A LASER TECHNIQUE FOR CHARACTERIZING THE GEOMETRY OF PLANT CANOPIES

This work was supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under contracts NAS9-14016 and NAS9-14970. FRONT COVER: Data obtained over a plant canopy using the PURDUE/LARS laser probe provides numerical information concerning the location and orientation of foliage in the canopy. Such data is required a § input to many models for the radiation regime in the canopy. This Information Note (1) describes the laser technique, (2) demonstrates the feasibility of the technique applied to two plant canopies, earn and wheat, and (3) offers suggestions for its implementation. BACK COVER: The raw data acquired over wheat using the laser probe (the orange dots) is overlaid on a hypothetical wheat canopy. The analysis of the raw data involved definition of zenith angle bins, outlined by the black lines