Seasonal foliage changes in the Eastern Amazon Basin detected from landsat thematic mapper satellite images

Seasonal changes in tropical forests are difficult to measure from the ground, especially in areas of high species diversity and low phenological synchrony. Satellite images, which integrate individual tree canopies and cover a large spatial extent, facilitate tests for stand-level canopy phenology....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biotropica 1998-09, Vol.30 (3), p.376-391
Main Authors: Bohlman, S.A. (University of Washington, Seattle.), Adams, J.B, Smith, M.O, Peterson, D.L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amazon basin
AMAZONIA
AMAZONIE
BOSQUE TROPICAL
BRASIL
BRAZIL
BRESIL
canopy
Deciduous forests
Dry seasons
FEUILLE
Forest canopy
FORET TROPICALE
HOJAS
IMAGENES
IMAGERIE
IMAGERY
Landsat TM
LEAVES
Old growth forests
Phenology
Radiance
remote sensing
Riparian forests
SATELITES
SATELLITE
SATELLITES
SEASONAL VARIATION
tropical forest
TROPICAL FORESTS
VARIACION ESTACIONAL
VARIATION SAISONNIERE
Vegetation
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Summary:Seasonal changes in tropical forests are difficult to measure from the ground, especially in areas of high species diversity and low phenological synchrony. Satellite images, which integrate individual tree canopies and cover a large spatial extent, facilitate tests for stand-level canopy phenology. Variability in near-infrared radiance (TM bands 4 and 5) of several distinct vegetation types was used to detect seasonal changes in a series of three Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) images from the wet season to the dry season in Maraba, Brazil (eastern Amazon basin). Despite different atmospheric and instrumental conditions among the images, spectral changes were distinguishable. A phenological process (leaf aging, leaf drop, water stress) was determined from the spectral changes for each vegetation type. Changes in the spectral properties suggest that during the dry season, upland terra firme forest increased the rate of leaf exchange and some riparian vegetation was deciduous. Terra firme forest that had been altered by penetration of fires from nearby pastures increased in leaf biomass over a 14-month period. This study shows that a time series of images can provide information on temporal changes in primary vegetation and guide field studies to investigate seasonal changes that may not be detectable from the ground.
ISSN:0006-3606
1744-7429
DOI:10.1111/j.1744-7429.1998.tb00072.x