Leaf Area Index

The Leaf Area Index (LAI) is defined as the total area of one-sided leaves per ground surface area.

It is a fundamental property of the plant canopy as it plays a key role in the absorption of solar radiation, through photosynthesis, and thus on the vegetation growth.

LAI can be estimated by ground measurements (see here) or through satellite/airborne sensors. Typically, the LAI goes from 0 to up to 10, where 0 represents non-vegetated areas and 10 very dense vegetated areas.

Unit: m2/m2

Available products over Australia:

• COPERNICUS BioPAR GEOv1
• COPERNICUS BioPAR GEOv2
• COPERNICUS PROBA-V GEOV3
• NASA MODIS (MCD15A3H v6)
• NCDC AVHRR
• LSASAF MSG SEVIRI (MDLAI)
• GLASS
• UCL GlobAlbedo – derived (Please contact Mathias Disney: mathias.disney@ucl.ac.uk)
• LSASAF EPS AVHRR (pre-operational)
• DLR MERIS