ESTIMATION OF FOREST STRUCTURAL PARAMETERS FOR FORESTRY AND KOALA HABITAT MONITORING IN SOUTH-EAST QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA

摘要

Accurate and repeatable measurement techniques for monitoring forest structure and condition at the scale of individual trees are fundamental requirements for groups concerned with forest ecosystems in Australia. The aims of this project were: (1) to determine the optimal spatial scale for tree cluster delineation/ classification; and (2) to utilise such information to optimise output from a geometrical-optical model of forest structural parameters at a regional scale. Multi-spectral image data were obtained from a DMSV (Digital Multi-Spectral Video) sensor, with 1.0m ground resolution elements, over Emu Creek State Forest in south-east Queensland. An optimal pixel size was identified where spectral variance was minimised within the limit of the most frequently occurring canopy dimensions. Total scene variance levels for different forest types calculated from the DMSV data were used to optimise a "tree-density" parameter in a geometric-optical model applied to a Landsat Thematic Mapper data set. The results were used to optimise tree cluster mapping and set a precedent for using samples from high-spatial resolution image data to optimise models implemented at moderate spatial resolution.