Characterization of vegetation conditions at the Ñacuñan and Chancani reserves in Argentina with ground- air- and EO-1 hyperion data

Hyperspectral data sets were collected over several land cover types in the Córdoba and Mendoza regions of Argentina in support of EO-1 validation activities. Hyperion satellite imagery, airborne AVIRIS imagery and ASD spectroradiometer data were acquired over the protected Ñacuñan and Chancani Reserves, composed of floristically diverse vegetation communities, including mesquite shrub and open mesquite forest (algorrobos), savanna, and creosotebush (jarillales). We sampled these vegetation communities in their original, undisturbed state as well as at various stages of degradation with both an optical and biophysical sampling scheme. Ground-based radiometric measurements included 100 m transects through each type of canopy as well as 'pure' spectral signatures over all the major vegetation species, soils, and non-photosynthetic vegetation (NPV) materials. Biophysical measurements included percent cover by component and leaf area index (LAI) measurements. The ground-based data sets were co-registered with the airborne and satellite imagery to evaluate the quality and validate the Hyperion data. Our goal was to assess the capability of hyperspectral data in discrimination the gradient of vegetation types and land cover conversions sampled in this study.