Chlorophyll Determination in Silver Birch and Scots Pine Foliage from Hyperspectral Data

Silver Birch (Betula pendula Roth), a pioneer tree species, and Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) used for revegetation are typical tree species in the mine reclamation area of the Sokolov Basin (West Bohemia, the Czech Republic). Chlorophyll content in their foliage can be used as one of the indicators of tree stress caused by adverse soil conditions with heavy metal contamination being the major stress factor. In August 2010 hyperspectral images with resolution of 5×5 m were acquired with the HyMap sensor. In selected areas, samples of leaves and needles were collected and their spectral reflectance curves were measured with an ASD FieldSpec 3 spectrometer using the contact probe. Spectral reflectance data were related to the chlorophyll content determined spectrophotometrically in laboratory using different spectral indices (MCARI, TCARI/OSAVI, mNDVI705, ANMB650–725) already successfully applied for other tree species in prior studies. Suitability of the indices is discussed for application on coniferous foliage of pine and broadleaved birch. The present work is a part of a study aiming to create a methodology for chlorophyll determination in silver Birch and Scots Pine from available hyperspectral data.