Using lidar and effective LAI data to evaluate IKONOS and Landsat 7 ETM+ vegetation cover estimates in a ponderosa pine forest

Abstract Structural and functional analyses of ecosystems benefit when high accuracy vegetation coverages can be derived over large areas. In this study, we utilize IKONOS, Landsat 7 ETM+, and airborne scanning light detection and ranging (lidar) to quantify coniferous forest and understory grass coverages in a ponderosa pine ( Pinus ponderosa ) dominated ecosystem in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Linear spectral mixture analyses of IKONOS and ETM+ data were used to isolate spectral endmembers (bare soil, understory grass, and tree/shade) and calculate their subpixel fractional coverages. We then compared these endmember cover estimates to similar cover estimates derived from lidar data and field measures. The IKONOS-derived tree/shade fraction was significantly correlated with the field-measured canopy effective leaf area index (LAI e ) ( r 2 =0.55, p r 2 =0.79, p r 2 =0.30, r =−0.55 and r 2 =0.41, r =−0.64, respectively; p r 2 =0.99, p r 2 =0.77, p r 2 =0.58, p r 2 =0.66, p