Remote sensing of redberry juniper in the Texas rolling plains

Abstract

Redberry juniper (Juniperus pinchotii Sudw.) is a noxious shrub or small tree that invades rangelands in northwest Texas. Field reflectance measurements showed that redberry juniper had lower visible and higher near-infrared (NIR) reflectance than associated species and mixtures of species in February. The low visible reflectance of redberry juniper was due to its darker green foliage than associated species, whereas its high NIR reflectance was attributed to its greater vegetative density than associated vegetation. Redberry juniper had a distinct reddish-brown image tonal response on color-infrared aerial photographs obtained in February. Computer analysis of a color-infrared photographic transparency showed that redberry juniper infestations could be quantified. An accuracy assessment performed on the classified image had a user's accuracy of 100% and a producer's accuracy of 94% for redberry juniper.