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Articles 1 - 7 of 7
Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Automated Tree Mortality Detection Using Ubiquitously Available Public Data, Michael T. Huggins
Automated Tree Mortality Detection Using Ubiquitously Available Public Data, Michael T. Huggins
Master's Theses
Understanding the dynamic interplay between fire severity, topography, and tree mortality, is crucial for predicting future forest dynamics and enhancing resilience against climate change-induced wildfire regimes. This thesis develops a multi-sensor approach for automated estimation of tree mortality, then applies it to examine trends in tree mortality over a six-year period across a fire affected study site in the Trinity River basin in Northern California. The Random Forest model uses publicly available USGS 3D Elevation Program Lidar (3DEP) and NAIP imagery as inputs and is likely to be easily adaptable to other landscapes. The model had a Receiver Operating Characteristic …
Lidar-Landsat Covariance For Predicting Canopy Fuels, Margaret D. Epstein
Lidar-Landsat Covariance For Predicting Canopy Fuels, Margaret D. Epstein
Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers
Managing wildfires in the western United States is becoming increasingly complex. Visualizing and quantifying canopy structures allows fire managers to both plan for fire and track recovery. Light detecting and ranging, or LiDAR can measure forests in three dimensions, but has limited spatial and temporal coverage. LiDAR-Landsat covariance uses machine learning to fill in the spatial and temporal gaps of LiDAR coverage with supplemental Landsat imagery. However, in order to capture real forest dynamics, a model needs to be stable enough to detect long term trends, sensitive to episodic disturbance, and general enough to work on multiple landcovers. The purpose …
Longleaf Pine Restoration In The South Carolina Sandhills Wiregrass Gap, Jacob W. Murray
Longleaf Pine Restoration In The South Carolina Sandhills Wiregrass Gap, Jacob W. Murray
All Theses
Longleaf pine restoration has been a topic of great concern and intrigue in the southeast and has taken on new fervor in recent decades as restoration methods continue to develop. Many landowners and forest managers are now pursuing ecological forestry and restoration ecology in great numbers as a new form of land management. However, niche regions can often be overlooked, as is the case with the Carolina Sandhills Wiregrass Gap, an area devoid of wiregrass and one that is on the outskirt regions of the historical longleaf pine range. Field studies were conducted pre- and post-harvest during two growing seasons …
Modeling The Response Of Black Walnut -Dominant Mixed Hardwoods To Seasonal Climate Effects With Uav-Based Hyperspectral Sensor And Aerial Photogrammetry, Tyler G. Bradford
Modeling The Response Of Black Walnut -Dominant Mixed Hardwoods To Seasonal Climate Effects With Uav-Based Hyperspectral Sensor And Aerial Photogrammetry, Tyler G. Bradford
MSU Graduate Theses
The development of compact sensors in recent years has inspired the use of UAS-based hyperspectral and aerial imaging techniques for small-scale remote sensing applications. With increasing concerns about climate change, spectrally-derived vegetation indices (VIs) have proven useful for quantifying stress-induced vegetation response. The goal of this study was to develop predictive models and assess methodology for modeling the biological response of a black walnut -dominant mixed hardwood stand to seasonal climate events using UAV-based hyperspectral remote-sensing. The derived VIs were evaluated against the means of four seasonal measures of climate calculated for a two-week period prior to the flight date. …
A Quantitative Analysis Of The Effects Of Urbanization, Mesophication And Prescribed Burns On Oak Woodlands In The Chicago Metropolitan Area, Chad Populorum
A Quantitative Analysis Of The Effects Of Urbanization, Mesophication And Prescribed Burns On Oak Woodlands In The Chicago Metropolitan Area, Chad Populorum
Celebration of Learning
Urban expansion has had devastating impacts on forest ecosystems, especially within the past century. Human attempts to dominate nature have diminished natural disturbance regimes, which have maintained the biodiversity and historic composition of these ecosystems. Fires have been a prominent force in maintaining the structure of oak, hickory and other heliophytic (sun loving and fire-adapted) forest systems. Human induced fire suppression has led to mesophication across North America. Mesophication is the transition from drier conditions with open canopies to wetter conditions with closed canopies. These new conditions decrease the survival rates of these important species and begin to favor mesophytic …
Effect Of Forest Vegetation On Nest-Site Selection By Spruce Grouse Across Two Spatial Scales, Nathaniel Scott Parkhill
Effect Of Forest Vegetation On Nest-Site Selection By Spruce Grouse Across Two Spatial Scales, Nathaniel Scott Parkhill
Honors College
The spruce grouse (Falcipennis canadensis) is a gallinaceous bird that is threatened or endangered throughout much of the southeastern limit of its range. Generally associated with short-needled conifer forests like those characteristic of northern Maine, this species may be particularly sensitive to recent changes in timber harvesting practices. I examined nest-site selection to better understand spruce grouse habitat associations in northern Maine. In the summer of 2013, I located the nests of 12 female spruce grouse in commercially-managed forests of north-central Maine. I measured vegetation characteristics at nests and at sampling points 30 meters from nests, as well …
Classification Of Plot-Level Fire-Caused Tree Mortality In A Redwood Forest Using Digital Orthophotography And Lidar, Brian David Bishop
Classification Of Plot-Level Fire-Caused Tree Mortality In A Redwood Forest Using Digital Orthophotography And Lidar, Brian David Bishop
Master's Theses
Swanton Pacific Ranch is an approximately 1,300 ha working ranch and forest in northern Santa Cruz County, California, managed by California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly). On August 12, 2009, the Lockheed Fire burned 300 ha of forestland, 51% of the forested area on the property, with variable fire intensity and mortality. This study used existing inventory data from 47 permanent 0.08 ha (1/5 ac) plots to compare the accuracy of classifying mortality resulting from the fire using digital multispectral imagery and LiDAR. The percent mortality of trees at least 25.4 cm (10”) DBH was aggregated to …