Evaluation of digital and film hemispherical photography and spherical densiometry for measuring forest light environments

This study presents the results of a comparison of digital and film hemispherical photography as means of characterizing forest light environments and canopy openness. We also compared hemispherical photography to spherical densiometry. Our results showed that differences in digital image quality due to the loss of resolution that occurred when images were processed for computer analysis did not affect estimates of unweighted openness. Weighted openness and total site factor estimates were significantly higher in digital images compared with film photos. The differences between the two techniques might be a result of underexposure of the film images or differences in lens optical quality and field of view. We found densiometer measurements significantly increased in consistency with user practice and were correlated with total site factor and weighted-openness estimates derived from hemispherical photography. Digital photography was effective and more convenient and inexpensive than film cameras, but until the differences we observed are better explained, we recommend caution when comparisons are made between the two techniques. We also concluded that spherical densiometers effectively characterize forest light environments.