Advanced land observing satellite data to identify ground vegetation in a juniper forest, northeast Iran

Abstract

Juniperus excelsa subsp. polycarpos, (Persian juniper), is found in northeast Iran. In this study, the relationship between ground cover and vegetation indices have been investigated using remote sensing data for a Persian juniper forest. Multispectral data were analyzed based on the Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer type 2 and panchromatic data obtained by the Panchromatic Remote-sensing Instrument for Stereo Mapping sensors, both on board the advanced land observing satellite (ALOS). The ground cover was calculated using field survey data from 25 sub-sample plots and the vegetation indices were derived with 5 × 5 maximum filtering algorithm from ALOS data. R ² values were calculated for the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and various soil-adjusted vegetation indices (SAVI) with soil-brightness-dependent correction factors equal to 1 and 0.5, a modified SAVI (MSAVI) and an optimized SAVI (OSAVI). R ² values for the NDVI, MSAVI, OSAVI, SAVI (1), and SAVI (0.5) were 0.566, 0.545, 0.619, 0.603, and 0.607, respectively. Total ratio vegetation index for arid and semi-arid regions based on spectral wavelengths of ALOS data with an R ² value 0.633 was considered. Results of the current study will be useful for forest inventories in arid and semi-arid regions in addition to assisting decision-making for natural resource managers.

Keywords

Ground cover / Juniperus excelsa subsp. polycarpos / Vegetation indices / Advanced land observing satellite (ALOS)

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