title: Estimation of the distribution of Tabebuia guayacan (Bignoniaceae) using high-resolution remote sensing imagery.
abstract: Species identification and characterization in tropical environments is an emerging field in tropical remote sensing. Significant efforts are currently aimed at the detection of tree species, of levels of forest successional stages, and the extent of liana occurrence at the top of canopies. In this paper we describe our use of high resolution imagery from the Quickbird Satellite to estimate the flowering population of Tabebuia guayacan trees at Barro Colorado Island (BCI), in Panama. The imagery was acquired on 29 April 2002 and 21 March 2004. Spectral Angle Mapping via a One-Class Support Vector machine was used to detect the presence of 422 and 557 flowering tress in the April 2002 and March 2004 imagery. Of these, 273 flowering trees are common to both dates. This study presents a new perspective on the effectiveness of high resolution remote sensing for monitoring a phenological response and its use as a tool for potential conservation and management of natural resources in tropical environments.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Earth Observation Sciences (CEOS) and Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. arturo.sanchez@ualberta.ca
authors.forename: Arturo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Azofeifa
authors.forename: Benoit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rivard
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: Ji-Lu
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Peijun
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Mei Mei
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Chong
authors.forename: Stephanie A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Bohlman
mesh_terms: D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D010176:Panama; D010781:Photography / Q000379:methods*; D011157:Population Dynamics; D017215:Satellite Communications; D029663:Tabebuia / Q000254:growth & development*; D014197:Trees / Q000254:growth & development*; D014329:Tropical Climate