Using spectral and textural features from RapidEye images to estimate age and structural parameters of Cerrado vegetation

Cerrado is a savannah biome covering about 60% of the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, but with a rate of conversion that surpasses that of all other biomes in Brazil. Remote sensing is the only practical means of monitoring the conversion and regeneration of this vegetation formation. The objective of this article is to model the process of regeneration of Cerrado vegetation and to estimate its age using a RapidEye image mosaic and textural features derived from the grey-level co-occurrence matrix. The study area is Parque Estadual Veredas do Peruacu, a State Park in Minas Gerais, which was a plantation of eucalyptus until 1994 with a broad range of regeneration ages between 15 and 37 years. A total of 47 plots were surveyed for which the exact ages of regeneration are known and other structural variables were measured. Multiple regression and stepwise feature selection were used to create models that explain over 80% of the age, 58% of the crown closure, and 48% of the height of the vegetation. Texture proved essential for capturing the patterns of light and shadow generated by the trees of varying widths and heights.