Prairie Leaf Area Index from KSU Light Wand Study

Indirect leaf area index (LAI) estimates were obtained from the KSU Light Wand Study using a LI-COR LAI-2000 Plant Canopy Analyzer. The instrument measures canopy transmittance at five zenith angles to estimate LAI and mean leaf inclination angle. This dataset is hosted by ORNL_CLOUD and appears on multiple government data platforms.

Use Cases

• Calibrating and validating satellite-derived vegetation indices using ground-based LAI measurements.
• Modeling prairie ecosystem productivity and light interception using leaf area index and leaf inclination data.
• Comparing the accuracy of non-destructive LAI-2000 measurements against traditional destructive sampling methods.
• Studying spatial variability in prairie agronomic characteristics across sampling sites.

Strengths

• Non-destructive LAI-2000 measurements are reported to be within 15% of values from destructive sampling, based on manufacturer verification studies.
• The methodology enabled a large number of rapid field estimates to supplement a limited set of destructive samples.
• The dataset's presence on NASA EarthData and Data.gov platforms indicates a level of curation and public accessibility.

Limitations

• Critical metadata is missing, including row count, column names, and exact sample size.
• There is a conflict in the 'last updated' date between sources: one lists 1989-10-31, while others list 2026-03 13.
• The license is ambiguously noted as 'other-license-specified' without clear terms.

Provenance

Source

KSU Light Wand Study (FIFE)

Collection Method

Field measurements using a LI-COR LAI-2000 Plant Canopy Analyzer to measure canopy transmittance at five zenith angles, inverted to estimate leaf area index and mean leaf inclination.

Time Range

null

Freshness

2026-03-13 01:22:19.231798

Geography

Prairie study sites (likely related to FIFE project).