Modelling high arctic percent vegetation cover using field digital images and high resolution satellite data

International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation

Volumn 52, Issue , 2016, Pages 445-456

  Liu, Nanfeng ^a   Treitz, Paul ^a  

^a QUEEN S UNIVERSITY   (Canada)

Author keywords

Arctic vegetation; Camera; Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI); Object based image analysis (OBIA); Percent vegetation cover (PVC)

Indexed keywords

DIGITAL IMAGE; IMAGE ANALYSIS; MODELING; NDVI; RESOLUTION; SATELLITE DATA; VEGETATION COVER;

ARCTIC;

BRYOPHYTA; CAREX;

EID: 84997765978     PISSN: 15698432     EISSN: 1872826X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.jag.2016.06.023     Document Type: Article

References (74)

1. Atkinson, D.M., Treitz, P., Modeling biophysical variables across an arctic latitudinal gradient using high spatial resolution remote sensing data. Arct. Antarct. Alp. Res. 45 (2013), 161–178, 10.1657/1938-4246-45.2.161.
2. Barbour, M.G., Burk, J.H., Pitts, W.D., Terrestrial Plant Ecology. 1980, Benjamin/Cummings, Menlo Park, California.
3. Benz, U.C., Hofmann, P., Willhauck, G., Lingenfelder, I., Heynen, M., Multi-resolution, object-oriented fuzzy analysis of remote sensing data for GIS-ready information. ISPRS J. Photogramm. Remote Sens. 58 (2004), 239–258, 10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2003.10.002.
4. Bonfils, C.J.W., Phillips, T.J., Lawrence, D.M., Cameron-Smith, P., Riley, W.J., Subin, Z.M., On the influence of shrub height and expansion on northern high latitude climate. Environ. Res. Lett., 7, 2012, 15503.
5. Bonham, C.D., Measurements for Terrestrial Vegetation. second edition, 2013, John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex.
6. Brovkin, V., Boysen, L., Raddatz, T., Gayler, V., Loew, A., Claussen, M., Evaluation of vegetation cover and land-surface albedo in MPI-ESM CMIP5 simulations. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst. 5 (2013), 48–57, 10.1029/2012MS000169.
7. Buus-Hinkler, J., Hansen, B.U., Tamstorf, M.P., Pedersen, S.B., Snow-vegetation relations in a High Arctic ecosystem: inter-annual variability inferred from new monitoring and modeling concepts. Remote Sens. Environ. 105 (2006), 237–247, 10.1016/j.rse.2006.06.016.
8. Case, J.L., LaFontaine, F.J., Bell, J.R., Jedlovec, G.J., Kumar, S.V., Peters-Lidard, C.D., A real-time MODIS vegetation product for land surface and numerical weather prediction models. IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens. 52 (2014), 1772–1786, 10.1109/TGRS.2013.2255059.
9. Chapin, F.S. III, Sturm, M., Serreze, M.C., McFadden, J.P., Key, J.R., Lloyd, A.H., McGuire, A.D., Rupp, T.S., Lynch, A.H., Schimel, J.P., Beringer, J., Chapman, W.L., Epstein, H.E., Euskirchen, E.S., Hinzman, L.D., Jia, G., Ping, C.-L., Tape, K.D., Thompson, C.D.C., Walker, D.A., Welker, J.M., Role of land-surface changes in Arctic summer warming. Science 310 (2005), 657–660, 10.1126/science.1117368.
10. Chen, W., Wang, J., Li, J., Zhang, Y., Zhang, Y., Zhou, F., Koehler, K., Leblanc, S., Fraser, R., Olthof, I., Relating biomass and leaf area index to non-destructive measurements in order to monitor changes in arctic vegetation. Arctic 62 (2009), 281–294.
11. Chen, Z., Chen, W., Leblanc, S.G., Henry, G.H.R., Digital photograph analysis for measuring percent plant cover in the Arctic. Arctic 63 (2010), 315–326.
12. Cho, M.A., Mathieu, R., Asner, G.P., Naidoo, L., van Aardt, J., Ramoelo, A., Debba, P., Wessels, K., Main, R., Smit, I.P.J., Erasmus, B., Mapping tree species composition in South African savannas using an integrated airborne spectral and LiDAR system. Remote Sens. Environ. 125 (2012), 214–226, 10.1016/j.rse.2012.07.010.
13. Edlund, S.E., The distribution of plant communities on Melville Island, Arctic Canada. Christie, R.L., McMillan, N.J., (eds.) The Geology of Melville Island, Arctic Canada, 1993, Geological Survey of Canada, 247–255.
14. Elmendorf, S.C., Henry, G.H.R., Hollister, R.D., Björk, R.G., Boulanger-Lapointe, N., Cooper, E.J., Cornelissen, J.H.C., Day, T.A., Dorrepaal, E., Elumeeva, T.G., Gill, M., Gould, W.A., Harte, J., Hik, D.S., Hofgaard, A., Johnson, D.R., Johnstone, J.F., Jónsdóttir, I.S., Jorgenson, J.C., Klanderud, K., Klein, J.A., Koh, S., Kudo, G., Lara, M., Lévesque, E., Magnússon, B., May, J.L., Mercado-Dı×az, J.A., Michelsen, A., Molau, U., Myers-Smith, I.H., Oberbauer, S.F., Onipchenko, V.G., Rixen, C., Martin Schmidt, N., Shaver, G.R., Spasojevic, M.J., Þórhallsdóttir, Þ.E., Tolvanen, A., Troxler, T., Tweedie, C.E., Villareal, S., Wahren, C.-H., Walker, X., Webber, P.J., Welker, J.M., Wipf, S., Plot-scale evidence of tundra vegetation change and links to recent summer warming. Nat. Clim. Change 2 (2012), 453–457, 10.1038/nclimate1465.
15. Evans, T.L., Costa, M., Landcover classification of the lower nhecolândia subregion of the Brazilian Pantanal wetlands using ALOS/PALSAR, RADARSAT-2 and ENVISAT/ASAR imagery. Remote Sens. Environ. 128 (2013), 118–137, 10.1016/j.rse.2012.09.022.
16. Forbes, B.C., Fauria, M.M., Zetterberg, P., Russian Arctic warming and greening are closely tracked by tundra shrub willows. Glob. Change Biol. 16 (2010), 1542–1554, 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.02047.x.
17. Frost, G.V., Epstein, H.E., Tall shrub and tree expansion in Siberian tundra ecotones since the 1960. Glob. Change Biol. 20 (2014), 1264–1277, 10.1111/gcb.12406.
18. Gamon, J.A., Huemmrich, K.F., Stone, R.S., Tweedie, C.E., Remote sensing of environment spatial and temporal variation in primary productivity (NDVI) of coastal Alaskan tundra: decreased vegetation growth following earlier snowmelt. Remote Sens. Environ. 129 (2013), 144–153, 10.1016/j.rse.2012.10.030.
19. Gessner, U., Machwitz, M., Conrad, C., Dech, S., Estimating the fractional cover of growth forms and bare surface in savannas. A multi-resolution approach based on regression tree ensembles. Remote Sens. Environ. 129 (2013), 90–102, 10.1016/j.rse.2012.10.026.
20. Ghosh, A., Joshi, P.K., A comparison of selected classification algorithms for mapping bamboo patches in lower Gangetic plains using very high resolution WorldView 2 imagery. Int. J. Appl. Earth Obs. Geoinf. 26 (2014), 298–311, 10.1016/j.jag.2013.08.011.
21. Gitelson, A.A., Kaufman, Y.J., Stark, R., Rundquist, D., Novel algorithms for remote estimation of vegetation fraction. Remote Sens. Environ. 80 (2002), 76–87, 10.1016/S0034-4257(01)00289-9.
22. Gitelson, A.a., Remote estimation of crop fractional vegetation cover: the use of noise equivalent as an indicator of performance of vegetation indices. Int. J. Remote Sens. 34 (2013), 6054–6066, 10.1080/01431161.2013.793868.
23. Gong, P., Pu, R., Yu, B., Conifer species recognition: an exploratory analysis of in situ hyperspectral data. Remote Sens. Environ., 1997, 10.1016/s0034-4257(97)00094-1.
24. Greaves, H.E., Vierling, L.A., Eitel, J.U.H., Boelman, N.T., Magney, T.S., Prager, C.M., Griffin, K.L., Estimating aboveground biomass and leaf area of low-stature Arctic shrubs with terrestrial LiDAR. Remote Sens. Environ. 164 (2015), 26–35, 10.1016/j.rse.2015.02.023.
25. Gregory, F.M., Biophysical Remote Sensing and Terrestrial CO2 Exchange at Cape Bounty, Melville Island. 2011, Dep. Geogr. Queen's University, Kingston, ON.
26. Gutman, G., Ignatov, A., The derivation of the green vegetation fraction from NOAA/AVHRR data for use in numerical weather prediction models. Int. J. Remote Sens. 19 (1998), 1533–1543, 10.1080/014311698215333.
27. Hodgson, D.A., Vincent, J.-S., Fyles, J.G., Quaternary Geology of Central Melville Island, Northwest Territories. 1984, Geological Survey of Canada, 10.4095/119784.
28. Hope, A.S., Kimball, J.S., Stow, D.A., The relationship between tussock tundra spectral reflectance properties and biomass and vegetation composition. Int. J. Remote Sens. 14 (1993), 1861–1874, 10.1080/01431169308954008.
29. Hudson, J.M.G., Henry, G.H.R., Increased plant biomass in a high arctic heath community from 1981 to 2008. Ecology 90 (2009), 2657–2663, 10.1890/09-0102.1.
30. Huemmrich, K.F., Gamon, J.A., Tweedie, C.E., Oberbauer, S.F., Kinoshita, G., Houston, S., Kuchy, A., Hollister, R.D., Kwon, H., Mano, M., Harazono, Y., Webber, P.J., Oechel, W.C., Remote sensing of tundra gross ecosystem productivity and light use efficiency under varying temperature and moisture conditions. Remote Sens. Environ. 114 (2010), 481–489, 10.1016/j.rse.2009.10.003.
31. Huete, A., A soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI). Remote Sens. Environ., 1988, 10.1016/0034-4257(88)90106-x.
32. Jensen, J.R., Introductory Digital Image Processing: A Remote Sensing Perspective. third edition, 2005, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, N.J.
33. Juszak, I., Erb, A.M., Maximov, T.C., Schaepman-Strub, G., Arctic shrub effects on NDVI, summer albedo and soil shading. Remote Sens. Environ. 153 (2014), 79–89, 10.1016/j.rse.2014.07.021.
34. Kushida, K., Kim, Y., Tsuyuzaki, S., Fukuda, M., Spectral vegetation indices for estimating shrub cover, green phytomass and leaf turnover in a sedge-shrub tundra. Int. J. Remote Sens. 30 (2009), 1651–1658, 10.1080/01431160802502632.
35. Laidler, G.J., Treitz, P.M., Atkinson, D.M., Remote sensing of Arctic vegetation: relations between the NDVI, spatial resolution and vegetation cover on Boothia Peninsula, Nunavut. Arctic 61 (2008), 1–13.
36. Laliberte, A.S., Rango, A., Herrick, J.E., Fredrickson, E.L., Burkett, L., An object-based image analysis approach for determining fractional cover of senescent and green vegetation with digital plot photography. J. Arid Environ. 69 (2007), 1–14, 10.1016/j.jaridenv.2006.08.016.
37. Laliberte, A.S., Acquisition orthorectification, and object-based classification of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery for rangeland monitoring. Photogramm. Eng. Remote Sens. 76 (2010), 661–672.
38. Lane, C., Liu, H., Autrey, B., Anenkhonov, O., Chepinoga, V., Wu, Q., Improved wetland classification using eight-band high resolution satellite imagery and a hybrid approach. Remote Sens. 6 (2014), 12187–12216, 10.3390/rs61212187.
39. Leblanc, S.G., Chen, W., Maloley, M., NDVI digital camera for monitoring arctic vegetation. IEEE International Geoscience & Remote Sensing Symposium and 35th Canadian Symposium on Remote Sensing, Quebec City, 2014.
40. Liu, Y., Mu, X., Wang, H., Yan, G., A novel method for extracting green fractional vegetation cover from digital images. J. Veg. Sci. 23 (2012), 406–418, 10.1111/j.1654-1103.2011.01373.x.
41. Luscier, J.D., Thompson, W.L., Wilson, J.M., Gorham, B.E., Dragut, L.D., Using digital photographs and object-based image analysis to estimate percent ground cover in vegetation plots. Front. Ecol. Environ. 4 (2006), 408–413, 10.1890/1540-9295(2006)4[408:UDPAOI]2.0.CO;2.
42. Marchisio, G., Pacifici, F., Padwick, C., On the relative predictive value of the new spectral bands in the WorldWiew-2 sensor. 2010 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium. IEEE, 2010, 2723–2726, 10.1109/IGARSS.2010.5649771.
43. Martin, C.E., Adamson, V.J., Photosynthetic capacity of mosses relative to vascular plants. J. Bryol. 23 (2001), 319–323.
44. Mirik, M., Ansley, R.J., Comparison of ground-measured and image-classified mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) canopy cover. Rangel. Ecol. Manag., 2012, 10.2111/rem-d-11-00073.1.
45. Molau, U., Mølgaard, P., ITEX Manual. second edition, 1996, Danish Polar Centre, Copenhagen.
46. Nelson, P.R., Roland, C., Macander, M.J., McCune, B., Detecting continuous lichen abundance for mapping winter caribou forage at landscape spatial scales. Remote Sens. Environ. 137 (2013), 43–54, 10.1016/j.rse.2013.05.026.
47. Olthof, I., Fraser, R.H., Mapping northern land cover fractions using Landsat ETM+. Remote Sens. Environ. 107 (2007), 496–509, 10.1016/j.rse.2006.10.009.
48. Pearson, R.G., Phillips, S.J., Loranty, M.M., Beck, P.S.a., Damoulas, T., Knight, S.J., Goetz, S.J., Shifts in Arctic vegetation and associated feedbacks under climate change. Nat. Clim. Change 3 (2013), 673–677, 10.1038/nclimate1858.
49. Pu, R., Broadleaf species recognition with in situ hyperspectral data. Int. J. Remote Sens., 2009, 10.1080/01431160802555820.
50. Puma, I.P., Philippi, La, Oberbauer, T.E., Relating NDVI to ecosystem CO2 exchange patterns in response to season length and soil warming manipulations in Arctic. Alaska 109 (2007), 225–236, 10.1016/j.rse.2007.01.001.
51. Purevdorj, T., Tateishi, R., Ishiyama, T., Honda, Y., Relationships between percent vegetation cover and vegetation indices. Int. J. Remote Sens. 19 (1998), 3519–3535, 10.1080/014311698213795.
52. Qi, J., Chehbouni, A., Huete, A.R., Kerr, Y.H., Sorooshian, S., A modified soil adjusted vegetation index. Remote Sens. Environ. 48 (1994), 119–126, 10.1016/0034-4257(94)90134-1.
53. Raynolds, M.K., Walker, D.A., Maier, H.A., NDVI patterns and phytomass distribution in the circumpolar Arctic. Remote Sens. Environ. 102 (2006), 271–281, 10.1016/j.rse.2006.02.016.
54. Sakamoto, T., Gitelson, A.A., Nguy-Robertson, A.L., Arkebauer, T.J., Wardlow, B.D., Suyker, A.E., Verma, S.B., Shibayama, M., An alternative method using digital cameras for continuous monitoring of crop status. Agric. For. Meteorol. 154–155 (2012), 113–126, 10.1016/j.agrformet.2011.10.014.
55. Seefeldt, S.S., Booth, D.T., Measuring plant cover in sagebrush steppe rangelands: a comparison of methods. Environ. Manage. 37 (2006), 703–711, 10.1007/s00267-005-0016-6.
56. Selkowitz, D.J., A comparison of multi-spectral, multi-angular, and multi-temporal remote sensing datasets for fractional shrub canopy mapping in Arctic Alaska. Remote Sens. Environ. 114 (2010), 1338–1352, 10.1016/j.rse.2010.01.012.
57. Sharp, E.D., Sullivan, P.F., Steltzer, H., Csank, A.Z., Welker, J.M., Complex carbon cycle responses to multi-level warming and supplemental summer rain in the high Arctic. Glob. Change Biol. 19 (2013), 1780–1792, 10.1111/gcb.12149.
58. Somers, B., Asner, G.P., Tits, L., Coppin, P., Endmember variability in spectral mixture analysis: a review. Remote Sens. Environ., 2011, 10.1016/j.rse.2011.03.003.
59. Song, C., Spectral mixture analysis for subpixel vegetation fractions in the urban environment: how to incorporate endmember variability?. Remote Sens. Environ. 95 (2005), 248–263, 10.1016/j.rse.2005.01.002.
60. Sturm, M., Racine, C., Tape, K., Climate change. Increasing shrub abundance in the Arctic. Nature 411 (2001), 546–547, 10.1038/35079180.
61. Sweet, S.K., Asmus, A., Rich, M.E., Wingfield, J., Gough, L., Boelman, N.T., NDVI as a predictor of canopy arthropod biomass in the Alaskan arctic tundra. Ecol. Appl. 25 (2014), 779–790, 10.1890/14-0632.1.
62. Tape, K.D., Hallinger, M., Welker, J.M., Ruess, R.W., Landscape heterogeneity of shrub expansion in Arctic Alaska. Ecosystems 15 (2012), 711–724, 10.1007/s10021-012-9540-4.
63. Thorp, K.R., French, A.N., Rango, A., Effect of image spatial and spectral characteristics on mapping semi-arid rangeland vegetation using multiple endmember spectral mixture analysis (MESMA). Remote Sens. Environ. 132 (2013), 120–130, 10.1016/j.rse.2013.01.008.
64. Tremblay, B., Lévesque, E., Boudreau, S., Recent expansion of erect shrubs in the Low Arctic: evidence from Eastern Nunavik. Environ. Res. Lett., 7, 2012, 35501, 10.1088/1748-9326/7/3/035501.
65. Vanha-Majamaa, I., Salemaa, M., Tuominen, S., Mikkola, K., Digitized photographs in vegetation analysis – a comparison of cover estimates. Appl. Veg. Sci. 3 (2000), 89–94, 10.2307/1478922.
66. Verbyla, D., The greening and browning of Alaska based on 1982–2003 satellite data. Glob. Ecol. Biogeogr. 17 (2008), 547–555, 10.1111/j.1466-8238.2008.00396.x.
67. Wahren, C.H.A., Walker, M.D., Bret-Harte, M.S., Vegetation responses in Alaskan arctic tundra after 8 years of a summer warming and winter snow manipulation experiment. Glob. Change Biol. 11 (2005), 537–552, 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2005.00927.x.
68. Walker, D.A., Raynolds, M.K., Daniëls, F.J.A., Einarsson, E., Elvebakk, A., Gould, W.A., Katenin, A.E., Kholod, S.S., Markon, C.J., Melnikov, E.S., Moskalenko, N.G., Talbot, S.S., Yurtsev, B.A., The circumpolar Arctic vegetation map. J. Veg. Sci. 16 (2005), 267–282, 10.1111/j.1654-1103.2005.tb02365.x.
69. Walker, M.D., Wahren, C.H., Hollister, R.D., Henry, G.H.R., Ahlquist, L.E., Alatalo, J.M., Bret-Harte, M.S., Calef, M.P., Callaghan, T.V., Carroll, A.B., Epstein, H.E., Jonsdottir, I.S., Klein, J.A., Magnusson, B., Molau, U., Oberbauer, S.F., Rewa, S.P., Robinson, C.H., Shaver, G.R., Suding, K.N., Thompson, C.C., Tolvanen, A., Totland, O., Turner, P.L., Tweedie, C.E., Webber, P.J., Wookey, P.A., Plant community responses to experimental warming across the tundra biome. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 103 (2006), 1342–1346, 10.1073/pnas.0503198103.
70. White, M.A., Asner, G.P., Nemani, R.R., Privette, J.L., Running, S.W., Measuring fractional cover and leaf area index in arid ecosystems: digital camera, radiation transmittance, and laser altimetry methods. Remote Sens. Environ. 74 (2000), 45–57, 10.1016/S0034-4257(00)00119-X.
71. Zeng, X., Dickinson, R.E., Walker, A., Shaikh, M., DeFries, R.S., Qi, J., Derivation and evaluation of global 1-km fractional vegetation cover data for land modeling. J. Appl. Meteorol. 39 (2000), 826–839, 10.1175/1520-0450(2000)039<0826:DAEOGK>2.0.CO;2.
72. Zengeya, F.M., Mutanga, O., Murwira, A., Linking remotely sensed forage quality estimates from WorldView-2 multispectral data with cattle distribution in a savanna landscape. Int. J. Appl. Earth Obs. Geoinf. 21 (2013), 513–524, 10.1016/j.jag.2012.07.008.
73. Zhang, X., Liao, C., Li, J., Sun, Q., Fractional vegetation cover estimation in arid and semi-arid environments using: HJ-1 satellite hyperspectral data. Int. J. Appl. Earth Obs. Geoinf. 21 (2012), 506–512, 10.1016/j.jag.2012.07.003.
74. Zhou, Q., Robson, M., Automated rangeland vegetation cover and density estimation using ground digital images and a spectral-contextual classifier. Int. J. Remote Sens. 22 (2001), 3457–3470, 10.1080/01431160010004504.