An innovative use of orthophotos – possibilities to assess plant productivity from colour infrared aerial orthophotos

Abstract

Studies of ecological processes should focus on a relevant spatial scale, as crude spatial resolution will fail to detect small scale variation which is of potentially critical importance. Remote sensing methods based on multispectral satellite images are used to assess primary productivity and aerial photos to map vegetation structure. Both methods are based on the principle that photosynthetically active vegetation has a characteristic spectral signature. Yet they are applied differently due to technical differences. Satellite images are suitable for calculations of vegetation indices, for example Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Colour infrared aerial photography was developed for visual interpretation and never regarded for calculation of indices since the spectrum recorded and post processing differ from satellite images. With digital cameras and improved techniques for generating colour infrared orthophotos, the implications of these differences are uncertain and should be explored. We tested if plant productivity can be assessed using colour infrared aerial orthophotos (0.5 m resolution) by applying the standard NDVI equation. With 112 vegetation samples as ground truth, we evaluated an index that we denote rel‐NDVIortho in two areas of the Fennoscandian mountain tundra. We compared the results with conventional SPOT5 satellite‐based NDVI (10 m resolution). rel‐NDVIortho was related to plant productivity (Northern area: P = <0.001, R2 = 0.73; Southern area: P = <0.001, R2 = 0.39), performed similar to SPOT5 satellite NDVI (Northern area: P = <0.001, R2 = 0.76; Southern area: P = <0.001, R2 = 0.40) and the two methods were highly correlated (cor = 0.95 and cor = 0.84). Despite different plant composition, the results were consistent between areas. Our results suggest that vegetation indices based on colour infrared aerial orthophotos can be a valuable tool in the remote sensing toolbox, offering a high‐spatial resolution proxy for plant productivity with less signal degradation due to atmospheric interference and clouds, compared to satellite images. Further research should aim to investigate if the method is applicable to other ecosystems.

Abundance, predation, and habitat associations of lemming winter nests in northern Sweden

“…While we recognize that occasional isolated trees may have occurred above the tree line with this definition, we believe that it provides a robust estimate to the closest distance to forested habitats. To measure primary productivity, we used the same method developed and tested by Erlandsson et al (2019), which consists of computing the NDVI equation (Tucker, 1979) on color infrared orthophotos with a 0.5‐m spatial resolution (Denison et al, 1996; Erlandsson et al, 2019; Le Vaillant et al, 2018). This method has been used in previous studies in the area (Erlandsson et al, 2019; Le Vaillant et al, 2018; Stoessel et al, 2019).…”

“…To measure primary productivity, we used the same method developed and tested by Erlandsson et al (2019), which consists of computing the NDVI equation (Tucker, 1979) on color infrared orthophotos with a 0.5‐m spatial resolution (Denison et al, 1996; Erlandsson et al, 2019; Le Vaillant et al, 2018). This method has been used in previous studies in the area (Erlandsson et al, 2019; Le Vaillant et al, 2018; Stoessel et al, 2019). We obtained elevation from a digital elevation model (DEM) with a 2‐m resolution.…”

Cumulative production potential of quarries to supply crushed stone factories in Russia: An overview

“…Various scientific missions are successively being met using satellite imagery information [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. The basic and applied research school of the Siberian Federal University has effectively accomplished a next new project on determination of aggregate potential of all crushed stone factories in Russia using satellite data.…”

Coal-Fired Power Generation Facilities in the Republic of Laos Based on Satellite Imaging Data

“…Объекты угольной генерации электроэнергии в Республике Лаос по данным спутниковой съемки dOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18796/0041-5790-2022-10-77-80 За рУБЕжом спектр исследований значительно расширился, о чем свидетель ствуют работы российских и зарубежных исследователей [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. В исследовании промышленных объектов мировой топливно-энергетической отрасли с достаточной степенью точ ности наш коллектив также использует эти информационные ре сурсы, находящиеся в свободном доступе [9].…”