Remote sensing of forest biophysical variables using HyMap imaging spectrometer data

This study systematically evaluated linear predictive models between vegetation indices (VI) derived from radiometrically corrected airborne imaging spectrometer (HyMap) data and field measurements of biophysical forest stand variables (n=40). Ratio-based and soil-line-related broadband VI were calculated after HyMap reflectance had been spectrally resampled to Landsat TM channels. Hyperspectral VI involved all possible types of two-band combinations of ratio VI (RVI) and perpendicular VI (PVI) and the red edge inflection point (REIP) computed from two techniques, inverted Gaussian Model and Lagrange Interpolation. Cross-validation procedure was used to assess the prediction power of the regression models. Analyses were performed on the entire data set or on subsets stratified according to stand age. A PVI based on wavebands at 1088 nm and 1148 nm was linearly related to leaf area index (LAI) (R2=0.67, RMSE=0.69 m2 m−2 (21% of the mean); after removal of one forest stand subjected to clearing measures: R2=0.77, RMSE=0.54 m2 m−2 (17% of the mean). A PVI based on wavebands at 885 nm and 948 nm was linearly related to the crown volume (VOL) (R2=0.79, RMSE=0.52). VOL was derived from measured biophysical variables through factor analysis (varimax rotation). The study demonstrates that for hyperspectral image data, linear regression models can be applied to quantify LAI and VOL with good accuracy. For broadband multispectral data, the accuracy was generally lower. It can be stated that the hyperspectral data set contains more information relevant to the estimation of the forest stand variables LAI and VOL than multispectral data. When the pooled data set was analysed, soil-line-related VI performed better than ratio-based VI. When age classes were analysed separately, hyperspectral VI performed considerably better than broadband VI. Best hyperspectral VI in relation with LAI were typically based on wavebands related to prominent water absorption features. Such VI are related to the total amount of canopy water; as the leaf water content is considered to be relatively constant in the study area, variations of LAI are retrieved.