Using Lidar-derived 3-D Vegetation Structure Maps to Assist in the Search for the Ivory- billed Woodpecker
Abstract
Averaging about 20 inches in length, the ivory-billed woodpecker is among the world's largest woodpeckers. It once ranged through swampy forests in the southeastern and lower Mississippi valley states, and until recently was believed to have become extinct in the 1940's when commercial logging destroyed its last known habitat. Recent sightings however, may indicate the birds' survival in remaining bottomland hardwood forest adjacent to the Cache and White Rivers in Arkansas. In June-July 2006, NASA's Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor (LVIS) was used to map approximately 5000 km2 of the White River National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas, including sites where recent possible sightings of the bird occurred. LVIS is an airborne, medium- footprint (5- to 25-meter diameter), full waveform-recording, airborne, scanning lidar system which has been used extensively for mapping forest structure, habitat, carbon and natural hazards. The system digitally records the shape of the returning laser echo, or waveform, after its interaction with the various reflecting surfaces of the earth (leaves, branches, ground, etc.), providing a true 3-dimensional record of the surface structure. Data collected included ground elevation and canopy height measurements for each laser footprint, as well as the vertical distribution of intercepted surfaces (the return waveform). Experimental metrics such as canopy structure metrics based on energy quartiles, as well as ground energy/canopy cover and waveform complexity metrics will be derived from each waveform. The project is a collaborative effort between the University of Maryland, NASA, USGS, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The LVIS-generated data of the 3- D vegetation structure and underlying terrain will be used as a means to guide local, ground-based search efforts in the upcoming field season as well as identify the remaining areas of habitat suitable for protection should the bird be found.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2006
- Bibcode:
- 2006AGUFM.G53E..03H
- Keywords:
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- 0410 Biodiversity;
- 0434 Data sets;
- 0452 Instruments and techniques;
- 0480 Remote sensing