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Measuring Effective Leaf Area Index, Foliage Profile, and Stand Height in New England Forest Stands Using a Full-Waveform Ground-Based LidarEffective leaf area index (LAI) retrievals from a scanning, ground-based, near-infrared (1064 nm) lidar that digitizes the full return waveform, the Echidna Validation Instrument (EVI), are in good agreement with those obtained from both hemispherical photography and the Li-Cor LAI-2000 Plant Canopy Analyzer. We conducted trials at 28 plots within six stands of hardwoods and conifers of varying height and stocking densities at Harvard Forest, Massachusetts, Bartlett Experimental Forest, New Hampshire, and Howland Experimental Forest, Maine, in July 2007. Effective LAI values retrieved by four methods, which ranged from 3.42 to 5.25 depending on the site and method, were not significantly different ( b0.1 among four methods). The LAI values also matched published values well. Foliage profiles (leaf area with height) retrieved from the lidar scans, although not independently validated, were consistent with stand structure as observed and as measured by conventional methods. Canopy mean top height, as determined from the foliage profiles, deviated from mean RH100 values obtained from the Lidar Vegetation Imaging Sensor (LVIS) airborne large-footprint lidar system at 27 plots by .0.91 m with RMSE=2.04 m, documenting the ability of the EVI to retrieve stand height. The Echidna Validation Instrument is the first realization of the Echidna lidar concept, devised by Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), for measuring forest structure using full-waveform, ground-based, scanning lidar.
Document ID
20110012880
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Zhao, Feng
(Boston Univ. Boston, MA, United States)
Yang, Xiaoyuan
(Boston Univ. Boston, MA, United States)
Schull, Mithcell A.
(Boston Univ. Boston, MA, United States)
Roman-Colon, Miguel O.
(Boston Univ. Boston, MA, United States)
Yao, Tian
(Boston Univ. Boston, MA, United States)
Wang, Zhuosen
(Boston Univ. Boston, MA, United States)
Zhang, Qingling
(Boston Univ. Boston, MA, United States)
Jupp, David L. B.
(Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization Canberra, Australia)
Lovell, Jenny L.
(Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization Canberra, Australia)
Culvenor, Darius
(Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization Clayton, Australia)
Newnham, Glenn J.
(Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization Clayton, Australia)
Richardson, Andrew D.
(Harvard Univ. Cambridge, MA, United States)
Ni-Meister, Wenge
(Hunter Coll. New York, NY, United States)
Schaaf, Crystal L.
(Boston Univ. Boston, MA, United States)
Woodcock, Curtis E.
(Boston Univ. Boston, MA, United States)
Strahler, Alan H.
(Boston Univ. Boston, MA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2011
Subject Category
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Report/Patent Number
GSFC.JA.4407.2011
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: DE-AI02-07ER64355
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNG06GI92G
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF 0923389
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX08AE94A
CONTRACT_GRANT: DE-FG02-00ER63001
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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