Identification and measurement of herbland and shrubland vegetation from large scale aerial colour photographs

Abstract

Individual herbaceous and shrubby species can be identified most accurately on large scale (1: 600-1: 1,100) colour infra-red aerial photographs. There was no apparent advantage of this film type as compared with normal colour film for identifying non-vegetation characteristics in herbaceous and shrubby plant communities. Site delineation, as inferred by the plant community, can be equally well defined on either film type at a scale of 1:4,200. Species density and foliar cover can be estimated from this type of aerial photography within acceptable error limits. Colour infra-red photographs should be used for this purpose owing to the increased accuracy of individual species identification. A scanning microdensitometer can be used for automated interpretation to measure total vegetation cover and to discriminate between broad vegetation types. The microdensitometer does not yet seem suitable to identify individual species.

Citation

Driscoll, Richard S.; Reppert, Jack N.; Heller, Robert C.; Carneggie, David M. 1970. Identification and measurement of herbland and shrubland vegetation from large scale aerial colour photographs. In: Norman, J. T., ed. Proceedings of the XI international grassland congress; 1970 April 13-23. St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia: University of Queensland Press. p. 95-98.