riparian scrubs

Remote Sensing

terrestrial laser scanning

hemispheric photography

Our paper presents a comparison of remote-sensing methods for evaluation of riparian shrub structures. Investigation involved three methods: leaf area index measurements (LAI-2000), hemispheric photography, and terrestrial laser scanning. Direct measurements using a digital slide caliper were chosen as a reference method. This paper firstly reviews the methodology of laboratory and field research. Additionally, an original method of calculating the volume and surface area of plants on the basis of laser scanning data has been proposed. The second part of paper concentrates on the comparison of plant structure coefficients determined with all investigated devices. In the case of the LAI Ring 5 index from LAI-2000 measurement as well as canopy openness of shrub (P), obtained on the basis of hemispheric photos, high linear dependence between them and cross-section covering coefficient ϖ_p from direct investigation were obtained. Volume and surface area of plants calculated on the basis of laser scanning in micro- and macrostructural approach were also compared to the analogous parameters obtained from direct measurements. In this case, the results strongly depend on the modeling parameters, but the proposed method seems to be prospective in this task.