Following the appointment of the new Cabinet, the Forest Sector now reports to the ministère des Ressources naturelles et des Forêts, while the Wildlife and Parks Sectors report to the ministère de l'Environnement, de la Lutte aux changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs. Adjustments will be made to the website over time.

Back to publications

Forest attribute estimation of northeastern Canadian forests using Quickbird imagery and a shadow fraction method

Summary

Published in Forest Ecology and Management, vol. 266, p. 66-74.

This study demonstrates a method for mapping forest stand polygons based on four forest attributes (volume, basal area, height, and crown closure) using shadow fraction values that were estimated from high spatial resolution QuickBird panchromatic images. The method was tested over three test sites in northeastern Canada that were largely dominated by black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP). The method involved four sets of procedures: (i) estimating shadow fraction from the panchromatic band of QuickBird images; (ii) generating site-specific and global regression models linking shadow fraction with each of the four forest attributes; (iii) mapping the forest attributes as a grid layer (30 × 30 m) for each test site using the global regression models; and (iv) generating stand polygons from the raster layers. Between 2002 and 2004, 108 ground sample plots were acquired to develop local regression models.

Stand volume maps were produced using both the shadow fraction method and conventional forest stand maps (derived from aerial photo-interpretation) for a test site. Volume patterns were similar, and total volume for the test site differed by only 5.6% between the two maps. Lastly, the raster images derived from the shadow fraction method were used to produce a stand map following guidelines similar to those used by provincial inventory. In all cases, our results suggest that the shadow fraction method is a reliable and convenient way to map forest stand polygons and related attributes of black spruce stands in northeastern Canada.

Sector(s): 

Forests

Categorie(s): 

Scientific Article

Theme(s): 

Cartography and Data, Imaging and LiDAR

Departmental author(s): 

Leboeuf, Antoine

Author(s)

LEBOEUF, Antoine, Richard A. FOURNIER, Joan E. LUTHER, André BEAUDOIN and Luc GUINDON

Year of publication :

2012

How to get the publication :

PDF available upon request. Available at the Direction des inventaires forestiers

Keywords :

boreal forest, forest mapping, remote sensing, stand attributes, volume

Partagez