ESTIMATION OF LEAF AREA INDEX IN A MIXED OMBROPHILOUS FOREST USING REMOTE SENSING DATA

This study was conducted to estimate leaf area index (LAI) in a fragment of Mixed Ombrophilous Forest, in São João do Triunfo, Brazil, using remote sensing techniques. The LAI was generated from orbital images from the Pleiades sensor, based on the relationship with vegetation indices (VI). On the ground, LAI was estimated from the CI-110 Plant Canopy Analyzer, assumed to measure actual LAI. The data obtained by the remote sensing techniques were correlated with the data obtained from the field, using the Pearson's correlation coefficient. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) correlation with LAI (r = 0.32) was greatly surpassed by the Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI) correlation with LAI (r = 0.78). Meanwhile, the model proposed by SEBAL was moderately correlated with LAI (r = 0.66).