Terrestrial remote sensing toolkit

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BRG The University of Queensland
Fundamentals

- Main page
- Pre-processing
- Field data collection
  - Groundcover sampling
  - Vegetation structure
    - Using photographs
    - Visual estimates
  - Spectral libraries
  - Optical properties
  - Control points
  - Features mapping
- Mapping approaches
- Change and trends
- Delivery

# Vegetation structure: using visual estimates

Indicators of tree structure include leaf area index, leaf angle distribution, crown cover, stem density, tree height, tree basal area, and vertically-projected fraction of foliage and branches covering the ground. Estimates of vertically projected cover (crown cover, leaf cover, branch cover, grass cover) are simpler to make when in the field and are particularly suited to Australian environments.

Measuring vegetation structural properties in the field. Top: tree height, Bottom: vertically-projected cover.

## References:

J.D. Armston, R.J. Denham, T.J. Danaher, P.F. Scarth, T.N. Moffiet, Prediction and validation of foliage projective cover from Landsat-5 TM and Landsat-7 ETM+ imagery, Journal of applied remote sensing, 3 (2009) 033540.

Specht, R.L., & Specht, A. (1999). Australian Plant Communities: Dynamics of Structure, Growth and Biodiversity. Oxford: Oxford University Press