Comparison of Linear and Non-Linear Regression Models to Estimate Leaf Area Index of Dryland Shrubs.

Abstract:

Leaf area index (LAI) is a key parameter in global ecosystem studies. LAI is considered a forcing variable in land surface processing models since ecosystem dynamics are highly correlated to LAI. In response to environmental limitations, plants in semiarid ecosystems have smaller leaf area, making accurate estimation of LAI by remote sensing a challenging issue. Optical remote sensing (400-2500 nm) techniques to estimate LAI are based either on radiative transfer models (RTMs) or statistical approaches. Considering the complex radiation field of dry ecosystems, simple 1-D RTMs lead to poor results, and on the other hand, inversion of more complex 3-D RTMs is a demanding task which requires the specification of many variables. A good alternative to physical approaches is using methods based on statistics. Similar to many natural phenomena, there is a non-linear relationship between LAI and top of canopy electromagnetic waves reflected to optical sensors. Non-linear regression models can better capture this relationship. However, considering the problem of a few numbers of observations in comparison to the feature space (n<p), these models will not necessarily outperform the more simple linear models.

In this study linear versus non-linear regression techniques were investigated to estimate LAI. Our study area is located in southwestern Idaho, Great Basin. Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata spp) serves a critical role in maintaining the structure of this ecosystem. Using a leaf area meter (Accupar LP-80), LAI values were measured in the field. Linear Partial Least Square regression and non-linear, tree based Random Forest regression have been implemented to estimate the LAI of sagebrush from hyperspectral data (AVIRIS-ng) collected in late summer 2014. Cross validation of results indicate that PLS can provide comparable results to Random Forest.