2002-03 Forest Watch Spectral & Biometric Data


The table on the previous page lists the schools which provided UNH with biometric data and/or needle samples for the 2002-03 school year. The biometric data were entered into Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and can be downloaded to your computer by clicking on the link.

Needle samples were scanned with the VIRIS spectroradiometer in our UNH lab. The VIRIS measures the spectral reflectance of the white pine needles from 400 nm to 2500 nm and can tell us much about the health of those needles. Each sample was scanned tree times and an average of the three scans was calculated. These averages were put into a MS Excel spreadsheet. Each Excel spreadsheet has several columns of data, each with about 600 rows. In the first column are the wavelength positions which the instrument takes a measurement at. In successive columns are the 3-scan averages of the % reflectance for each sample (i.e., tree 60N). The last several rows are the calculation of several spectral indices which we use to help us learn about the health of your trees. These indices are are also in a table under the "indices" tab.

These spreadsheets can be downloaded to your computer by clicking on the link. Additionally, we have graphed the spectral curves for each tree and have saved these graphs as part of the Excel spreadsheet.

Individual tree spectra are also viewable on-line by clicking on the link for specific trees (i.e., "T060" is Tree 60 which is monitored at Cape Cod Academy in Osterville, MA). By clicking on these links you will see a GIF image of the spectral curves, which you can either save to your computer or print.

Please refer to the Forest Watch VIRIS video and/or Teacher's Guide for interpreting the spectral data