The potential of dual-wavelength laser scanning for estimating vegetation moisture content

The first demonstration of a multispectral light detection and ranging (LiDAR) optimized for detailed structure and physiology measurements in forest ecosystems is described. The basic principle is to utilize, in a single instrument, both the capacity of multispectral sensing to measure plant physiology [through normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and photochemical reflectance index (PRI)] with the ability of LiDAR to measure vertical structure information and generate “hot spot” (specular) reflectance data independent of solar illumination. A tunable laser operated at four wavelengths (531, 550, 660, and 780 nm) was used to measure profiles of the NDVI and the PRI. Laboratory-based measurements were conducted for live trees, demonstrating that realistic values of the indexes can be measured. A model-based analysis demonstrates that the LiDAR waveforms cannot only capture the tree height information but also picks up the seasonal and vertical variation of NDVI inside the tree canopy.

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A Multispectral Canopy LiDAR Demonstrator Project

Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) is a valuable tool for creating virtual 3D models of geological outcrops to enable enhanced modeling and analysis of geologic strata. Application of TLS data is typically limited to the geometric point cloud that is used to create the 3D structure of the outcrop model. Digital photography can then be draped onto the 3D model, allowing visual identification and manual spatial delineation of different rock layers. Automation of the rock type identification and delineation is desirable, and recent work has investigated the use of terrestrial hyperspectral photography for this purpose. However, passive photography, whether visible or hyperspectral, presents several complexities, including accurate spatial registration with the TLS point cloud data, reliance on sunlight for illumination, and radiometric calibration to properly extract spectral signatures of the different rock types. As an active remote sensing method, a radiometrically calibrated TLS system offers the potential to directly provide spectral information for each recorded 3D point, independent of solar illumination. Therefore, the practical application of three radiometrically calibrated TLS systems with differing laser wavelengths, thereby achieving a multispectral dataset in conjunction with 3D point cloud data, is investigated using commercially available hardware and software. The radiometric calibration of the TLS intensity values is investigated and the classification performance of the multispectral TLS intensity and calibrated reflectance datasets evaluated and compared to classification performed with passive visible wavelength imagery. Results indicate that rock types can be successfully identified with radiometrically calibrated multispectral TLS data, with enhanced classification performance when fused with passive visible imagery.

Application of multispectral LiDAR to automated virtual outcrop geology

Advanced technologies for improved nitrogen (N) fertilizer management are paramount for sustainably meeting future food demands. Green laser systems that measure pulse return intensity can provide more reliable information about foliar N than can traditional passive remote sensing devices during the critical early crop growth stages (e.g., before canopy closure when vegetation and soil signals are spectrally mixed) when further decisions regarding N management can be made. However, current green laser systems are not designed for agricultural applications and only employ a single green laser wavelength, which may limit applications because many factors that require normalization techniques can affect pulse return intensity. Here, we describe the design of a tractor-mountable, green (532 nm)- and red (658 nm) dual wavelength laser system and evaluate the potential of an additional red reference wavelength to improve laser based estimates of foliar N by calculating laser spectral indices based on ratio combinations of green laser return intensity (GLRI) and red laser return intensity (RLRI). We hypothesized that such laser spectral indices aid in accounting for factors that confound laser based foliar N estimates including variations in leaf angle, measurement distance, soil returns, and mixed edge returns. Leaf level measurements in winter wheat ( Triticum aestivum ) revealed that the two laser spectral indices improved the relationship with foliar N ( r 2  > 0.71, RMSE  r 2  = 0.47, RMSE = 0.38%). Laboratory measurements also showed that laser spectral indices reduced the effect of measurement distance on laser readings and allowed leaf returns to be better separated from edge returns and soil returns. However, laboratory measurements showed that laser spectral indices did not account for variations in leaf angle, possibly explaining the weak relationships ( r 2 r 2  = 0.65, RMSE = 0.37%) alone. Laboratory measurements suggest that the better performance of GLRI compared to ratio-based laser spectral indices may result from pronounced differences in the leaf-level bidirectional reflectance distribution factor (BRDF leaf ) between the green and red laser wavelengths, thus confounding leaf angle effects so that they are not cancelled when calculating laser spectral indices. This finding suggests that the small spot size of the laser pulses (⩽5 mm diameter) interacts with BRDF leaf at very fine scales, therefore causing differential, wavelength-specific scattering effects. Additional study of BRDF leaf at the mm scale is therefore warranted, and should be carefully considered in future development and use of multi-wavelength laser systems for remotely sensing foliar biochemistry.

Assessment of crop foliar nitrogen using a novel dual-wavelength laser system and implications for conducting laser-based plant physiology

The Slope Imaging Multi-polarization Photon-counting Lidar is an airborne instrument developed to demonstrate laser altimetry measurement methods that will enable more efficient observations of topography and surface properties from space. The instrument was developed through the NASA Earth Science Technology Office Instrument Incubator Program with a focus on cryosphere remote sensing. The SIMPL transmitter is an 11 KHz, 1064 nm, plane-polarized micropulse laser transmitter that is frequency doubled to 532 nm and split into four push-broom beams. The receiver employs single-photon, polarimetric ranging at 532 and 1064 nm using Single Photon Counting Modules in order to achieve simultaneous sampling of surface elevation, slope, roughness and depolarizing scattering properties, the latter used to differentiate surface types. Data acquired over ice-covered Lake Erie in February, 2009 are documenting SIMPL's measurement performance and capabilities, demonstrating differentiation of open water and several ice cover types. ICESat-2 will employ several of the technologies advanced by SIMPL, including micropulse, single photon ranging in a multi-beam, push-broom configuration operating at 532 nm.

The Slope Imaging Multi-polarization Photon-counting Lidar: Development and performance results

There is growing interest in the use of lidar for remote sensing of vegetation owing to the emergence of reliable and rugged lasers and highly sensitive detectors. Lidar remote sensing has a distinct advantage over conventional techniques in vegetation remote sensing due to its capability for three-dimensional characterization of vegetative targets. The Multiwavelength Airborne Polarimetric Lidar (MAPL) system was developed primarily for vegetation remote sensing applications from an airborne platform of up to 1,000 -m altitude. The lidar system has full waveform capture and polarimetric measurement capability at two wavelengths in the near-infrared (1064 nm) and the green (532 nm) spectral regions. This study presents preliminary ground-based lidar reflectance measurements on a variety of deciduous and coniferous trees under fully foliated conditions with a view towards tree species discrimination. Variations in the reflectance characteristics of selected deciduous trees under unfoliated and fully foliated conditions were also investigated. Our study reveals distinct differences in the reflectance characteristics of various trees.

Sunil K. Shetty

Papers

Polarized lidar reflectance measurements of vegetation at near-infrared and green wavelengths