Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Cross-Scale Correlation Between In Situ Measurements Of Canopy Gap Fraction And Landsat-Derived Vegetation Indices With Implications For Monitoring The Seasonal Phenology In Tropical Forests Using Modis Data, Nicholas Cuba, John Rogan, Deborah Lawrence, Christopher A. Williams

Geography

Deciduousness in dry tropical forests results in substantial seasonal changes to canopy gap fractions. The characterization of such structural properties over large areas is necessary for understanding energy and nutrient distribution within forest ecosystems. However, a spatial extrapolation of measurements from relatively few, spatially-concentrated field observations can yield estimated values that have questionable accuracy and precision at regional scales. This paper uses linear regression models to compare measurements of canopy gap fraction from in situ digital cover photography in the dry tropical forest of the Southern Yucatán, Mexico, to measurements of seasonal vegetation change based on three vegetation indices-the Normalized …