Chapter 28

Assessing Canopy Processes at Large

Landscape Scales in the Western Ghats Using
Remote Sensing
Jagdish Krishnaswamy

Keywords %VAPOTRANSPIRATIONs0LANT AVAILABLEMOISTUREs.$6)s7ESTERN'HATS

Bullet Points
 7EUSED.$6).ORMALIZED$IFFERENCE6EGETATION)NDEX TOASSESSTHELANDSCAPE
OFTHE7ESTERN'HATS)NDIA
 2EMOTE SENSING DATA IN COMBINATION WITH GROUND TRUTHING CAN BE UTILIZED TO
ASSESSVARIATIONINCANOPYFOLIARSTATUS
Summary
&ORESTCANOPYPROCESSESSUCHASSEASONALFOLIARPHENOLOGYINTERANNUALCHANGESIN
PHOTOSYNTHETICACTIVITYANDLEAFAREAINDEXINTROPICALSEASONALFORESTSARELINKED
WITHCHANGESINASSOCIATEDPROCESSESSUCHASTRANSPIRATIONANDAREOFTENRESPONSES
TOCHANGESINAVAILABILITYOFSOILANDGROUNDWATER
$IRECTMEASUREMENTSOFTHESEPROCESSESAREEXPENSIVEANDUNFEASIBLEEXCEPTATA
FEWSITESINALARGELANDSCAPE7EDEMONSTRATEHOWTIMESERIESOFREMOTELYSENSED
DATAINCOMBINATIONWITHGROUNDDATAFROMREFERENCESITESCANBEUTILIZEDTOESTI
MATESEASONALANDINTERANNUALVARIABILITYINCANOPYFOLIARSTATUSINRESPONSETOENVI
RONMENTAL DRIVERS 4HIS IS SUGGESTED AS THE BASIS FOR SHORT AND LONGER TERM
MONITORINGOFCANOPYPROCESSESINRELATIONTONATURALANDANTHROPOGENICDISTURBANCE
ANDCLIMATICPERTURBATIONSANDCYCLES

*+RISHNASWAMY*
!SHOKA4RUSTFOR2ESEARCHIN%COLOGYANDTHE%NVIRONMENT!42%% 2OYAL%NCLAVE
3RIRAMAPURA*AKKUR0OST"ANGALORE+!)NDIA
E MAILJAGDISH ATREEORG
M. Lowman et al. (eds.), Treetops at Risk: Challenges of Global Canopy
Ecology and Conservation, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-7161-5_28,
Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

289



J. Krishnaswamy

Introduction

&ORESTCANOPYPROCESSESSUCHASSEASONALFOLIARPHENOLOGYINTERANNUALCHANGESIN
PHOTOSYNTHETICACTIVITYANDLEAFAREAINDEXINTROPICALSEASONALFORESTSARELINKED
WITHCHANGESINASSOCIATEDPROCESSESSUCHASTRANSPIRATIONANDAREOFTENRESPONSES
TO CHANGES IN AVAILABILITY OF SOIL AND GROUNDWATER )TURBE AND 0ORPORATO  
&URTHERMORE THERE IS NOW CLEAR EVIDENCE THAT TREES MAY REDISTRIBUTE MOISTURE
THROUGHHYDRAULICREDISTRIBUTIONBOTHLATERALLYANDVERTICALLYINTHESOILPROlLEFROM
RELATIVELYHIGHERSOILMOISTUREPOTENTIALSITESTOSITESWITHLOWERSOILWATERPOTENTIAL
.EUMANNAND#ARDON 
$IRECTMEASUREMENTSOFTHESEPROCESSESAREEXPENSIVEANDUNFEASIBLEEXCEPTATA
FEW SITES IN A LARGE LANDSCAPE 2EMOTELY SENSED INDICES ESPECIALLY .ORMALIZED
$IFFERENCE6EGETATION)NDEX.$6) HAVEBEENKNOWNTORESPONDTOPLANTCANOPY
PROCESSESATVARIOUSSPATIALANDTEMPORALSCALES'LENNETAL 4HESECANOPY
PROCESSESTHATCANBEDETECTEDTHROUGHTIMESERIESOFREMOTELYSENSEDDATAATLARGE
LANDSCAPESCALESARELINKEDTOCARBONANDHYDROLOGICSERVICES+RISHNASWAMYETAL
 &URTHERMORETHESEREMOTELYSENSEDINDICESCANBEGENERATEDATVARIOUSSPATIAL
ANDTEMPORALSCALESENABLINGMONITORINGOFCANOPYPROCESSESATLARGESPATIALSCALES
THATWOULDOTHERWISEBEIMPOSSIBLE
7E NOW DEMONSTRATE THE UTILITY OF .$6) BASED MEASURES IN QUANTIFYING AND
MAPPING CANOPY PROCESSES AT LARGE SPATIAL SCALES IN THE7ESTERN 'HATS .$6) IS
CORRELATEDWITHPHOTOSYNTHETICALLYACTIVECANOPYANDINSEASONALLYDRYFORESTSCAN
HELPTRACKTHECHANGESINPLANTAVAILABLEMOISTUREATTHELANDSCAPESCALE!STREES
SHEDTHEIRLEAVESTHROUGHTHEDRYSEASONINRESPONSETOMOISTURELIMITATIONSBOTH
.$6)ANDTRANSPIRATIONAREEXPECTEDTODECLINE&IG 
4HISSUGGESTSTHATMULTI DATE.$6)CANBETHEBASISFORANECOCLIMATICDISTANCE
MEASUREFOREVERYPIXELUSINGAREFERENCECLASSTHATISMOISTURERICHANDMAINTAINS
HIGH.$6)THROUGHTHEDRYSEASONWHICHINTHECASEOFTHE7ESTERN'HATSWOULDBE
THEWET EVERGREENFORESTS+RISHNASWAMYETAL /NTHISCONTINUOUSSCALETHE
HIGHERTHEVALUETHEGREATERTHEECOCLIMATICDISTANCEFROMTHEREFERENCEEVERGREEN
CLASSANDLESSWOULDBETHEEVAPOTRANSPIRATION3UCHAMEASURECANBEGENERATEDFOR
EVERYPIXELOVERLARGELANDSCAPEATREGULARINTERVALSOFTIME&IG &URTHERMORE
THESEMULTI DATE.$6)INDICESWHICHACTASPROXYFORPLANTAVAILABLEMOISTURECAN
BECALIBRATEDWITHKNOWNSITESWITHSPECIlCMOISTUREREGIMESANDCANBETHEBASIS
OFAPPROXIMATEESTIMATESOFEVAPOTRANSPIRATION'REENWATERmUX USINGSEMIEM
PIRICALMODELSSUCHASTHE:HANGAND7ALKERMODELWHICHONLYREQUIRESRAINFALLAND
POTENTIALEVAPOTRANSPIRATION0%4 ASINPUTS
4HE:HANG7ALKERAND$AWESMODEL:HANGETAL PREDICTSEVAPOTRANSPI
RATION%4 ASAFUNCTIONOFPRECIPITATIONP EPOTENTIALEVAPOTRANSPIRATION AND
APLANTAVAILABLEMOISTUREINDEXw

28

Assessing Canopy Processes at Large Landscape Scales in the Western Ghats

291

Fig. 28.1 .$6)CHANGETHROUGHTHEDRYSEASONIN'UNDALCATCHMENTANDTHEPOTENTIALOFUSING

COEFlCIENTOFVARIATIONOFMULTI DATE.$6)FORMAPPINGSPATIALVARIABILITYOFPLANTAVAILABLEMOIS
TURE.OTETHATTHERIPARIANFORESTISLARGELYLEAmESSBY!PRIL

E
P
%4 =
1
E E
1+ w  + 
P P
1+ w

!SANNUALRAINFALLAND0%4AREEASILYAVAILABLEFROMGLOBALANDREGIONALDATASETS
ONLYwISTHEMAINVARIABLETOBEESTIMATEDWRANGESFROMMOISTURE STRESSED
GRASSLAND TO  WET EVERGREEN FOREST IN THE MODEL 4HE MULTI DATE .$6) BASED
INDICESCANBECALIBRATEDAGAINSTTHERANGEOFwANDCANBETHEBASISFORESTIMATING
BLUEANDGREENWATERmUXESFORLARGELANDSCAPES&IG28.3 

Conclusion

4HEPOTENTIALAPPLICATIONSOFMONITORINGFORESTCANOPYSTATUSOVERLARGELANDSCAPES
USING CAREFULLY CALIBRATED REMOTELY SENSED INDICES ARE VERY DIVERSE 4HESE RANGE
FROM QUANTIFYING HYDROLOGIC AND CARBON FUNCTIONS AND SERVICES TO TRACKING

292

J. Krishnaswamy
Eco-climatic Distance
MODIS NDVI from December 2000 to April 2001
Eco-climatic
distance
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000

4000

5000+

NDVI resolution : 250m

Kilometers

No. of NDVI layers : 5

20

Eco-climatic Distance
MODIS NDVI from December 2004 to April 2005
Eco-climatic
distance
0

500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000

4000

5000+

NDVI resolution : 250m

No. of NDVI layers : 5

Kilometers
0

20

Fig. 28.2 4EMPORALVARIABILITYINECOCLIMATICDISTANCEFORLARGELANDSCAPESOVERTWOTIMEFRAMES

INmUENCES OF DROUGHTS AND FOREST lRE TO ENCROACHMENTS FOREST DEGRADATION AND
NATURALDISTURBANCESSUCHASTREE FALLGAPSANDELEPHANTACTIVITY4HESESAMEINDICES
CAN BE USED TO MEASURE THE DOWNSTREAM EFFECTS OF DAMS AND WATER DIVERSION ON
RIPARIANFORESTSANDEFFECTSOFEXTREMECLIMATICPERTURBATIONSANDCLIMATECHANGE

28

Assessing Canopy Processes at Large Landscape Scales in the Western Ghats

293

Fig. 28.3 .$6) INDICES CAN FORM THE BASIS FOR ESTIMATING blue AND green WATER mUXES IN THE
7ESTERN'HATSLANDSCAPE)NDIA

Acknowledgments -#+IRANOFTHE%CO INFORMATICLABORATORYATTHE!SHOKA4RUSTFOR2ESEARCH

IN%COLOGYANDTHE%NVIRONMENT!42%% HELPEDGENERATETHElGURES

References
'LENN%0(UETE!2.AGLER0,.ELSON3' 2ELATIONSHIPBETWEENREMOTELY SENSEDVEGETATION
INDICESCANOPYATTRIBUTESANDPLANTPHYSIOLOGICALPROCESSESWHATVEGETATIONINDICESCANAND
CANNOTTELLUSABOUTTHELANDSCAPE3ENSORSn
)TURBE)20ORPORATO! %COHYDROLOGYOFWATERCONTROLLEDECOSYSTEMS3OILMOISTUREAND
PLANTDYNAMICS#AMBRIDGE5NIVERSITY0RESS.EW9ORK



J. Krishnaswamy

+RISHNASWAMY * +IRAN -# "AWA +3 'ANESHAIAH +.  1UANTIFYING AND MAPPING

BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES USING A MULTI DATE .$6) BASED -AHALANOBIS DISTANCE
MEASURE2EMOTE3ENS%NVIRONn
.EUMANN 2" #ARDON :'  4HE MAGNITUDE OF HYDRAULIC REDISTRIBUTION BY PLANT ROOTS A
REVIEW AND SYNTHESIS OF EMPIRICAL AND MODELING STUDIES .EW 0HYTOL n
DOIJ X
:HANG , $AWES 72 7ALKER '2  2ESPONSE OF MEAN ANNUAL EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
TO VEGETATION CHANGES AT CATCHMENT SCALE 7ATER 2ESOUR 2ES  n
DOI72