Estimate the height of vegetation using remote sensing in the groundwater-fluctuating belt in the lower reaches of Heihe River, northwest China

The height of vegetation is an important parameter to characterize the canopy evapotranspiration and the sensible heat flux. For studying the ecological water requirement of vegetation in the groundwater-fluctuating belt in lower reaches of Heihe River, northwest China, the empirical evaluation of the landscape-scale height of vegetation prediction technique was derived from Landsat TM image and the height of vegetation map was obtained in the maximum growing season of study area. The conclusions show that the height of vegetation has obvious spatial difference from non-vegetation covered region to the region covered with desert vegetation and riparian vegetation in the study area. This algorithm is effectual to estimate the height of vegetation in the landscape-scale region. This study lays the foundation for characterizing the canopy evapotranspiration and the sensible heat flux, estimating the regional water requirement of ecology, studying many biological and physical processes in the groundwater-fluctuating belt in the lower reaches of Heihe River.