Spatial analysis of radiometric fractions from high-resolution multispectral imagery for modelling individual tree crown and forest canopy structure and health

Research was conducted in a forest adjacent to an abandoned acid mine tailings site to assess forest structural health using high spatial and spectral resolution digital camera imagery. Conventional approaches to this problem involve the use image spectral information, basic spectral transformations, or occasionally spatial transformations of image brightness. This research introduces fractional textures and semivariance analysis of image fractions. They were integrated with conventional image measures in stepwise multiple regression modelling of forest structure (canopy and crown closure, stem density, tree height, crown size) and health (a visual stress index). The goal was to conduct a relative comparison of the potential of the various image variable types in modelling of forest structure and health. Analysis was conducted for both canopy (crowns and shadows) and individual tree crown sample data sets extracted from 10 nm bandwidth spectral bands at three resolutions (0.25, 0.5, 1.0 m). Spatial transformations (texture, semivariogram range) of image brightness (DN) and image fractions (IF) were consistently the most significant and first entered variables in the best models of the forest parameters. At the canopy-scale, despite a limited number of available plots (6), stable models were produced that demonstrated the potential for spatially transformed variables. Semivariogram range explained 88% of the total variation of 9 of the 18 models and represented 56% of the variables used in all models while texture variables explained 51% of model variance in 8 of the 18 models and represented 40% of the variables used. At the tree crown scale (n = 31), 88% of the total variation of six of eight models was explained by texture variables and 6% by semivariogram variables. DN and IF variables that were not spatially transformed contributed little to the models at both scales. They represented 4% and 6%, respectively, of the variables used in all models. Spatial information in image fractions and image brightness has proven to be more significant than spectral information in these analyses. Of the spatial resolutions evaluated, 0.5 m consistently produced similar or better models than those using the 0.25 or 1.0 m resolutions. These results demonstrate the potential for integration of spatial transforms of image fractions and raw brightness in high-resolution modelling of forest structure and health. D 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.