Estimates of leaf-area index for the territory of Russia using State Forest Inventory data

Abstract

The 2007 State Forest Inventory (SFI) data have been used at two scales of spatial resolution: the datasets of the forest regions (31) and the forest-management basic units (1900) to estimate the leafarea index (LAI, m² m^–2) of forests in Russia. The area and yield data on all 66 tree species recorded in the SFI offer the opportunity to obtain the wood specific gravity values U (m³ ha^–1) for all these tree species. The conversion coefficients of yield to leaf phytomass per unit area (t m^–3) and the projected specific leaf areas (SLAs) (cm² g^–1) are used to estimate the LAI. The obtained LAI values are similar to the average ground and remote-sensing estimates (the given review for July includes eighteen literature sources). The highest LAI values can be observed in the middle taiga subzone in the European part of Russia and in the Angara River regions. The LAI estimates may be used to compute the productivity of the forest ecosystems at different scales of analysis and to extrapolate the calibrated data acquired with remote control techniques.