Near-infrared digital hemispherical photography enables correction of plant area index for woody material during leaf-on conditions

Luke A. Brown, Harry Morris, Rosalinda Morrone, Morven Sinclair, Owen Williams, Merryn Hunt, Subhajit Bandopadhyay, Xuerui Guo, Haydar Akcay, Jadunandan Dash

Abstract: Highlights•Wood area index estimated using leaf-on near-infrared hemispherical photography.•Enables correction of plant area index for woody material during leaf-on conditions.•Effective leaf area index estimated with good accuracy (RMSD = 0.33, NRMSD = 12%).•Similar though less precise results for leaf area index (RMSD = 0.76, NRMSD = 19%).•Errors of up to 61% observed when no correction for woody material carried out.