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Leaf Area Index: Advance on the Ground-Based Measurement

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Observation and Measurement of Ecohydrological Processes

Part of the book series: Ecohydrology ((ECOH))

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Abstract

Leaf area index (LAI) is a primary parameter for vegetation structure and is one of the important products from remote sensing data. Ground-based LAI estimation of LAI is the important activity for global satellite product validation. In this chapter, the main methods on LAI measurement were reviewed, and the emphasis was put on the new advanced method on LAI measurement. We present two new instruments (LAINet and LAISmart) designed by Beijing Normal University which use either modern communication network or mobile computing platform to obtain LAI with high efficiency and low cost. LAINet is an instrument constructed on the base of wireless sensor network, and the principle of LAINet is capturing sunlight transmittance using a series of wireless sensors in different sun zenith angles. And LAI is estimated from the sensed transmittances. Borrowing the wireless communication technique, the measured data can be transferred to remote computer server, thus, LAINet can reduce the cost of field data collection. LAISmart is a mobile application deployed on the smartphone, and the LAI is calculated by the classification of captured image. By integration of capturing images and real time computing of smartphone, LAISmart provide automatic measurement method compared with the traditional digital hemispherical photography method. In the end of this chapter, the prospect of the methods on the LAI ground-based measurement is summarized, and it is pointed out that the integration of passive and active optical signal to produce low cost and light weight and thus affordable and portable device may be a promising tendency.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Beijing Normal University and Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Yonghua Qu

  2. Beijing Engineering Research Center for Global Land Remote Sensing Products, Institute of Remote Sensing Science and Engineering, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

    Yonghua Qu

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  1. Yonghua Qu
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Correspondence to Yonghua Qu .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Cold and Arid Region Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, China

    Xin Li

  2. Institute of Bio- and Geosciences Agrosphere, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

    Harry Vereecken

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Qu, Y. (2018). Leaf Area Index: Advance on the Ground-Based Measurement. In: Li, X., Vereecken, H. (eds) Observation and Measurement of Ecohydrological Processes. Ecohydrology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47871-4_11-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47871-4_11-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-47871-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-47871-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Leaf Area Index: Advance on the Ground-Based Measurement
    Published:
    11 August 2018

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47871-4_11-2

  2. Original

    Leaf Area Index: Advance on the Ground-Based Measurement
    Published:
    13 June 2018

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47871-4_11-1

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