Preliminary leaf area index estimates from airborne small footprint full-waveform LiDAR data

Karolina D. Fieber, Ian J. Davenport, Mihai A. Tanase, James M. Ferryman, Robert J. Gurney, Jeffrey P. Walker, Jorg M. Hacker

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

    5 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    This study has compared preliminary estimates of effective leaf area index (LAI) derived from fish-eye lens photographs to those estimated from airborne full-waveform small-footprint LiDAR data for a forest dataset in Australia. The full-waveform data was decomposed and optimized using a trust-region-reflective algorithm to extract denser point clouds. LAI LiDAR estimates were derived in two ways (1) from the probability of discrete pulses reaching the ground without being intercepted (point method) and (2) from raw waveform canopy height profile processing adapted to small-footprint laser altimetry (waveform method) accounting for reflectance ratio between vegetation and ground. The best results, that matched hemispherical photography estimates, were achieved for the waveform method with a study area-adjusted reflectance ratio of 0.4 (RMSE of 0.15 and 0.03 at plot and site level, respectively). The point method generally overestimated, whereas the waveform method with an arbitrary reflectance ratio of 0.5 underestimated the fish-eye lens LAI estimates.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publication2013 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium - IGARSS
    PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
    Pages3379-3382
    Number of pages4
    ISBN (Electronic)978-1-4799-1114-1, 9781479911141
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2013
    Event2013 33rd IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, IGARSS 2013 - Melbourne, VIC, Australia
    Duration: 21 Jul 201326 Jul 2013

    Publication series

    NameInternational Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS)
    ISSN (Print)2153-6996
    ISSN (Electronic)2153-7003

    Conference

    Conference2013 33rd IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, IGARSS 2013
    Country/TerritoryAustralia
    CityMelbourne, VIC
    Period21/07/1326/07/13

    Keywords

    • Canopy height profile
    • Full-waveform
    • Leaf area index (LAI)
    • LiDAR
    • Small-footprint

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