Using Multispectral Spaceborne Imagery to Assess Mean Tree Height in a Dryland Plantation

This study presents an approach for low-cost mapping of tree heights at the landscape level. The proposed method integrates parameters related to landscape (slope, orientation, and topographic height), tree size (crown diameter), and competition (crown competition factor and age), and determines the mean stand tree height as a function of tree competitive capability. The model was calibrated and validated against a standard inventory dataset collected over a dryland planted forest in the eastern Mediterranean region. The validation of the model shows a high and significant level of correlation between measured and modeled datasets (; ), with almost negligible (less than 1 m) levels of absolute and relative errors. The validated model was implemented for mapping mean tree height on a per-pixel basis by using high-spatial-resolution satellite imagery. The resulting map was, in turn, validated against an independent dataset of ground measurements. The presented approach could help to reduce the need for fieldwork in compiling single-tree-based inventories and to apply surface-roughness properties to hydrometeorological studies and regional energy/water-balance evaluation.