Incorporating topographic and climatic GIS data into satellite image analysis of an alpine tundra ecosystem, front range, Colorado rocky mountains

Abstract

Abstract A series of digital climate indices have been developed in support of a remote sensing study of complex alpine vegetation patterns at the Niwot Ridge Long‐Term Ecological Research site in the Colorado Front Range, USA. Using an integrated remote sensing‐GIS approach, critical factors which control the distribution of vegetation such as precipitation, temperature, wind, soil moisture and snow accumulation have been derived from a 16 year archive of digital Landsat imagery, geomorphometry from a digital elevation model, and meteorological station data. Five climatic indices were implemented: (i) Orogenic Precipitation Index, (ii) Slope‐Aspect Index, (iii) Snow Probability Index, (iv) Insolation Index, and (v) Growing Degree Days. These indices were tested individually and together with a Landsat TM image and topographic measures from a DEM to assess their significance for increasing the accuracy and precision of maximum likelihood landcover classification with respect to the hierarchical Braun‐Blan...