The Second SALCA Field Trip

Delamere Forest, Cheshire, Plots 2 and 3

Rain was forecast in the afternoon of our second field visit, so we only managed to get 2 full scans. However, this has given us an excellent opportunity to visit plot 3 - a stand composed mainly of Sweet Chestnuts, which have not yet completed bud burst, and the odd Rowan tree. A transect has been suggested in each of the plots to measure how the undergrowth develops in relation to canopy cover. Having processed the data from 8^th April, we have decided to use the stronger ND1 filter instead of the ND0.6 as the 1550nm laser is still showing signs of saturation and we do not want to lose any more of the signal from the 1040nm.

Rachel Gaulton and Mark Danson with SALCA at plot 3

Phenological Observations - plot 2: The Oak buds in the higher branches are still yet to burst here, however, bud burst has occurred lower down and in younger trees. The Birch trees have already undergone first leaf, but have not yet reached full leaf. The undergrowth is just starting to green up and is mainly composed of bracken starting to unfurl and brambles, with small amounts of moss present.

Fisheye photo from plot 2

Phenological Observations - plot 3: Bud burst has occurred on smaller Sweet Chestnuts, but not yet on the larger trees. The leaves are already out on the Rowans. There is very little undergrowth here, just a small amount of moss.

Fisheye photo from plot 3

  

The image below displays some of the information we have captured. The fisheye plot shows the intensity of the returned pulses of energy from targets surrounding SALCA. Different substances reflect different amounts of energy and intensity values give us information on how much energy has been reflected from the target. 

Intensity image from plot 3 using the 1550nm laser. Dark blue indicates the highest intensity, whereas brown indicates  lower intensities.

There is still plenty of data to collect and a lot of analysis to complete, but we are really happy with the progress that we have made so far.

Oliver Gunawan
12th April 2011