011). As a result, our canopy height map successfully detected a spatial distribution pattern in canopy height estimates based on our original field study data (r = 0.845, p = 8.31 × 10⁻³) though our canopy height map showed a poor correlation (r = 0.563, p = 0.146) with the canopy height estimate based on a previously developed model by Feldpausch et al. (2011). We also confirmed that the created canopy height map showed a similar pattern with the previously developed canopy height map by Simard et al. (2011). It was concluded that the use of the spaceborne LiDAR data provides a sufficient accuracy in estimating the canopy height at regional scale.     

A new calibration of the effective scattering albedo and soil roughness parameters in the SMOS SM retrieval algorithm

This study focuses on the calibration of the effective vegetation scattering albedo (ω) and surface soil roughness parameters (H_R, and N_Rp, p = H,V) in the Soil Moisture (SM) retrieval from L-band passive microwave observations using the L-band Microwave Emission of the Biosphere (L-MEB) model. In the current Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) Level 2 (L2), v620, and Level 3 (L3), v300, SM retrieval algorithms, low vegetated areas are parameterized by ω = 0 and H_R = 0.1, whereas values of ω = 0.06 − 0.08 and H_R = 0.3 are used for forests. Several parameterizations of the vegetation and soil roughness parameters (ω, H_R and N_Rp, p = H,V) were tested in this study, treating SMOS SM retrievals as homogeneous over each pixel instead of retrieving SM over a representative fraction of the pixel, as implemented in the operational SMOS L2 and L3 algorithms. Globally-constant values of ω = 0.10, H_R = 0.4 and N_Rp = −1 (p = H,V) were found to yield SM retrievals that compared best with in situ SM data measured at many sites worldwide from the International Soil Moisture Network (ISMN). The calibration was repeated for collections of in situ sites classified in different land cover categories based on the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) scheme. Depending on the IGBP land cover class, values of ω and H_R varied, respectively, in the range 0.08–0.12 and 0.1–0.5. A validation exercise based on in situ measurements confirmed that using either a global or an IGBP-based calibration, there was an improvement in the accuracy of the SM retrievals compared to the SMOS L3 SM product considering all statistical metrics (R = 0.61, bias = −0.019 m³ m⁻³, ubRMSE = 0.062 m³ m⁻³ for the IGBP-based calibration; against R = 0.54, bias = −0.034 m³ m⁻³ and ubRMSE = 0.070 m³ m⁻³ for the SMOS L3 SM product). This result is a key step in the calibration of the roughness and vegetation parameters in the operational SMOS retrieval algorithm. The approach presented here is the core of a new forthcoming SMOS optimized SM product.     

Spectral detection of stress-related pigments in salt-lake succulent halophytic shrubs

The spectral detection of vegetation pigment concentrations has a high potential value, but it is still underdeveloped, especially for pigments other than chlorophylls. In this study, the seasonal pigment dynamics of two Tecticornia species (samphires; halophytic shrubs) from north-western Australia were correlated with spectral indices that best document the pigment changes over time. Pigment dynamics were assessed by analysing betacyanin, chlorophyll and carotenoid concentrations at plant level and by measuring reflectance at contrasting seasonal dates. Plant reflectance was used to define a new reflectance index that was most sensitive to the seasonal shifts in Tecticornia pigment concentrations. The two Tecticornia species turned from green to red-pinkish for the period March–August 2012 when betacyanins increased almost nine times in both species. Chlorophyll levels showed the opposite pattern to that of betacyanins, whereas carotenoid levels were relatively stable. Normalised difference indices correlated well with betacyanin (r = 0.805, using bands at 600 and 620 nm) and chlorophyll (r = 0.809, using bands at 737 and 726 nm). Using knowledge of chlorophyll concentrations slightly improved the ability of the spectral index to predict betacyanin concentration (r = 0.822 at bands 606 and 620 nm, in the case of chemically determined chlorophyll, r = 0.809 when using remotely sensed chlorophyll). Our results suggest that this new spectral index can reliably detect changes in betacyanin concentrations in vegetation, with potential applications in ecological studies and environmental impact monitoring.     

Modeling soil parameters using hyperspectral image reflectance in subtropical coastal wetlands

Developing spectral models of soil properties is an important frontier in remote sensing and soil science. Several studies have focused on modeling soil properties such as total pools of soil organic matter and carbon in bare soils. We extended this effort to model soil parameters in areas densely covered with coastal vegetation. Moreover, we investigated soil properties indicative of soil functions such as nutrient and organic matter turnover and storage. These properties include the partitioning of mineral and organic soil between particulate (>53 μm) and fine size classes, and the partitioning of soil carbon and nitrogen pools between stable and labile fractions. Soil samples were obtained from Avicennia germinans mangrove forest and Juncus roemerianus salt marsh plots on the west coast of central Florida. Spectra corresponding to field plot locations from Hyperion hyperspectral image were extracted and analyzed. The spectral information was regressed against the soil variables to determine the best single bands and optimal band combinations for the simple ratio (SR) and normalized difference index (NDI) indices. The regression analysis yielded levels of correlation for soil variables with R² values ranging from 0.21 to 0.47 for best individual bands, 0.28 to 0.81 for two-band indices, and 0.53 to 0.96 for partial least-squares (PLS) regressions for the Hyperion image data. Spectral models using Hyperion data adequately (RPD > 1.4) predicted particulate organic matter (POM), silt + clay, labile carbon (C), and labile nitrogen (N) (where RPD = ratio of standard deviation to root mean square error of cross-validation [RMSECV]). The SR (0.53 μm, 2.11 μm) model of labile N with R² = 0.81, RMSECV= 0.28, and RPD = 1.94 produced the best results in this study. Our results provide optimism that remote-sensing spectral models can successfully predict soil properties indicative of ecosystem nutrient and organic matter turnover and storage, and do so in areas with dense canopy cover.     

Detecting forest damage after a low-severity fire using remote sensing at multiple scales

Remote sensing technologies are an ideal platform to examine the extent and impact of fire on the landscape. In this study we assess that capacity of the RapidEye constellation and Landsat (Thematic Mapper and Operational Land Imager to map fine-scale burn attributes for a small, low severity prescribed fire in a dry Western Canadian forest. Estimates of burn severity from field data were collated into a simple burn index and correlated with a selected suite of common spectral vegetation indices. Burn severity classes were then derived to map fire impacts and estimate consumed woody surface fuels (diameter ≥2.6 cm). All correlations between the simple burn index and vegetation indices produced significant results (p < 0.01), but varied substantially in their overall accuracy. Although the Landsat Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index provided the best regression fit (R² = 0.56), results suggested that RapidEye provided much more spatially detailed estimates of tree damage (Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index, R² = 0.51). Consumption estimates of woody surface fuels ranged from 3.38 ± 1.03 Mg ha⁻¹ to 11.73 ± 1.84 Mg ha⁻¹, across four derived severity classes with uncertainties likely a result of changing foliage moisture between the before and after fire images. While not containing spectral information in the short wave infrared, the spatial variability provided by the RapidEye imagery has potential for mapping and monitoring fine scale forest attributes, as well as the potential to resolve fire damage at the individual tree level.     

Camera derived vegetation greenness index as proxy for gross primary production in a low Arctic wetland area

The Arctic is experiencing disproportionate warming relative to the global average, and the Arctic ecosystems are as a result undergoing considerable changes. Continued monitoring of ecosystem productivity and phenology across temporal and spatial scales is a central part of assessing the magnitude of these changes. This study investigates the ability to use automatic digital camera images (DCIs) as proxy data for gross primary production (GPP) in a complex low Arctic wetland site. Vegetation greenness computed from DCIs was found to correlate significantly (R² = 0.62, p < 0.001) with a normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) product derived from the WorldView-2 satellite. An object-based classification based on a bi-temporal image composite was used to classify the study area into heath, copse, fen, and bedrock. Temporal evolution of vegetation greenness was evaluated and modeled with double sigmoid functions for each plant community. GPP at light saturation modeled from eddy covariance (EC) flux measurements were found to correlate significantly with vegetation greenness for all plant communities in the studied year (i.e., 2010), and the highest correlation was found between modeled fen greenness and GPP (R² = 0.85, p < 0.001). Finally, greenness computed within modeled EC footprints were used to evaluate the influence of individual plant communities on the flux measurements. The study concludes that digital cameras may be used as a cost-effective proxy for potential GPP in remote Arctic regions.     

Canopy foliar nitrogen retrieved from airborne hyperspectral imagery by correcting for canopy structure effects

A statistical relationship between canopy mass-based foliar nitrogen concentration (%N) and canopy bidirectional reflectance factor (BRF) has been repeatedly demonstrated. However, the interaction between leaf properties and canopy structure confounds the estimation of foliar nitrogen. The canopy scattering coefficient (the ratio of BRF and the directional area scattering factor, DASF) has recently been suggested for estimating %N as it suppresses the canopy structural effects on BRF. However, estimation of %N using the scattering coefficient has not yet been investigated for longer spectral wavelengths (>855 nm). We retrieved the canopy scattering coefficient for wavelengths between 400 and 2500 nm from airborne hyperspectral imagery, and then applied a continuous wavelet analysis (CWA) to the scattering coefficient in order to estimate %N. Predictions of %N were also made using partial least squares regression (PLSR). We found that %N can be accurately retrieved using CWA (R² = 0.65, RMSE = 0.33) when four wavelet features are combined, with CWA yielding a more accurate estimation than PLSR (R² = 0.47, RMSE = 0.41). We also found that the wavelet features most sensitive to %N variation in the visible region relate to chlorophyll absorption, while wavelet features in the shortwave infrared regions relate to protein and dry matter absorption. Our results confirm that %N can be retrieved using the scattering coefficient after correcting for canopy structural effect. With the aid of high-fidelity airborne or upcoming space-borne hyperspectral imagery, large-scale foliar nitrogen maps can be generated to improve the modeling of ecosystem processes as well as ecosystem-climate feedbacks.     

Scaling estimates of vegetation structure in Amazonian tropical forests using multi-angle MODIS observations

Detailed knowledge of vegetation structure is required for accurate modelling of terrestrial ecosystems, but direct measurements of the three dimensional distribution of canopy elements, for instance from LiDAR, are not widely available. We investigate the potential for modelling vegetation roughness, a key parameter for climatological models, from directional scattering of visible and near-infrared (NIR) reflectance acquired from NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). We compare our estimates across different tropical forest types to independent measures obtained from: (1) airborne laser scanning (ALS), (2) spaceborne Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS)/ICESat, and (3) the spaceborne SeaWinds/QSCAT. Our results showed linear correlation between MODIS-derived anisotropy to ALS-derived entropy (r² = 0.54, RMSE = 0.11), even in high biomass regions. Significant relationships were also obtained between MODIS-derived anisotropy and GLAS-derived entropy (0.52 ≤ r² ≤ 0.61; p < 0.05), with similar slopes and offsets found throughout the season, and RMSE between 0.26 and 0.30 (units of entropy). The relationships between the MODIS-derived anisotropy and backscattering measurements (σ⁰) from SeaWinds/QuikSCAT presented an r² of 0.59 and a RMSE of 0.11. We conclude that multi-angular MODIS observations are suitable to extrapolate measures of canopy entropy across different forest types, providing additional estimates of vegetation structure in the Amazon.     

Satellite-based automated burned area detection: A performance assessment of the MODIS MCD45A1 in the Brazilian savanna

Burnings, which cause major changes to the environment, can be effectively monitored via satellite data, regarding both the identification of active fires and the estimation of burned areas. Among the many orbital sensors suitable for mapping burned areas on global and regional scales, the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS), on board the Terra and Aqua platforms, has been the most widely utilized. In this study, the performance of the MODIS MCD45A1 burned area product was thoroughly evaluated in the Brazilian savanna, the second largest biome in South America and a global biodiversity hotspot, characterized by a conspicuous climatic seasonality and the systematic occurrence of natural and anthropogenic fires. Overall, September MCD45A1 polygons (2000–2012) compared well to the Landsat-based reference mapping (r² = 0.92) and were closely accompanied, on a monthly basis, by MOD14 and MYD14 hotspots (r² = 0.89), although large omissions errors, linked to landscape patterns, structures, and overall conditions depicted in each reference image, were observed. In spite of its spatial and temporal limitations, the MCD45A1 product proved instrumental for mapping and understanding fire behavior and impacts on the Cerrado landscapes.     

Determining iron content in Mediterranean soils in partly vegetated areas,using spectral reflectance and imaging spectroscopy

The possibility of quantifying iron content in the topsoil of the slopes of the El Hacho Mountain complex in Southern Spain using imaging spectroscopy is investigated. Laboratory, field and airborne spectrometer (ROSIS) data are acquired, in combination with soil samples, which are analysed for dithionite extractable iron (Fe_d) content. Analysis of the properties of two iron related absorption features present in laboratory spectra demonstrates good relations, especially between the standard deviation (S.D.) of the values in an absorption feature and the Fe_d content (R² = 0.67) as well as the ratio based Redness Index (R² = 0.51). Such derived relations are less strong for the ROSIS data (R² for S.D. = 0.26 and R² for Redness Index = 0.22). The spatial distribution of iron in vegetated areas shows a strong sensitivity of these relations with the presence of vegetation. A combination of both methods shows that the overestimation of the Fe_d content with the one method is (partly) compensated by the underestimation with the other method.