Upward-Looking Vegetation Cover Images from Tumbarumba Wet Eucalypt SuperSite

Digital Cover Photography (DCP) upward-looking images collected up to twice per year to capture vegetation cover at the Tumbarumba Wet Eucalypt SuperSite in Australia. The images are used to estimate Leaf Area Index (LAI), Crown Cover, and Foliage Projective Cover (FPC). The site was established in 2000, with a consistent DCP protocol implemented on a 1-hectare plot since 2015.

Use Cases

• Estimate Leaf Area Index (LAI) from upward-looking DCP images to model forest canopy structure.
• Analyze Crown Cover and Foliage Projective Cover (FPC) trends from biannual images captured since 2015.
• Compare vegetation cover in a site dominated by Eucalyptus delegatensis and Eucalyptus dalrympleana using DCP images.

Strengths

• Images have been collected since 2000, providing a long-term record of vegetation change.
• A consistent DCP protocol has been implemented twice per year on a defined 1-hectare plot since 2015.
• Data is part of a broader ecosystem monitoring site that includes other image types like phenocam time-lapse.

Limitations

• The exact number of images, rows, or file sizes is not specified in the provided metadata.
• Images are collected only up to twice per year, limiting temporal resolution for fine-scale phenological studies.
• The dataset focuses on a single 1-hectare site in Australia, limiting geographic generalizability.

Provenance

Source

Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network's Data Discovery

Collection Method

Digital Cover Photography (DCP) using upward-looking images captured according to a consistent protocol.

Time Range

Preliminary images since 2000, with consistent protocol from 2015 onward.

Freshness

Data was last updated in March 2026, indicating ongoing collection.

Geography

Tumbarumba Wet Eucalypt SuperSite, Australia.