Remote sensing forest inventory gained increased attention in the last decade triggered by the decrease in the price of sensors and the explosion of data availability and formats. Evermore, the constant advances in the hardware processing the data emphasized the necessity to develop algorithms to extract forest relevant information from...
Remote sensing techniques have been applied extensively in geospatial investigations, but their use in measuring soil physical attributes has been far less explored. Soil particle size distributions (PSD) are indispensable in modeling pedological and hydrological processes as well as biodiversity. However, estimation of PSD via gravimetric measurement methods, the standard...
Surface Canopy Water (SCW) is the intercepted rain water that resides within the tree canopy and plays a significant role in the hydrological cycle. Challenges arise in measuring SCW in remote areas using traditional ground based techniques. Remote sensing in the radio spectrum has the potential to overcome the challenges...
Forest species classifications are becoming increasingly automated as advances are made in machine learning. The algorithms used to identify tree species range from simple decision trees to intricate neural networks, and often excel in accurately delineating tree species. However, complex algorithms can have high input costs, including the cost of...
The public concern for clearcutting in the United States in the 1970s pushed for changes in the natural resources policies. A facet of forest management that came under scrutiny was forest aesthetics. Therefore, the aim of this study is to assess the impact of harvest designs on stand aesthetics using...
Western juniper is a native species in eastern Oregon that became invasive during the last century since its range increased fivefold from 1936 to 1988. Western juniper’s ability to absorb rainfall and groundwater has deleterious effects on stream flow and sensitive sage grouse habitat in eastern Oregon. New methods of...