SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF WATER-STRESSED FOREST CANOPY USING EO-l HYPERION DATA

Plant water deficiency during drought season causes physiological stress and can be a critical indicator of forest fire vulnerability. In this study, we attempt to analyze the spectral characteristics of water stressed vegetation by using the laboratory measurement on leaf samples and the canopy reflectance spectra extracted from satellite hyperspectral image data. Leaf-level reflectance spectra were measured by varying moisture content using a portable spectro-radiometer. Canopy reflectance spectra of sample forest stands of two primary species (pine and oak) located in central part of the Korean peninsula were extracted from EO-l Hyperion imaging spectrometer data obtained during the drought season in 2001 and the normal precipitation year in 2002. The preliminary analysis on the reflectance spectra shows that the spectral characteristics of leaf samples are not compatible with the ones obtained from canopy level. Although moisture content of vegetation can be influential to the radiant flux reflected from leaf-level, it may not be very straightforward to obtain the spectral characteristics that are directly related to the level of canopy moisture content. Canopy spectra form forest stands can be varied by structural variables (such as LAt, percent coverage, and biomass) other than canopy moisture content.