A Total Ratio of Vegetation Index (TRVI) for Shrubs Sparse Cover Delineating in Open Woodland

Persian juniper and Pistachio are grown in low density in the rangelands of North-East of Iran. These rangelands are populated by evergreen conifers, which are widespread and present at low-density and sparse shrub of pistachio in Iran, that are not only environmentally but also genetically essential as seed sources for pistachio improvement in orchards. Rangelands offer excellent opportunities for remote-sensing-based inventories; detection of each shrub using very high-resolution satellite data is typically easier in sparse rangelands where the distance between shrubs exceeds the height of trees. In this study, the densities of juniper and natural pistachio shrubs were estimated using remote sensing to help the sustainable management and production of pistachio in this rangeland. Satellite imagery was acquired in July 2008 by Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS). A vegetation index including Total Ratio Vegetation Index (TRVI) was introduced for these rangelands with sparse shrub cover, and the relationship between the new index and shrub density was investigated by the data of ALOS using 3×3 and 5×5 maximum filtering algorithms in the summer of 2011. The results showed that the distinguishing and estimating of tree density in such an open woodland using maximum filtering 3×3 filtering algorithms were more effective than filtering on ALOS satellite imageries.