Analysis of Forest Canopy Density Using Remotely Sensed Data: A Case Study in Chiang Mai Province

Abstract

Forest canopy density provides important information indicating the health of the forest and biomass. vThis study aimed: 1) to use satellite images from LANDSAT-5 TM to analyze the forest canopy density; 2) to compare the forest canopy density derived from satellite images with field survey data using a fish-eye lens; and 3) to delineate the forest canopy density in Chiang Mai province. FCD Mapper was employed to estimate the forest canopy density and to calculate 4 indices: vegetation index, bare soil index, thermal index and shadow index. In addition, a linear regression equation was applied to determine the relationship between the forest canopy density derived from satellite images and from an image taken using a fish-eye lens.  The results revealed that satellite images are effective for analyzing the forest canopy density.  The forest canopy density estimates derived using the 2 methods were not significantly different at the 95% level and the co-relation coefficient was 0.81.  The forest canopy density was divided into 10 percentage cover strata of 0-10, 11-20, 21-30, 31-40, 41-50, 51-60, 61-70, 71-80, 81-90, 91-100.  Each stratum covered 18.35, 5.86, 9.96, 13.31, 15.06, 14.08, 11.39, 7.71, 3.82 and 0.46% of the Chiang Mai province, respectively.

Keywords: Forest canopy density, LANDSAT-5 TM, FCD Mapper, Chiang Mai province