Forest Ecology and Management 223 (2006) 45–53

www.elsevier.com/locate/foreco

Estimation of tree canopy cover in evergreen oak

woodlands using remote sensing
João M.B. Carreiras *, José M.C. Pereira, João S. Pereira
Department of Forestry, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal
Received 1 April 2005; received in revised form 21 October 2005; accepted 24 October 2005

Abstract
The montado/dehesa landscapes of the Iberian Peninsula are savannah-type open woodlands dominated by evergreen oak species (Quercus
suber L. and Q. ilex ssp. rotundifolia). Scattered trees stand over an undergrowth of shrubs or herbaceous plants. To partition leaf area index
between trees and the herbaceous/shrubby understorey requires good estimates of tree canopy cover and is of key importance to understand the
ecology and the changes in land cover. The two vegetation components differ in phenology as well as in radiation and rainfall interception, water
and CO2 fluxes. The main goal of this study was to estimate tree canopy cover in a montado/dehesa region of southern Portugal (Alentejo) using
remote sensed data. For this purpose we developed empirical models combining measurements obtained through the analysis of aerial photos and
reflectance from Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) individual channels, vegetation indices, and the components of the Kauth–Thomas (K–T)
transformation. A set of 142 plots was designed, both in the aerial photos and in the satellite data. Several simple and multiple linear regression
models were adjusted and validated. A subset of 75% of the data (n = 106) was used for model fitting, and the remainder (n = 36) was used for
model assessment. The best linear equation includes Landsat TM channels 3, 4, 5 and 7 (r2 = 0.74), but the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index
(NDVI), the components of the K–T transformation, and the Atmospherically Resistant Vegetation Index (ARVI) also performed well (r2 = 0.72,
0.70, and 0.69, respectively). The statistics of prediction residuals and tests of model validation indicates that these were also the models with better
predictive capability. These results show that detection of low/medium tree canopy cover in this type of land cover (i.e. evergreen oak woodlands)
can be accomplished with the help of high and medium spatial resolution satellite imagery.
# 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM); Aerial photo; Linear regression; Evergreen oak woodlands; Tree canopy cover

1. Introduction
Savannah-type Mediterranean evergreen oak woodlands are
widely distributed in the Iberian Peninsula, as well as in other
areas with the Mediterranean type of climate, e.g., in parts of
California, Chile, South Africa and Australia. These are complex
ecosystems with open, heterogeneous canopies with shrub or
annual herbaceous understories (Joffre et al., 1999; Baldocchi
et al., 2004). In the Iberian Peninsula, large areas of these
woodlands depend upon human action, forming a multiple use
agroforestry system, called montado in Portugal and dehesa in
Spain. For example, in Portugal, they cover an area of
approximately 1.2 Mha (DGF, 2001). The most common oak
species are holm oak (Quercus rotundifolia Lam. syn. Quercus
ilex L. ssp. rotundifolia) and cork oak (Quercus suber L.). They
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +351 213653387; fax: +351 213645000.
E-mail address: jmbcarreiras@isa.utl.pt (João M.B. Carreiras).
0378-1127/$ – see front matter # 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2005.10.056
are exploited for cork, wood and extensive agriculture or grazing,
in proportions that vary with local conditions and history. The
landscapes are typically heterogeneous and include three distinct
variants, which differ in terms of land use intensity and land cover
structure (Blanco et al., 1997):
- Relatively denser oak woodlands are more common in steep
areas and poor soils, unsuitable for agricultural use. Land use
intensity is low, and a diverse shrub community species
dominates the understorey. In Portugal dense cork oak stands
were planted for cork production in better soils.
- Pastures represent an intermediate level of land use intensity.
Tree cover is sparser, and the understorey is dominated by a
great variety of annual/biennial herbaceous plant commu-
nities. The productivity of these communities is dominated by
climatic factors, and typically they display large interannual
variability in plant cover.
- Dryland farming of cereal crops in areas with deeper soils,
such as the bottom of valleys. During fallow years, these areas
46 J.M.B. Carreiras et al. / Forest Ecology and Management 223 (2006) 45–53
may be used as pastures. There is a tendency for abandonment
of this type of agriculture and the montado/dehesa reverts to
one of the former land cover types (Lourenço et al., 1998).
Tree density in montado ecosystems frequently ranges from
30 to 60 trees ha
1 (Blanco et al., 1997), but higher and lower
densities are common. In Portugal, about half of the area of Q.
suber montados has tree canopy cover in the 10–30% class, one
quarter of the area in the 30–50% class, and the remaining
quarter in the >50% tree canopy cover class, whereas holm oak
woodlands are even sparser, with about 85% of the area in the
10–30% canopy cover class (DGF, 2001). These low tree
densities result from specific land use objectives and manage-
ment practices, which transformed the relatively denser
primordial woodlands and forests into landscapes structurally
similar to savannas.
The Mediterranean evergreen oak woodlands differ from
tropical savannahs in the timing of rainfall, which in the
former occur during the relatively cool autumn–winter
months. This leads to severe water deficits during the hot
Mediterranean summer. As a consequence large intra-annual
variations in plant cover occur (Baldocchi et al., 2004). The
understanding of ecosystem structure and function (e.g.,
radiation and rainfall interception, water and CO2 fluxes)
requires the partitioning of total leaf area index between the
tree component and the herbaceous/shrubby understorey. The
two vegetation layers differ in phenology and functioning. For
example, whereas the sparse tree cover remains green and may
have access to perennial water sources for year-long metabolic
activity (David et al., 2004), the herbaceous layer dries out in
the dry summer. In addition to the spatial and temporal
heterogeneity, the montado/dehesa landscapes are today
subject to rapid changes resulting from land abandonment,
changing fire regimes and tree decline (Brasier, 1992, 1996;
Terradas, 1999; Stoate et al., 2001; Romero-Calcerrada and
Perry, 2004).
Given the economical, ecological, and historical signifi-
cance of these ecosystems, it is important to monitor the
changes that affect them, in a timely and cost-effective manner.
Satellite remote sensing provides a potentially useful tool for
such monitoring, but the problem is complex because of the
intrinsic diversity, structural complexity, and seasonal varia-
bility of the montado/dehesa landscapes. The designation of a
relatively broad range of land cover types, under a common
land use name, leads to a problem of mismatch between
informational classes (i.e. those meaningful to a user), and
spectral classes (those which share similar spectral properties)
(Swain and Davies, 1978). In the case of the montado/dehesa
systems, informational land use classes tend to be very
heterogeneous from the spectral standpoint, reflecting their
internal ecological variability. This is a severe problem for
qualitative land use mapping, where the goal is to discriminate
between distinct land cover types. Quantitative characterisation
of a biophysical attribute such as tree canopy cover is also quite
challenging in these landscapes, because of the very broad
range in tree density, and of the wide variety of understorey
cover types. The signal (tree canopy) has to be detected and
quantified against a very noisy background of bare soils,
agricultural crops, pastures and shrubs.
The main goal of this study was to estimate tree canopy
cover in a montado/dehesa region of southern Portugal
(Alentejo) using remote sensed data. Several studies have
produced good and promising results. Joffre and Lacaze (1993)
used panchromatic SPOT High Resolution Visible (HRV) (10 m
spatial resolution) and Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) (30 m
spatial resolution) satellite imagery to estimate tree density in a
savannah-type ecosystem (holm and cork oaks), in southern
Spain; tree density was estimated with reasonable accuracy
through the application of spatial filters to the panchromatic
SPOT HRV band (r = 0.94), from the original panchromatic
SPOT HRV (r =
0.85), and using a combination of Landsat
TM channels 2 (TM2), 3 (TM3) and 4 (TM4) (r =
0.61).
Salvador and Pons (1998) used Landsat TM imagery combined
with fieldwork to estimate dendrometric variables (including
tree canopy cover) used in forest inventories in the
Mediterranean region, relying on regression models; these
were found to be consistent with the expected vegetation
spectral response; most of the multiple linear regression models
fit well the data, allowing quantitative predictions for several
field variables from remote sensing data; the best linear
regression (r2 = 0.64) for predicting tree canopy cover in Q. ilex
stands included Landsat TM channel 7 (TM7). Pereira et al.
(1995) used Landsat TM imagery and fieldwork measurements
to determine biomass, percent canopy cover and canopy volume
in Mediterranean shrublands; the best results were obtained
with the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to
estimate percent canopy cover (r2 = 0.65). Oliveira (1998) used
field radiometry and Landsat TM imagery to estimate several
shrub parameters in the Alto-Dão e Lafões region (Portugal);
field radiometry results showed that the Landsat TM3 channel
was the one better correlated with canopy cover (r =
0.91) and
the NDVI proved to be the vegetation index (VI) with better
performance (r = 0.75); regarding the Landsat TM imagery, it
was found that TM3, channel 5 (TM5), and TM7 yielded the
better correlation with canopy cover (r =
0.87) and the
Atmospherically Resistant Vegetation Index (ARVI) was the
best VI (r = 0.86). Calvão and Palmeirim (2004) collected field
data over Mediterranean shrublands and developed correlations
between several biophysical parameters and spectral variables
(single channel reflectance and NDVI) from Landsat TM data;
the higher correlation for canopy cover was obtained with TM3
(r =
0.91) and NDVI (r = 0.91).
2. Study area and methods
The study area is located near the city of Évora (University
of Évora/Mitra Campus, 388320 N and 88000 W), comprising an
area equivalent to a Landsat TM mini-scene (approximately
50 km  50 km). The data used in this study came from two
distinct sources: 1-m spatial resolution ortho-rectified digital
infrared aerial photography from a flight in the summer of 1995
(acquired between 28 August and 13 September) (Table 1) and
30-m Landsat TM imagery from the same year (acquired on 15
August). Proximity between the dates of the two data sources is
 J.M.B. Carreiras et al. / Forest Ecology and Management 223 (2006) 45–53 47

Table 1
Characteristics of the aerial photos used in this study
Aerial photograph # Tree density Acquisition date
3535 Low 28
3643 Low 28
3685 High 28
5153 Low 13
5195 High 13
important in this study area because main phenological changes
in land cover are highly detectable, due to low tree density. This
is more evident in croplands and pastures, which occupy a large
proportion of the understorey of Q. suber and Q. ilex ssp.
rotundifolia in this region (Gaspar, 1993). At the time of the
year of image acquisition (late summer) most of the croplands
had been harvested and the pastures were dry. This is a
fundamental issue because it allows a better spectral contrast
between the overstorey and the understorey.
The five aerial photos were selected to cover a broad range of
tree densities. Landsat TM mini-scene was calibrated to
radiance and apparent reflectance using the time-dependent
coefficients proposed by Teillet and Fedosejevs (1995). Image
georeferencing was performed with a linear polynomial
function, using 21 control points extracted from 1:25 000
scale topographic maps from the Portuguese Army Geographic
Institute. A residual mean square error of 9.6 m was obtained.
Subsequently, the Landsat TM mini-scene and the digital aerial
photos were co-registered, to guarantee spatial correspondence
between the two data sources.
The methodology used comprised three stages: (a) analysis of
digital aerial photos to estimate tree canopy cover; (b) calculation
of spectral measures of vegetation cover, derived from satellite
imagery; (c) regression modelling of tree canopy cover (aerial
photos), as a function of spectral reflectance data (satellite).
2.1. Analysis of digital aerial photos
Estimation of tree canopy cover using the aerial photos was
accomplished as follows: (i) 30 points were randomly chosen in
each digital aerial photo; this value was considered adequate to
characterise the spatial distribution of tree canopy cover; (ii)
square plots of 120 m  120 m were delineated, centred in the
August 1995 points previously chosen; this plot size was chosen considering
August 1995 the spatial resolution of the satellite imagery, i.e. 4  4 Landsat
August 1995 TM pixels; (iii) in each plot a systematic grid of 196 points was
September 1995 overlaid (14  14); (iv) the number of points falling in tree
September 1995
crowns was counted in each plot (both cork and holm oaks);
tree canopy cover (TCC) in each plot was obtained dividing the
number of points overlaid in the crowns by the total in the plot,
according to TCC = (number of tree crown points/total number
grid points)  100%.
Fig. 1 displays a plot overlaid on an aerial photo, and the grid
used to determine tree canopy cover. It shows the points that
were considered to fall on a tree crown (white plus signs) and
those falling on the understorey (black circles).
2.2. Satellite image analysis
Several spectral measures related to the presence of
vegetation were calculated. Vegetation spectral indices (VIs)
combine information from two or more spectral channels to
enhance vegetation signal, while minimising soil, atmospheric,
and solar irradiance effects (Jackson and Huete, 1991).
Several VIs were calculated, based on Landsat TM
individual channels, namely the NDVI (Rouse et al., 1974),
the Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI) (Huete, 1988), the
modified soil adjusted vegetation index (MSAVI) (Qi et al.,
1994), the Green Normalised Difference Vegetation Index
(GNDVI) (Gitelson et al., 1996), the ARVI (Kaufman and
Tanré, 1992), the VI5 (Marchetti and Ricotta, 1993), and the
VI7 (López and Caselles, 1991). The equations for these indices
are shown in Table 2.
The NDVI, GNDVI, VI5 and VI7 all are normalized
difference VIs, and they differ only in the channels used.
Classical VIs (e.g., the NDVI) exploit the fact that vegetation is
highly reflective in the near infrared (NIR) region and strongly
absorbing in the visible (due to chlorophyll absorption)
and short wave infrared (SWIR) (due to water absorption).

Fig. 1. (a) Plot insertion in the aerial photo, and (b) detail of the same plot and respective grid (aerial photo 3685, plot 10). The white plus signs represent the grid
points overlaid in tree crowns, and the black circles those overlaid in the understorey.
48 J.M.B. Carreiras et al. / Forest Ecology and Management 223 (2006) 45–53
Table 2
Spectral indices calculated with the Landsat data. TM1, TM2, TM3, TM4, TM5, TM7 – reflectances of Landsat TM channels. L: soil adjustment factor; a value of 0.5
is reasonable for a broad range of soil types (Huete, 1988). g: atmospheric self-correcting factor, dependent on aerosols type; when the canopy is sparse and
atmospheric data are unknown, a value of g = 1 is recommended for most remote sensing applications (Kaufman and Tanré, 1992)
Spectral indices/K–T components
NDVI
SAVI
MSAVI
GNDVI
ARVI
VI5
VI7
K–T brightness
K–T greenness
K–T wetness
This spectral behaviour contrasts with that of most other land
surfaces and atmospheric features and is the key to spectral
detection of vegetation and quantification of its abundance. The
VI5 and VI7 replace the visible channel of classical vegetation
indices with SWIR channels. These are sensitive to vegetation
moisture, enhancing the contrast between vegetation and drier
areas, and are less affected by atmospheric effects. The GNDVI
uses the green spectral region instead of the red region, to
increase sensitivity to the presence of chlorophyll (Gitelson
et al., 1996). Huete (1988) developed a VI (SAVI) to minimise
confounding effects induced by the soil background, especially
in areas with relatively sparse vegetation cover. Qi et al. (1994)
proposed a modification of SAVI (MSAVI); it uses a variable
soil adjustment factor that depends on the amount of vegetation
present. Kaufman and Tanré (1992) developed the ARVI, meant
to be resistant toward atmospheric effects; it uses the blue
channel to quantify, and compensate for, the magnitude of the
atmospheric effect.
Other spectral indicators of the presence of vegetation were
also calculated, namely the components of the Kauth–Thomas
(K–T) transformation, also know as the tasselled cap
transformation (Crist and Cicone, 1984). The K–T transforma-
tion converts the six reflective channels of the Landsat TM into
three orthogonal components, which are linear combinations of
the original channels. The first of these component, designated
brightness, expresses differences in soil properties, like particle
size and organic matter content; the second component,
greenness, is well correlated with tree canopy cover, leaf area
index and live biomass; the third component, wetness, is
sensitive to soil and plant moisture (Crist and Cicone, 1984).
The Landsat TM satellite data were converted to apparent
reflectance, so we used the K–T equivalent transformation for
reflectance factor data (Crist, 1985).
2.3. Model adjustment and validation
The 142 tree canopy cover estimates were randomly split
into two subsets, one for model fitting, with 75% of the data
(n = 106), and another for validation, with the remainder 25%
(n = 36). Ordinary least squares linear regression modelling
was employed to estimate tree canopy cover as a function of
Equation
(TM4
TM3)/(TM4 + TM3)
((TM4
TM3)/(TM4 + TM3))(1 + L)
(2TM4 + 1
((2TM4 + 1)2
8(TM4
TM3))1/2)/2
(TM4
TM2)/(TM4 + TM2)
(TM4
RB)/(TM4 + RB), RB = TM3
g(TM1
TM3)
(TM4
TM5)/(TM4 + TM5)
(TM4
TM7)/(TM4 + TM7)
0.2043TM1 + 0.4158TM2 + 0.5524TM3 + 0.5741TM4 + 0.3124TM5 + 0.2303TM7

0.1603TM1
0.2819TM2
0.4934TM3 + 0.7940TM4-0.0002TM5
0.1446TM7
0.0315TM1 + 0.2021TM2 + 0.3102TM3 + 0.1594TM4
0.6806TM5
0.6109TM7
spectral variables. Simple linear regression models were
developed to estimate tree canopy cover as a function of each
VI. Multiple linear regression was used for the models based on
the components of the K–T transformation and for the model
based on individual Landsat TM channels. For the latter model,
variables were chosen using a stepwise forward selection
procedure, with penter = 0.05 and premove = 0.40. Model
evaluation was performed using goodness-of-fit statistics
(coefficient of determination (r2) and adjusted r2).
Model validation was based on the analysis of the difference
between observed and predicted values (residuals) for the
validation subset (n = 36), using some of the tests for model
assessment recommended by Soares and Tomé (1993).
Residual analysis was performed using the mean prediction
residuals, mean absolute prediction residuals, and sum of
squared residuals. The statistical tests were performed to
evaluate model bias. First, the Shapiro-Wilk W test (Shapiro
et al., 1968) was used to test for normality of the distribution of
prediction residuals. Student’s t-test and regression tests were
performed for models with normally distributed residuals.
Student’s t-test evaluates model accuracy, based on the null
hypothesis of a mean prediction residual equal to zero. The
regression tests are based on the null hypothesis that when
observed values are regressed over the corresponding predicted
values, a regression line with unit slope and zero intercept
should be obtained, if the model is unbiased. For models with
non-normally distributed residuals the non-parametric Wilcox-
on’s signed-rank test was used. This test is based on the sign and
magnitude of the rank of the differences between pairs of
measurements. The formal null hypothesis for Wilcoxon’s test
is that the population distribution of differences is symmetrical
about zero. Details about all these tests can be found in standard
statistics textbooks (e.g., Conover, 1980; Steel and Torrie,
1980; Zar, 1999).
3. Results
3.1. Determination of tree canopy cover
Table 3 shows a summary of the results of the estimation of
tree canopy cover in the five aerial photos. Some of the aerial
 J.M.B. Carreiras et al. / Forest Ecology and Management 223 (2006) 45–53 49

Table 3 Table 4
Descriptive statistics of tree canopy cover estimation in the aerial photos Performance of the nine tested models, showing coefficients estimates, coeffi-
cient of determination (r2) and adjusted r2 (radj
2
) (n = 106); TCC: tree canopy
Aerial Number Tree canopy cover statistics
cover; BRIGHT, GREEN, WET – K–T brightness, greenness, and wetness
photograph # of plots
components, respectively
Mean Minimum Maximum S.D.
Model r2 2
radj
3535 30 31.6 2.0 61.2 15.2
3643 30 7.4 0.0 42.3 13.0 1. TCC =
36.298 + 278.354NDVI 0.72 0.71
3685 27 27.5 0.0 56.1 16.7 2. TCC =
44.472 + 552.388SAVI 0.66 0.66
5153 27 11.6 0.0 48.2 15.4 3. TCC =
42.502 + 628.068MSAVI 0.64 0.64
5195 28 28.5 0.0 100.0 30.6 4. TCC =
87.977 + 397.043GNDVI 0.64 0.64
5. TCC =
12.491 + 152.326ARVI 0.69 0.69
6. TCC = 57.223 + 231.738VI5 0.59 0.59
7. TCC = 8.569 + 182.749VI7 0.63 0.63
8. TCC = 54.723
36.617BRIGHT 0.70 0.69
+ 746.741GREEN + 157.412WET
9. TCC = 63.626
447.222TM5 + 623.837TM4 0.74 0.73

714.626TM3 + 281.354TM7

data is concentrated in the classes with lower canopy cover,

which is to be expected in these relatively open woodlands.

3.2. Model adjustment and validation

The results of the adjustment of the different models can be

Fig. 2. Histogram of tree canopy cover (%) for all the plots (n = 142).
photos have fewer than 30 plots because the corresponding grid
point was not totally inside the photo, so those plots were
rejected. Fig. 2 shows the histogram for tree canopy cover,
considering all plots (n = 142). As expected, the majority of the
seen in Table 4. The model with the best performance is the one
resulting from stepwise regression (with individual channels as
independent variables), followed by the model with the NDVI
as independent variable, and then those using the three K–T
components or the ARVI.
To get more insight into the data, a 2D perspective, i.e.
displaying several independent variables versus the dependent
variable, is presented. In Fig. 3, the different scatterplots, using

Fig. 3. Scatterplots of tree canopy cover (n = 142) vs. Landsat TM individual channels: (a) TM3; (b) TM4; (c) TM5; (d) TM7.
50 J.M.B. Carreiras et al. / Forest Ecology and Management 223 (2006) 45–53
the individual Landsat TM channels are represented, and in
Fig. 4 the same representation is shown for the NDVI, ARVI,
and K–T components. Regarding Fig. 3, there is a non-linear
inverse relation with tree canopy cover, with the exception of
TM4 reflectance, where there is no correlation. In Fig. 4, as
would be expected for the VIs, the highest tree canopy cover
corresponds to the highest VIs values. Moreover, the highest K–
T brightness component occurs in those plots with lowest tree
canopy cover; the opposite happens for the K–T greenness and
wetness components.
Table 5 shows model validation results. The models with
lower mean prediction residuals (rp) (models 2, 3, and 7) have,
however, higher mean absolute prediction residuals (arp) and
sum of squared residuals (ssr). This could result from both
higher negative and positive residuals that sum to a lower value
(lower rp) but resulting in higher arp and ssr; therefore the arp
and ssr measures seem to be more appropriate to assess model
Fig. 4. Scatterplots of tree canopy cover (n = 142) vs. NDVI, ARVI, and K–T components: (a) NDVI; (b) ARVI; (c) K–T brightness; (d) K–T greenness; (e) K–T
wetness.
validation. The four models with better goodness-of-fit are also
those with lower arp and ssr; model 9 (with Landsat channels
TM3, TM4, TM5 and TM7) has the lowest arp and ssr, followed
by model 8 (with K–T components), model 1 (with NDVI), and
model 5 (with ARVI). The W value of the Shapiro–Wilk test is
significant (for a = 0.05) for models 1–3, 6, and 7. The results
of the t-test indicate that there is insufficient information to
reject the null hypothesis for all the tested models (for
a = 0.05). The statistic of the intercept = 0 regression t-test is
significant for model 3 (for a = 0.05), and for models 6 and 7
(for a = 0.001). The slope = 1 regression t-test is significant for
models 1, 2, and 9 (for a = 0.05), for model 3 (for a = 0.01), and
for models 6 and 7 (for a = 0.001). These results indicate that
models 6 and 7 are highly biased (for a = 0.001), and that
models 1, 2, 9, and 3 are slightly biased. However, we should
note that the previous t-tests only have meaningful interpreta-
tion for those models displaying normally distributed residuals.
 J.M.B. Carreiras et al. / Forest Ecology and Management 223 (2006) 45–53 51

Table 5
Summary statistics of prediction residuals and results of statistical tests of model validation (n = 36); rp: mean prediction residuals, arp: mean absolute prediction
residuals, ssr: sum of squared residuals; the Wilcoxon’s signed-rank test is not shown for models 4, 5, 8, and 9, as there is no evidence to reject the null hypothesis of
the Shapiro–Wilk test (for a a = 0.05)
Model Summary statistics Statistical tests
rp arp ssr Shapiro–Wilk test (W) t-test (t) Regression t-test Wilcoxon test (z)
Intercept = 0 Slope = 1
1
0.66 7.82 3717.43 0.930
0.385 1.442
2.399 0.220
2 0.38 8.76 4448.15 0.938 0.201 2.002
2.639 0.377
3 0.52 9.21 4967.28 0.937 0.261 2.155
2.812 0.518
–
4 0.79 8.77 4304.25 0.973 0.427 1.606
1.813
5
1.83 7.90 3374.09 0.990
1.118 0.292
1.352 –
6 0.67 24.43 41117.04 0.902 0.118 4.945
6.794 0.896
7
0.64 24.28 41317.05 0.900
0.112 4.822
6.814 0.676
8
0.91 7.20 2988.73 0.982
0.591 0.989
1.917 –
9
0.73 6.59 2713.60 0.953
0.498 1.512
2.638 –

The Wilcoxon z-test, appropriate for residuals with a non-
normal distribution, indicates that there is not enough
information to reject the null hypothesis for the tested models
(for a = 0.05). Therefore, the previously mentioned four
models with better goodness-of-fit, and lower prediction
residuals statistics, also passed on the appropriate statistical
tests, the exception being model 9 for the slope = 1 regression t-
test.
Fig. 5 shows the scatterplots of observed versus predicted
tree canopy cover (in the validation subset) for these four
models. Models 8 and 9 yielded a better agreement between
observed and predicted data. Another relevant result in these
models is the tree canopy cover overestimation for values
greater than approximately 60%, although this could be due to
an insufficient number of observations in this range.
4. Discussion
At this time of the year (late summer) the understorey has a
very light colour, which is due to the presence of dry vegetation
and soil. The tree canopy is darker and when tree canopy cover
increases the reflectance of the plot decreases (reflective TM3),
because the soil reflects solar radiation and the chlorophyll
absorbs it (Fig. 3a). In the middle infrared (TM5 and TM7) the
situation is the same, but the absorption is due to the presence of
water in the living tissues (Fig. 3c and d). In the NIR (TM4)

Fig. 5. Observed vs. predicted tree canopy cover (%) for the (a) model 1, (b) model 5, (c) model 8, and (d) model 9. The data refers to the validation subset (n = 36).
The 1:1 line represents perfect agreement.
52 J.M.B. Carreiras et al. / Forest Ecology and Management 223 (2006) 45–53
crowns are highly reflective, as well as the understorey of bright
soils and dry grass, thus resulting in the weak correlation shown
in the scatterplot (Fig. 3b).
Satellite imagery acquired in the late summer maximize the
spectral contrast between the evergreen tree crowns and the dry
herbaceous background. However, the study area is still
characterized by an extremely variable understorey, containing
bare soil, dry grass, and a few evergreen shrubs. The differences
between VIs values of plots with the same tree canopy cover are
due to the presence of different types of understorey, which
have different spectral properties, and/or different vegetation
structure. Huete (1989) refers that in areas with significant soil-
brightness changes that arise from moisture differences,
roughness variations, shadow, or organic-matter differences,
there are soil-induced influences on the vegetation indices
values, and that these effects are predominant in partially
vegetated canopies, as in this study.
To distinguish different plots according to tree canopy cover,
a diagram representing Landsat channels TM3 and TM4 was
built (Fig. 6). The plots were grouped into five classes,
according to tree canopy cover estimated from the aerial
photos. Richardson and Wiegand (1977) observed that bare soil
pixels were generally aligned according to a straight line
(beginning in the origin), which approximately bisects the red-
NIR space (soil line). They also observed that points
representing pixels of water were located close to the origin
of the soil line, while pixels of vegetation were always located
to the left of the same line. It is evident that plots with lower tree
canopy cover (i.e. with higher proportion of understorey) are
located closer to the soil line. The higher or lower reflectance of
these plots in these channels is related with the type of the
background. An increase in tree canopy cover, within the same
type of understorey, shows an increase of the reflectance in the
NIR (TM4) and a decrease in the red (TM3).
Considering the four best models, model 9 is the harder to
interpret, because it is a multiple linear regression model. Those
with the NDVI (model 1) or with the ARVI (model 5) are the
Fig. 6. Representation of the dataset (142 plots), based in tree canopy cover
(TCC) classes, in the TM3–TM4 reflectance plane.
simplest, followed by that with the K–T components. All the
parameters in model 9 are interpretable, except the one
associated with the TM7; which should be negative, like the one
associated with TM5, reflecting the presence of water in the
living tissues, typical of the SWIR spectral region; one possible
explanation is the observed high correlation between TM5 and
TM7 (r = 0.96); the signal is positive for TM4 because a higher
tree canopy cover is associated with a high value of reflectance
in the NIR; the opposite happens with TM3, the negative signal
indicating that a higher absorption (less reflectance) is a sign of
the presence of high values of chlorophyll, and so more
vegetation. As expected, the equation with the NDVI or the
ARVI present the parameter with a positive signal, indicating a
direct relation between the increase of these VIs and tree
canopy cover. The equation with the K–T components has the
parameters with the appropriate signals: areas with dense
canopy cover are dark (negative brightness coefficient), green
(positive greenness sign), and contain abundant leaf tissue
moisture (positive wetness sign).
5. Conclusions
The low tree density characteristic of these Mediterranean
evergreen oak woodlands has a large influence on the estimation
of tree canopy cover with remote sensing data. The spectral
contribution of the understorey for the signal received by the
satellite sensor increases with decreasing tree density. Therefore,
one should select a period when there is maximum spectral
contrast between the overstorey and the understorey.
The model with best predictive capability (model 9) includes
one channel in the visible domain, one in the NIR, and two in
the SWIR, and produces good estimates of tree canopy cover.
The second best model (model 8) includes the components of
the K–T transformation, yielding a robust and easily
interpretable model. Two other models present good predictive
capability, namely those including the NDVI (model 1) and the
ARVI (model 5).
It is also important to stress that the type of relation
established can be helpful in understanding the dynamics of
tree canopy cover in this region of the country. The use of high
and medium spatial resolution satellite imagery could be an
instrument to monitor changes that occur in this type of forest,
with lower tree density. Another important key aspect is the
presence of several types of understory associated with
different crown cover percentage, which favours the robustness
of the model being built.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the two anonymous
reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions. This
study was funded by the Portuguese ‘‘Subprograma Ciência e
Tecnologia do 28 Quadro Comunitário de Apoio’’ within the
grant Ref. GGP XXI/BTI/4458/96. This grant was integrated in
a broader project called ‘‘Monitorização da Resposta ao Stress
Ambiental em Povoamentos de Sobreiro’’, Ref. PRAXIS XXI/
3/3.2/FLOR/2122/95.
 J.M.B. Carreiras et al. / Forest Ecology and Management 223 (2006) 45–53
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