The use of shadows in high spatial resolution, remotely sensed, imagery to estimate the height of individual Eucalyptus trees on undulating land

Abstract

The shadows cast by 180 individual Eucalyptus trees, of varying canopy condition, on undulating land in south-eastern Australia were used to infer their heights from 50-cm spatial resolution, multispectral aerial imagery (blue = 0.4–0.5 μm; green = 0.5–0.6 μm; red = 0.6–0.7 μm; near infrared = 0.7–1 μm). A geometrical shadow model was developed incorporating the local slope and aspect of the ground from a digital elevation model at each tree location. A method of deriving ‘local tree time’ to infer the solar elevation angle, in situations where the image acquisition time is not available, was also developed. Based on a measurement of the shadow length from the geometric centre of the tree crowns, and ignoring the role of the crown periphery in distorting the shadow shape, the tree heights were estimated with a root mean square error of ±5.6 m (~±27%) with some overestimated by as much as 50%. A geometric correction for shadow distortion assuming spherical crown geometry provided an improved estimate with a root mean square error of ±4.8 m (~±23%).