Fast and nondestructive method for leaf level chlorophyll estimation using hyperspectral LiDAR

The chlorophyll estimates derived from hyperspectral LiDAR linearly correlate with the laboratory analyzed chlorophyll concentrations, and they are able to represent a range of chlorophyll concentrations in Scots pine shoots (R2 = 0.88, RMSE = 0.10 mg/g). Furthermore, they are insensitive to measurement scale as nearly the same values of vegetation indices were measured in natural setting while scanning the whole canopy and from clipped shoots re-measured with hyperspectral LiDAR in laboratory. The results indicate that the hyperspectral LiDAR instrument has the potential to estimate vegetation biochemical parameters such as the chlorophyll concentration. The instrument holds much potential in various environmental applications and provides a significant improvement over single wavelength LiDAR or passive optical systems for environmental remote sensing.