Empirical relations between Landsat TM spectral response and forest stands near fort simpson, Northwest Territories, Canada

Empirical relationships between forest stand variables, such as age and crown closure, and spectral response measured by the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) satellite sensor have long been suggested as an information source to support forest inventories in many regions of the world. Using regression and correlation techniques, the authors have identified the form and strength of these empirical relationships for a sample of forest stands near Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories. Models were strongest for pioneer forest species such as jack pine and trembling aspen as these relationships were characterized by reasonably consistent changes in stand structure and composition. White spruce, a secondary successional species, produced the statistically weakest models from Landsat TM spectral response patterns for all stand variables with the exception of crown closure. The authors attribute the differences in model strength to variable trends in stem growth and stand structural changes caused by differing successional pathways for white spruce stands in this region.