Abstract
Numerous problems and difficulties have been reported with the use of vegetation indices in high biomass, forested regions. In this study we analyzed Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper (TM) scenes from various temperate and tropical forested biomes, representing needleleaf and broadleaf canopy structures in the Pacific Northwest (Oregon), Eastern U.S. (Harvard Forest), southern Chile, the Amazon, and Central America. The TM scenes were atmospherically corrected and reduced to MODIS surface reflectance data at 250 m pixel sizes. Various vegetation indices (VIs) were then computed including the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), simple ratio, soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI), enhanced vegetation index (EVI), and green vegetation index (GVI). The NDVI was also tested utilizing the green and middle-infrared (MIR) bands. All of the NDVIs were non-linear and were fairly saturated across the forested biomes. In contrast, the remaining indices remained sensitive to canopy structure variations over all of the forested biomes with minimal saturation problems. The high `penetrating' capability of the near:infrared band through forested canopies was the dominant factor in vegetation index sensitivity and performance. We found that indices with higher weighing coefficients in the `near-infrared' to be the best approach in extending vegetation index performance over forested and dense vegetated canopies.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) |
| Editors | Anon |
| Publisher | IEEE |
| Pages | 1966-1968 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| Volume | 4 |
| State | Published - 1997 |
| Event | Proceedings of the 1997 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, IGARSS'97. Part 3 (of 4) - Singapore, Singapore Duration: Aug 3 1997 → Aug 8 1997 |
Other
| Other | Proceedings of the 1997 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, IGARSS'97. Part 3 (of 4) |
|---|---|
| City | Singapore, Singapore |
| Period | 8/3/97 → 8/8/97 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Software
- Geology
Cite this
Use of vegetation indices in forested regions : Issues of linearity and saturation. / Huete, Alfredo R.; Liu, HuiQing; van Leeuwen, Willem.
International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS). ed. / Anon. Vol. 4 IEEE, 1997. p. 1966-1968.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution
}
TY - GEN
T1 - Use of vegetation indices in forested regions
T2 - Issues of linearity and saturation
AU - Huete, Alfredo R.
AU - Liu, HuiQing
AU - van Leeuwen, Willem
PY - 1997
Y1 - 1997
N2 - Numerous problems and difficulties have been reported with the use of vegetation indices in high biomass, forested regions. In this study we analyzed Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper (TM) scenes from various temperate and tropical forested biomes, representing needleleaf and broadleaf canopy structures in the Pacific Northwest (Oregon), Eastern U.S. (Harvard Forest), southern Chile, the Amazon, and Central America. The TM scenes were atmospherically corrected and reduced to MODIS surface reflectance data at 250 m pixel sizes. Various vegetation indices (VIs) were then computed including the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), simple ratio, soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI), enhanced vegetation index (EVI), and green vegetation index (GVI). The NDVI was also tested utilizing the green and middle-infrared (MIR) bands. All of the NDVIs were non-linear and were fairly saturated across the forested biomes. In contrast, the remaining indices remained sensitive to canopy structure variations over all of the forested biomes with minimal saturation problems. The high `penetrating' capability of the near:infrared band through forested canopies was the dominant factor in vegetation index sensitivity and performance. We found that indices with higher weighing coefficients in the `near-infrared' to be the best approach in extending vegetation index performance over forested and dense vegetated canopies.
AB - Numerous problems and difficulties have been reported with the use of vegetation indices in high biomass, forested regions. In this study we analyzed Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper (TM) scenes from various temperate and tropical forested biomes, representing needleleaf and broadleaf canopy structures in the Pacific Northwest (Oregon), Eastern U.S. (Harvard Forest), southern Chile, the Amazon, and Central America. The TM scenes were atmospherically corrected and reduced to MODIS surface reflectance data at 250 m pixel sizes. Various vegetation indices (VIs) were then computed including the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), simple ratio, soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI), enhanced vegetation index (EVI), and green vegetation index (GVI). The NDVI was also tested utilizing the green and middle-infrared (MIR) bands. All of the NDVIs were non-linear and were fairly saturated across the forested biomes. In contrast, the remaining indices remained sensitive to canopy structure variations over all of the forested biomes with minimal saturation problems. The high `penetrating' capability of the near:infrared band through forested canopies was the dominant factor in vegetation index sensitivity and performance. We found that indices with higher weighing coefficients in the `near-infrared' to be the best approach in extending vegetation index performance over forested and dense vegetated canopies.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0030648576&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0030648576&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:0030648576
VL - 4
SP - 1966
EP - 1968
BT - International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS)
A2 - Anon, null
PB - IEEE
ER -