Estimating tree canopy cover using harmonic regression coefficients derived from multitemporal Landsat data

The goal of this study was to evaluate whether harmonic regression coefficients derived using all available cloud-free observations in a given Landsat pixel for a three-year period can be used to estimate tree canopy cover (TCC), and whether models developed using harmonic regression coefficients as predictor variables are better than models developed using median composite predictor variables, the previous operational standard for the National Land Cover Database (NLCD). The two study areas in the conterminous USA were as follows: West (Oregon), bounded by Landsat Worldwide Reference System 2 (WRS-2) paths/rows 43/30, 44/30, and 45/30; and South (Georgia/South Carolina), bounded by WRS-2 paths/rows 16/37, 17/37, and 18/37. Plot-specific tree canopy cover (the response variable) was collected by experienced interpreters using a dot grid overlaid on 1 m spatial resolution National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP) images at two different times per region, circa 2010 and circa 2014. Random forest model comparisons (using 500 independent model runs for each comparison) revealed the following (1) harmonic regression coefficients (one harmonic) are better predictors for every time/region of TCC than median composite focal means and standard deviations (across times/regions, mean increase in pseudo R² of 6.7% and mean decrease in RMSE of 1.7% TCC) and (2) harmonic regression coefficients (one harmonic, from NDVI, SWIR1, and SWIR2), when added to the full suite of median composite and terrain variables used for the NLCD 2011 product, improve the quality of TCC models for every time/region (mean increase in pseudo R² of 3.6% and mean decrease in RMSE of 1.0% TCC). The harmonic regression NDVI constant was always one of the top four most important predictors across times/regions, and is more correlated with TCC than the NDVI median composite focal mean. Eigen analysis revealed that there is little to no additional information in the full suite of predictor variables (47 bands) when compared to the harmonic regression coefficients alone (using NDVI, SWIR1, and SWIR2; 9 bands), a finding echoed by both model fit statistics and the resulting maps. We conclude that harmonic regression coefficients derived from Landsat (or, by extension, other comparable earth resource satellite data) can be used to map TCC, either alone or in combination with other TCC-related variables.     

Comparing methods for mapping canopy chlorophyll content in a mixed mountain forest using Sentinel-2 data

The Sentinel-2 Multi-Spectral Imager (MSI) has three spectral bands centered at 705, 740, and 783 nm wavelengths that exploit the red-edge information useful for quantifying plant biochemical traits. This sensor configuration is expected to improve the prediction accuracy of vegetation chlorophyll content. In this work, we assessed the performance of several statistical and physical-based methods in retrieving canopy chlorophyll content (CCC) from Sentinel-2 in a heterogeneous mixed mountain forest. Amongst the algorithms presented in the literature, 13 different vegetation indices (VIs), a non-parametric statistical approach, and two radiative transfer models (RTM) were used to assess the CCC prediction accuracy. A field campaign was conducted in July 2017 to collect in situ measurements of CCC in Bavarian forest national park, and the cloud-free Sentinel-2 image was acquired on 13 July 2017. The leave-one-out cross-validation technique was used to compare the VIs and the non-parametric approach. Whereas physical-based methods were calibrated using simulated data and validated using the in situ reference dataset. The statistical-based approaches, such as the modified simple ratio (mSR) vegetation index and the partial least square regression (PLSR) outperformed all other techniques. As such the modified simple ratio (mSR3) (665, 865) gave the lowest cross-validated RMSE of 0.21 g/m² (R² = 0.75). The PLSR resulted in the highest R² of 0.78, and slightly higher RMSE =0.22 g/m² than mSR3. The physical-based approach-INFORM inversion using look-up table resulted in an RMSE =0.31 g/m², and R² = 0.67. Although mapping CCC using these methods revealed similar spatial distribution patterns, over and underestimation of low and high CCC values were observed mainly in the statistical approaches. Further validation using in situ data from different terrestrial ecosystems is imperative for both the statistical and physical-based approaches' effectiveness to quantify CCC before selecting the best operational algorithm to map CCC from Sentinel-2 for long-term terrestrial ecosystems monitoring across the globe.     

植被光合有效辐射吸收比率遥感研究进展

植被光合有效辐射吸收比率FPAR（Fraction of absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation）反映了植被冠层的光学特性,是表征植被光合作用水平和生长状态的重要参量,因此成为全球变化研究中多种过程模型的重要输入参数。随着定量遥感研究的深入和新型传感器的使用,从区域到全球尺度上的FPAR遥感估算方法不断提出,多样化的遥感FPAR产品越来越多地应用于碳循环、能量循环、生产力估算及作物估产等研究领域。本文梳理了遥感估算的植被光合有效辐射的相关概念和算法,并着重对过去十年间遥感估算FPAR的新进展进行了系统总结和探讨。研究表明,近年来FPAR遥感的研究工作一方面聚焦于对现有算法的改进与各类型产品的验证,更多的研究则侧重于FPAR概念体系的拓展,叶片、叶绿素水平的FPAR估算,直射光、散射光的FPAR建模等新方向逐渐成为研究热点。     

Applying different inversion techniques to retrieve stand variables of summer barley with PROSPECT + SAIL

This study describes the retrieval of state variables (LAI, canopy chlorophyll, water and dry matter contents) for summer barley from airborne HyMap data by means of a canopy reflectance model (PROSPECT + SAIL). Three different inversion techniques were applied to explore the impact of the employed method on estimation accuracies: numerical optimization (downhill simplex method), a look-up table (LUT) and an artificial neural network (ANN) approach. By numerical optimization (Num Opt), reliable estimates were obtained for LAI and canopy chlorophyll contents (LAI × C_ab) with r² of 0.85 and 0.94 and RDP values of 1.81 and 2.65, respectively. Accuracies dropped for canopy water (LAI × C_w) and dry matter contents (LAI × C_m). Nevertheless, the range of leaf water contents (C_w) was very narrow in the studied plant material. Prediction accuracies generally decreased in the order Num Opt > LUT > ANN. This decrease in accuracy mainly resulted from an increase in offset in the obtained values, as the retrievals from the different approaches were highly correlated. The same decreasing order in accuracy was found for the difference between the measured spectra and those reconstructed from the retrieved variable values. The parallel application of the different inversion techniques to one collective data set was helpful to identify modelling uncertainties, as shortcomings of the retrieval algorithms themselves could be separated from uncertainties in model structure and parameterisation schemes.     

A Simple Theoretical Radiation Scheme for Regular Building Arrays

We propose a simple theoretical radiation scheme for regular building arrays. The essential difference of the present radiation scheme from the previous ones is the explicit consideration of the three-dimensional features of the surface geometry. The model is assumed to be an infinitely extended regular array of uniform buildings, each building composed of six faces (roof, floor, and four vertical walls). Without using time-consuming iterations or statistical approaches, we calculated the view factors of the faces, the complicated sunlit--shadow distributions, and the resulting canopy albedo for any time and location. The model was evaluated by comparing to outdoor experiments in a wide range of seasons and surface geometries. The simulated canopy albedos agreed well with measured values, and the accuracy is a significant improvement over two-dimensional-based model outputs.     

A Wind-Tunnel Study of Airflow in Waving Wheat: An EOF Analysis of the Structure of the Large-Eddy Motion

We have conducted an Empirical Orthogonal Functionanalysis (EOF) of a three dimensional, 2-pointvelocity covariance field, measured in a wind tunnel. The rate of convergence of the EOF sequence was usedas an objective test for the presence of distinctlarge turbulent structures. We found that in theroughness sublayer (2h > z > 0) the sequence convergedmuch more rapidly than in the lower surface layer(6h > z > 0), 75% of the total velocity variancebeing captured by the first three of 42 eigenmodes;h is the canopy height. The analysis was extended to three dimensions, whereover 50% of the variance and most of the spatialstructure of the covariance fields were captured by aneven smaller fraction of the total number ofeigenmodes. With some relatively weak additionalassumptions we were able to construct the velocityfield of a characteristic eddy or large coherentstructure. This consisted of a pair ofcounter-rotating streamwise vortices centred above thecanopy. The sense of rotation of the vortex pair wasopposite to that found in the wall region of boundarylayers but matched that found in plane mixing layers. A strong gust or sweep motion generated between thevortices was responsible for most of the shear stresscarried by the large eddies. The region of significanttransport of streamwise momentum by the characteristiceddy is much smaller than the region of coherence of theeddy's velocity field.     

Assessing the potential for leaf-off LiDAR data to model canopy closure in temperate deciduous forests

Estimates of canopy closure have many important uses in forest management and ecological research. Field measurements, however, are typically not practical to acquire over expansive areas or for large numbers of locations. This problem has been addressed, in recent years, through the use of airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology which has proven effective in modeling canopy closure remotely. The techniques developed to use LiDAR for this purpose have been designed and evaluated for datasets acquired during leaf-on conditions. However, a large number of LiDAR datasets are acquired during leaf-off conditions since their primary purpose is to generate bare-earth Digital Elevation Models. In this paper, we develop and evaluate techniques for leveraging small-footprint leaf-off LiDAR data to model leaf-on canopy closure in temperate deciduous forests.We evaluate three techniques for modeling canopy closure: (1) the canopy-to-total-return-ratio (CTRR), (2) the canopy-to-total-pixel-ratio (CTPR), and (3) the hemispherical-viewshed (HV). The first technique has been used widely, in various forms, and has been shown to be effective with leaf-on LiDAR datasets. The CTRR technique that we tested uses the first-return LiDAR data only. The latter two techniques are new contributions that we develop and present in this paper. These techniques use Canopy Height Models (CHM) to detect significant gaps in the forest canopy which are of primary importance in estimating closure.The techniques we tested each showed good promise for predicting canopy closure using leaf-off LiDAR data with the CTPR and HV models having particularly high correlations with closure estimates from hemispherical photographs. The CTRR model had performance on par with results from previous studies that used leaf-on LiDAR, although, with leaf-off data the model tended to be negatively biased with respect to species having simple and compound leaf types and positively biased for coniferous species. The CTPR and HV models also showed some slight negative biases for compound-leaf species. The biases for the CTPR and HV models were mitigated when the CHM data were smoothed to fill in small gaps. The CHM-based models were robust to changes in the CHM model resolution which suggests that these methods may be applicable to a variety of small-footprint LiDAR datasets. In this research, the new CTPR and HV methods showed a strong ability to predict canopy closure using leaf-off data, however, future work will be needed to test the applicability of the models to variations in LiDAR datasets, forest types, and topography.     

Thermal infrared imaging of the temporal variability in stomatal conductance for fruit trees

Repeated measurements using thermal infrared remote sensing were used to characterize the change in canopy temperature over time and factors that influenced this change on ‘Conference’ pear trees (Pyrus communis L.). Three different types of sensors were used, a leaf porometer to measure leaf stomatal conductance, a thermal infrared camera to measure the canopy temperature and a meteorological sensor to measure weather variables. Stomatal conductance of water stressed pear was significantly lower than in the control group 9 days after stress began. This decrease in stomatal conductance reduced transpiration, reducing evaporative cooling that increased canopy temperature. Using thermal infrared imaging with wavelengths between 7.5 and13 μm, the first significant difference was measured 18 days after stress began. A second order derivative described the average rate of change of the difference between the stress treatment and control group. The average rate of change for stomatal conductance was 0.06 (mmol m⁻² s⁻¹) and for canopy temperature was −0.04 (°C) with respect to days. Thermal infrared remote sensing and data analysis presented in this study demonstrated that the differences in canopy temperatures between the water stress and control treatment due to stomata regulation can be validated.     

A sun–crown–sensor model and adapted C-correction logic for topographic correction of high resolution forest imagery

Canopy shadowing mediated by topography is an important source of radiometric distortion on remote sensing images of rugged terrain. Topographic correction based on the sun–canopy–sensor (SCS) model significantly improved over those based on the sun–terrain–sensor (STS) model for surfaces with high forest canopy cover, because the SCS model considers and preserves the geotropic nature of trees. The SCS model accounts for sub-pixel canopy shadowing effects and normalizes the sunlit canopy area within a pixel. However, it does not account for mutual shadowing between neighboring pixels. Pixel-to-pixel shadowing is especially apparent for fine resolution satellite images in which individual tree crowns are resolved. This paper proposes a new topographic correction model: the sun–crown–sensor (SCnS) model based on high-resolution satellite imagery (IKONOS) and high-precision LiDAR digital elevation model. An improvement on the C-correction logic with a radiance partitioning method to address the effects of diffuse irradiance is also introduced (SCnS + C). In addition, we incorporate a weighting variable, based on pixel shadow fraction, on the direct and diffuse radiance portions to enhance the retrieval of at-sensor radiance and reflectance of highly shadowed tree pixels and form another variety of SCnS model (SCnS + W). Model evaluation with IKONOS test data showed that the new SCnS model outperformed the STS and SCS models in quantifying the correlation between terrain-regulated illumination factor and at-sensor radiance. Our adapted C-correction logic based on the sun–crown–sensor geometry and radiance partitioning better represented the general additive effects of diffuse radiation than C parameters derived from the STS or SCS models. The weighting factor W_t also significantly enhanced correction results by reducing within-class standard deviation and balancing the mean pixel radiance between sunlit and shaded slopes. We analyzed these improvements with model comparison on the red and near infrared bands. The advantages of SCnS + C and SCnS + W on both bands are expected to facilitate forest classification and change detection applications.     

Multi-level filtering segmentation to measure individual tree parameters based on Lidar data: Application to a mountainous forest with heterogeneous stands

This paper presents a method for individual tree crown extraction and characterisation from a canopy surface model (CSM). The method is based on a conventional algorithm used for localising LM on a smoothed version of the CSM and subsequently for modelling the tree crowns around each maximum at the plot level. The novelty of the approach lies in the introduction of controls on both the degree of CSM filtering and the shape of elliptic crowns, in addition to a multi-filtering level crown fusion approach to balance omission and commission errors. The algorithm derives the total tree height and the mean crown diameter from the elliptic tree crowns generated. The method was tested and validated on a mountainous forested area mainly covered by mature and even-aged black pine (Pinus nigra ssp. nigra [Arn.]) stands. Mean stem detection per plot, using this method, was 73.97%. Algorithm performance was affected slightly by both stand density and heterogeneity (i.e. tree diameter classes’ distribution). The total tree height and the mean crown diameter were estimated with root mean squared error values of 1.83 m and 1.48 m respectively. Tree heights were slightly underestimated in flat areas and overestimated on slopes. The average crown diameter was underestimated by 17.46% on average.