Laboratory and image spectroscopy for evaluating the biophysical state of meadow vegetation in the Krkonoše National Park

The paper deals with the evaluation of mountain meadow vegetation condition using in-situ measurements of the fraction of Accumulated Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fAPAR) and Leaf Area Index (LAI). The study analyses the relationship between these parameters and spectral properties of meadow vegetation and selected invasive species with the goal of finding out vegetation indices for the detection of fAPAR and LAI. The developed vegetation indices were applied on hyperspectral data from an APEX (Airborne Prism Experiment) sensor in the area of interest in the Krkonoše National Park. The results of index development on the level of the field data were quite good. The maximal sensitivity expressed by the coefficient of determination for LAI was R² = 0.56 and R² = 0.79 for fAPAR. However, the sensitivity of all the indices developed at the image level was quite low. The output values of in-situ measurements confirmed the condition of invasive species as better than that of the valuable original meadow vegetation, which is a serious problem for national park management.