Process / pipelineForest structure assessment and remote sensing
Canopy Cover Estimation
Canopy cover, or canopy closure, is the proportion of ground area covered by tree crowns when viewed from above, typically expressed as a percentage. Formalized by Jennings and colleagues in pioneering work on tropical forest structure, canopy cover estimation employs multiple methods—from field-based ocular assessment to sophisticated remote sensing and terrestrial LiDAR—providing essential data on forest structure, light availability, and habitat characteristics relevant to ecology, silviculture, and climate research.
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Sources
- Jennings, S. B., Brown, N. D., & Sheil, D. (2000). Assessing Forest Canopies and Understorey Illumination: Methods and Applications. Forest Ecology and Management, 129(1-3), 219–243. DOI: 10.1016/S0378-1127(99)00197-0 ↗
- Fiala, A. C. S., Garman, S. L., & Whissel, A. N. (2006). Comparison of Five Small-Footprint LiDAR Systems. Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing, 72(3), 339–354. DOI: 10.14358/PERS.72.3.339 ↗
- Moeslund, J. E., Arge, L., Bøcher, P. K., et al. (2013). Topographically Induced Variation in Vegetation Predicts Forest Growth. Journal of Biogeography, 40(12), 2379–2391. DOI: 10.1111/jbi.12182 ↗
- Cutler, D. R., Edwards, T. C., Beard, K. H., et al. (2012). Random Forests for Classification in Ecology. Ecology, 88(11), 2783–2792. DOI: 10.1890/07-0539.1 ↗