This page contains links to the field data collection protocols and supporting information for all TERN field calibration/validation datasets.
Airborne Hyperspectral and LiDAR data
Biomass Plot Library
Ground Lidar
Ground lidar, also known as Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS), is a ranging instrument that provides detailed 3D measurements directly related to the quantity and distribution of plant materials in the canopy. Measurements can be used for applications requiring quantification of vegetation structure parameters, tree and stand reconstruction, and terrain analysis.
Scans have been collected in Australia using two Riegl VZ400 waveform recording TLS instruments. One is co-owned and operated by the Remote Sensing Centre, Queensland Department of Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts (DSITIA) and the TERN Auscover Brisbane Node, University of Queensland. The second is owned and operated by Wageningen University, Netherlands. The field protocols are designed with these instruments in mind, however can be adapted to other TLS instruments.
Terrestrial Laser Scanner metadata
Terrestrial Laser Scanner protocol
Hemispherical Photography
Hemispherical photography has been used in studies of LAI, measuring canopy architecture of boreal forests, and the light environment in old growth temperate rain forests. Hemispherical photography can provide a number of structural measurements that can be used for calibration and validation of LiDAR derived products.
Hemispherical Photography metadata
Hemispherical Photography protocol
Hyperspectral Ground Calibration data
Field spectroradiometer measurements are collected to relate field based measurements to satellite data products (e.g. Landsat and MODIS NBAR products). For calibration and validation of at-surface reflectance of airborne hyper-spectral image data. Once the at-surface reflectance values of the hyper-spectral image data have been validated, the data can be used for up-scaling to medium spatial resolution Landsat and MODIS data for cal/val of NBAR products.
Hyperspectral Ground Calibration metadata
ASD Field Protocol - Ground Features
ASD Field Protocol - Calibration Targets
Documentation:
Leaf Area Index
Leaf Sampling
MicroTops Sunphotometer
The acquisition of sunphotometer measurements are critical to capture vital data on atmospheric properties during airborne hyperspectral imaging campaigns as well as for measurements coinciding with the overpass of satellite sensors. The atmospheric properties measured are used in atmospheric correction of the remotely sensed image data. This data is primarily for input into atmospheric correction systems. The MicroTops instruments referred to here capture solar radiance data in 5 wavelengths which are used to extract information on aerosol optical thickness and water vapour content. These two key parameters of interest are used as inputs for the atmospheric correction of remotely sensed image data.
Sunphotometer metadata
MicroTops Sunphotometer protocol
Pasture Biomass
Pasture Biomass field protocol.
SLATS Star Transects
The metric of overstorey vegetation cover adopted in many Australian vegetation classification frameworks is Foliage Projective Cover (FPC). FPC is defined as the vertically projected percentage cover of photosynthetic foliage of all strata, or equivalently, the fraction of the vertical view that is occluded by foliage. Overstorey FPC is defined as the vertically projected percentage cover of photosynthetic foliage from tree and shrub life forms greater than 2 m height and was the definition of woody vegetation cover adopted by SLATS. Overstorey FPC is one minus the gap probability at a zenith angle of zero and therefore it has a logarithmic relationship with effective leaf area index . Since Australian plant communities are dominated by trees and shrubs with sparse foliage and irregular crown shapes, overstorey FPC is a more suitable indicator of a plant community’s radiation interception and transpiration than crown cover.
Ground cover is the non-woody vegetation (forbs, grasses and herbs), litter, cryptogamic crusts and rock in contact with the soil surface. Ground cover changes in response to climate variables, vegetation dynamics and land management. Factors such as grazing pressure, tillage and stubble practices, drought and fire all affect ground cover. The quantity of ground cover affects water infiltration, runoff, erosion and carbon sequestration. It is a key indicator of land condition such as soil degradation, pasture production and biodiversity. Estimates of ground cover and changes in the quantity and spatial arrangement of ground cover over time provide land managers, policy-makers and scientists with valuable information for use in planning, monitoring and modelling applications.
FPC and Ground cover can be monitored using remote sensing. From a remote sensing perspective, FPC is the woody green cover in the overstorey while ground cover is the fractional cover of the non-woody vegetation and litter near the soil surface. The field measurement protocol described here is used to derive three categories of cover from satellite imagery— photosynthetic vegetation (PV), non-photosynthetic vegetation (NPV) and bare soil (BS).
SLATS Star Transects metadata
Tree Structural Characteristics
Field data on tree structural characteristics can be used for the calibration and validation of LiDAR derived products of tree height, canopy height profiles and allometrically derived Diameter Breast Height (DBH).
Tree Structural Characteristics metadata