A proposed methodology for the correction of the leaf area index measured with a ceptometer for pinus and eucalyptus forests

Abstract

Leaf area index (LAI) is an important parameter controlling many biological and physiological processes associated with vegetation on the Earth's surface, such as photosynthesis, respiration, transpiration, carbon and nutrient cycle and rainfall interception. LAI can be measured indirectly by sunfleck ceptometers in an easy and non-destructive way but this practical methodology tends to underestimated when measured by these instruments. Trying to correct this underestimation, some previous studies heave proposed the multiplication of the observed LAI value by a constant correction factor. The assumption of this work is LAI obtained from the allometric equations are not so problematic and can be used as a reference LAI to develop a new methodology to correct the ceptometer one. This new methodology indicates that the bias (the difference between the ceptometer and the reference LAI) is estimated as a function of the basal area per unit ground area and that bias is summed to the measured value. This study has proved that while the measured Pinus LAI needs a correction, there is no need for that correction for the Eucalyptus LAI. However, even for this last specie the proposed methodology gives closer estimations to the real LAI values.