SREL Reprint #2353

Indications of relative drought stress in longleaf pine from thematic mapper data

John E. Pinder III and Kenneth W. McLeod

Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, The University of Georgia, Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802

Abstract: Multitemporal Thematic Mapper data indicated that the ratios of reflectances of band 5 to band 4 increased as longleaf pine were subjected to a prolonged drought that began in the fall of 1989 and continued through the fall of 1990. Mean ratios increased from 0.42 preceding the drought to 0.55 during the drought, but the amount of the increase varied from 0.05 to 0.25 among forest stands. Ratios returned to predrought levels once the drought was broken. Tree ring widths in 1990 were significantly smaller than were those for years of average rainfall before the drought, and residual drought stress effects contributed to smaller ring widths in subsequent years. The degree of reduction in ring widths was correlated to the degree of increase in the ratio of band 5 to band 4. The greatest size reductions in ring widths occurred in those stands with the greatest increase in band ratios.

SREL Reprint #2353

Pinder, J.E., III. and K.W. McLeod. 1999. Indications of relative drought stress in longleaf pine from thematic mapper data. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing 65:495-501.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).