Abstract: The main study site for the research is the Yellowstone National Park (YNP) and nearby Cooke City, MT. "YNP is part of a fire-adapted ecosystem with a wide range of forest types. YNP experienced a major fire event in 1988 that burned approximately 321,300 hectaresleaving a mosaic of disturbance patterns throughout the entire park. The study area
includes a range of elevations (2000 m – 3000 m) and includes the following conifer species: lodgepole pine, Engelmann spruce, Douglas fir, limber pine, whitebark pine and subalpine fir. YERC has made extensive field measurements of forest structure for our research:
1) The Yellowstone Optical (and SAR) Ground Imaging (YOGI) study of 2003 was a massive undertaking (15 organizations, ten sensors) which resulted in a number of remotely sensed datasets and volumes of field data. The field measurements were made on over 1800 trees in 186 10 m x 10 m square subplots located within 11 larger quadrants. All aboveground vegetation (live/dead leaf/branch/trunk biomass) was measured. Tree data including height, species, diameter at breast height (DBH), and canopy cover (via hemispherical digital photography) were collected along with
measures of canopy health and understory biomass. Total above ground biomass ranged from 1 to 450 t/ha with numerous plots above 300 t/ha.
2) The second study looked at fire fuels. All trees and shrubs were measured in 833 variable-radius prism plots. Tree height, tree age, vegetation species, diameter at breast height (DBH), live/dead foliage/branch/trunk biomass, basal area, canopy cover (via spherical densiometer), and fuel (1/10/100/1000 hour) were recorded along with understory tree, shrub, herb, litter and duff measurements. 3) The third study looked at forest inventory in 2004 where field crews recorded diameter at breast height (DBH), height, and species of all trees in 122 fixed radius forestry plots (8 meter). Allometric equations (Brown, 1978) have been applied to convert all these data into biomass estimates.
4) “Lone Tree” measurements
1124 isolated lone trees were measures for validating our LiDAR results in the summer of 2004. Tree height, DBH, tree species, canopy were recorded for these trees.
5) DEM measurements
To validate DEM from InSAR and LiDAR, we have selected 323 points in the October of 2004. The slope, aspect, land cover, and vegetation species were recorded for these 323 points. The position of these points is carrier phase DGPS. YOGI DATA COLLECT
The YOGI data collect of 2003 was a logistically challenging undertaking that resulted in a number of remotely sensed datasets., in large part organized by YERC. It included 15 organizations (military and natural resource oriented; public, private, and academic, and multiple passive and active sensors . In total, the July 2003 YOGI data collect alone provided high-resolution data from 13 high-resolution sensors flown on 7 airborne platforms. Groups represented in the 2003 YOGI Data Collect ;
 NRL
 HyPerspectives
 YERC
 AFRL / SN
 AFRL / VSBT
 Army NVL
 JPSD RTV
 DUSD
 Army CECOM
 NASA/JPL
 DARPA
 US Forest Service
 National Park Service
 MIT / LL
 SOLERS Sensors for 2003 YOGI Data Collect
 Dual band EO/IR, VNIR HSI, SWIR HSI
 HyMap HSI sensor
 FOPEN SAR (HH VHF and full polarimetric UHF)
 IFSAR
 AirSAR (polarimetric multi-band and IFSAR)
 LiDAR (single and multiple return sensors) YERC has extensive experience of processing these datasets of LiDAR, HyMAP, AirSAR, FOPEN etc. These high resolution datasets could be used for 1.) validating medium resolution results (canopy cover, forest density, canopy height, biomass, land cover); 2.) Simulating broadband remote sensing; 3.) Assessing and validating the elevation from remote sensing ...