Tree Canopy and Vegetation Structure

Understanding tree canopy and vegetation structure is key to many sustainability metrics such biodiversity, forest health, and carbon sequestration.

The process produced by Salo Sciences provides collections of high-resolution vegetation structure data derived directly from satellite imagery using AI-powered ecological modelling to provide LiDAR-like 3D information across large scales. The data are optimized for use in large-scale land management, forest restoration and reforestation planning and monitoring, and ecosystem health analytics and monitoring.

The datasets include:

• Canopy height – the distance between the ground and the top of the canopy. Canopy height is a proxy for aboveground biomass and the amount of foliage that may be consumed in a canopy fire.
• Canopy cover – the horizontal cover fraction occupied by tree canopies. Maps community type & fire regime, as well as available habitat for tree-dwelling species.
• Canopy base height – the distance between the ground and the lowest branches in the canopy. Predicts whether a surface fire will transition to a canopy fire.
• Canopy bulk density – the mass of available fuel that burns in a canopy fire—typically the leaves and small branches— divided by the volume of the crown. There are no performance metrics associated with CBD because it isn’t directly measured.
• Vertical layer count – the number of distinct vertical canopy layers. Vertical layer count is a proxy for leaf area index, and maps canopy complexity.

Together, these datasets provide an unparalleled understanding of a forest’s vegetation structure using satellite images so that this process can scale to large geographical areas.