NDVI RESPONSES TO THE FOREST CANOPY AND FLOOR IN EASTERN SIBERIA

  • Suzuki, Rikie (Frontier Research Center for Global Change, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology) ;
  • Kobayashi, Hideki (Frontier Research Center for Global Change, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology) ;
  • Delbart, Nicolas (Frontier Research Center for Global Change, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Centre d'Etudes Spatiales de la Biosphere (CNRS-IRD-CNES-UPS)) ;
  • Hiyama, Tetsuya (Hydrospheric Atmospheric Research Center, Nagoya University) ;
  • Asanuma, Jun (Terrestrial Environment Research Center, University of Tsukuba)
  • Published : 2007.10.31

Abstract

We discuss the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) of the forest canopy and floor separately based on airborne spectral reflectance measurements and simultaneous airborne land surface images acquired around Yakutsk, Siberia in 2000. The aerial land surface images were visually classified into four forest types: no-green canopy and snow floor (Type-1), green canopy and snow floor (Type-2), no-green canopy and no-snow floor (Type-3), and green canopy and no-snow floor (Type-4). The mean NDVI was calculated for these four types. Although Type-2 had green canopy, the NDVI was rather small (0.17) because of high reflection from the snow cover on the floor. Type-3, which had no green canopy, indicated considerably large NDVI (0.45) due to the greenness of the floor. Type-4 had the largest NDVI (0.75) because of the greenness of both the canopy and floor. These results reveal that the NDVI depends considerably on forest floor greenness and snow cover in addition to canopy greenness.

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