Applications of high resolution remote sensing in rainforest ecology and management

Abstract

Remote sensing sc1ence has provided new, synoptic views of ecological processes and land use impacts since the 19705 and the development of digital image analysis in the late 1980s added a wide range of potential techniques for research applications. Remotely sensed data can be used to generate a wide range of estimates of forest structure and tree physiology that are of value to ecologists, including rainforest extent, canopy closure and connectivity, tree mortality, leaf area index (LAI), photosynthetic pigments and other indices of primary productivity.