Input File Format (see attached CSV file)

   start stop       species transect block transect.length     notes
  

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Premise:
We need some randomly selected areas for performing a vegetation survey. Two possible approaches are given: random selection of grid cells from a 7x7 grid superimposed over the region of interest, and random generation of 100x100 meter blocks which meet certain criteria on how close they can be from each other and the edges of the region. The region and grid files are attached at the bottom of this page.

 
Premise:
Supervised classification of 2005 NAIP imagery (1 meter resolution) into 3 classes (grass, tree, shade), by the SMAP[1-3] algorithm. Tree heights are small compared to horizontal extent, and therefore "shadow" pixels can probably be interpreted as "tree" pixels. Field verification will be needed to check actual percent coverage of classes, and fractionation of tree species within the "tree" pixel class. Still looking up the specific date/time the source imagery was taken. Since the shadows appear to be falling north-ward, the photo was probably taken in the morning. The color of the grass suggests that it was probably summer. In these conditions there should be no shading of this region by local terrain features.

In the next few years, one of the most challenging issues in science will be water quality and consequently watershed management. Along with savanna, oak woodlands cover 3 million ha in California watersheds (Griffin 1977) and are therefore, an important component of California landscapes. Although these ecosystems have been studied, there are many areas that are not well understood. One of these areas is the correlation between soil moisture distribution and the water balance.

Alexandre Swarowsky
Soils and Biogeochemistry Graduate Group
University of California
One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616

Email: aswarowsky@ucdavis.edu
Phone: 530-754-7341