The Interplay between Canopy Structure and Topography and Its Impacts on Seasonal Variations in Surface Reflectance Patterns in the Boreal Region of Alaska—Implications for Surface Radiation Budget
Forests play an essential role in maintaining the Earth’s overall energy balance. The variability in forest canopy structure, topography, and underneath vegetation background conditions create uncertainty in modeling solar radiation at the Earth’s surface, particularly for boreal regions in high lat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-08-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/16/3108 |
| _version_ | 1797522202905542656 |
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| author | Bibhash Nath Wenge Ni-Meister |
| author_facet | Bibhash Nath Wenge Ni-Meister |
| author_sort | Bibhash Nath |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Forests play an essential role in maintaining the Earth’s overall energy balance. The variability in forest canopy structure, topography, and underneath vegetation background conditions create uncertainty in modeling solar radiation at the Earth’s surface, particularly for boreal regions in high latitude. The purpose of this study is to analyze seasonal variation in visible, near-infrared, and shortwave infrared reflectance with respect to land cover classes, canopy structures, and topography in a boreal region of Alaska. We accomplished this investigation by fusing Landsat 8 images and LiDAR-derived canopy structural data and multivariate statistical analysis. Our study shows that canopy structure and topography interplay and influence reflectance spectra in a complex way, particularly during the snow season. We observed that deciduous trees, also tall with greater rugosity, are more dominant on the southern slope than on the northern slope. Taller trees are typically seen in higher elevations regardless of vegetation types. Surface reflectance in all studied wavelengths shows similar relationships with canopy cover, height, and rugosity, mainly due to close connections between these parameters. Visible and near-infrared reflectance decreases with canopy cover, tree height, and rugosity, especially for the evergreen forest. Deciduous forest shows more considerable variability of surface reflectance in all studied wavelengths, particularly in March, mainly due to the mixing effect of snow and vegetation. The multivariate statistical analysis demonstrates a significant tree shadow effect on surface reflectance for evergreen forests. However, the topographic shadow effect is prominent for deciduous forests during the winter season. These results provide great insight into understanding the role of vegetation structure and topography in surface radiation budget in the boreal region. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:25:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2cb538f2b1fb4bb4b8070f2167635252 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:25:10Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-2cb538f2b1fb4bb4b8070f21676352522023-11-22T09:32:01ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922021-08-011316310810.3390/rs13163108The Interplay between Canopy Structure and Topography and Its Impacts on Seasonal Variations in Surface Reflectance Patterns in the Boreal Region of Alaska—Implications for Surface Radiation BudgetBibhash Nath0Wenge Ni-Meister1Department of Geography and Environmental Science, Hunter College of the City University of New York, New York, NY 10021, USADepartment of Geography and Environmental Science, Hunter College of the City University of New York, New York, NY 10021, USAForests play an essential role in maintaining the Earth’s overall energy balance. The variability in forest canopy structure, topography, and underneath vegetation background conditions create uncertainty in modeling solar radiation at the Earth’s surface, particularly for boreal regions in high latitude. The purpose of this study is to analyze seasonal variation in visible, near-infrared, and shortwave infrared reflectance with respect to land cover classes, canopy structures, and topography in a boreal region of Alaska. We accomplished this investigation by fusing Landsat 8 images and LiDAR-derived canopy structural data and multivariate statistical analysis. Our study shows that canopy structure and topography interplay and influence reflectance spectra in a complex way, particularly during the snow season. We observed that deciduous trees, also tall with greater rugosity, are more dominant on the southern slope than on the northern slope. Taller trees are typically seen in higher elevations regardless of vegetation types. Surface reflectance in all studied wavelengths shows similar relationships with canopy cover, height, and rugosity, mainly due to close connections between these parameters. Visible and near-infrared reflectance decreases with canopy cover, tree height, and rugosity, especially for the evergreen forest. Deciduous forest shows more considerable variability of surface reflectance in all studied wavelengths, particularly in March, mainly due to the mixing effect of snow and vegetation. The multivariate statistical analysis demonstrates a significant tree shadow effect on surface reflectance for evergreen forests. However, the topographic shadow effect is prominent for deciduous forests during the winter season. These results provide great insight into understanding the role of vegetation structure and topography in surface radiation budget in the boreal region.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/16/3108boreal forestLiDARLandsat 8surface reflectanceAlaska |
| spellingShingle | Bibhash Nath Wenge Ni-Meister The Interplay between Canopy Structure and Topography and Its Impacts on Seasonal Variations in Surface Reflectance Patterns in the Boreal Region of Alaska—Implications for Surface Radiation Budget Remote Sensing boreal forest LiDAR Landsat 8 surface reflectance Alaska |
| title | The Interplay between Canopy Structure and Topography and Its Impacts on Seasonal Variations in Surface Reflectance Patterns in the Boreal Region of Alaska—Implications for Surface Radiation Budget |
| title_full | The Interplay between Canopy Structure and Topography and Its Impacts on Seasonal Variations in Surface Reflectance Patterns in the Boreal Region of Alaska—Implications for Surface Radiation Budget |
| title_fullStr | The Interplay between Canopy Structure and Topography and Its Impacts on Seasonal Variations in Surface Reflectance Patterns in the Boreal Region of Alaska—Implications for Surface Radiation Budget |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Interplay between Canopy Structure and Topography and Its Impacts on Seasonal Variations in Surface Reflectance Patterns in the Boreal Region of Alaska—Implications for Surface Radiation Budget |
| title_short | The Interplay between Canopy Structure and Topography and Its Impacts on Seasonal Variations in Surface Reflectance Patterns in the Boreal Region of Alaska—Implications for Surface Radiation Budget |
| title_sort | interplay between canopy structure and topography and its impacts on seasonal variations in surface reflectance patterns in the boreal region of alaska implications for surface radiation budget |
| topic | boreal forest LiDAR Landsat 8 surface reflectance Alaska |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/16/3108 |
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