The modern possibilities of Earth remote sensing (RS) allows one to observe vegetation not only during the growing season, but also at calm, under snow cover. Due to the masking and contrasting effects caused by the existence of snow cover under the forest canopy, visual ranged data are of particular importance for assessing such biophysical parameters of the forest as, for example, canopy cover, height, wood stock, biomass, etc. Field data are used to assess the canopy cover.
The Computer Technologies and Modeling Group of the Institute of Biology of the Komi National Research Center of the Ural Branch of the RAS uses an integrated approach to assess canopy cover, including remote and field measurements. The open field season this year at the Lyalsky test site was marked by a visit to 10 test points, where more than 30 measurements of canopy cover were made by photographic method using a “Fish Eye” lens.
“10 years of experience in measuring canopy cover by the photographic method in our region suggests that April is the most profitable month for performing the study, since the snow “camouflage” cover is still preserved in the forest, while the ice crust has already formed, which is easy to move on snowshoes or skis. The Department Forest Science of the Institute provides measurements at the Lyalsky test site all year, so their infrastructure has noticeably simplified movement and orientation between test points inside the test site ”, – concluded the team lead, Ph’D, Elsakov Vladimir.
