Aerial photographs for measuring of tree crown area in the streets of Curitiba, Paraná

Abstract

This research aimed to apply the Geographic Information System (GIS) to measure the canopy area of urban trees of Curitiba - PR, seeking agility to support planning and monitoring of urban tree plantations. For this research three sampling units were selected from urban trees of the city of Curitiba. The measurement of the orthophotos was processed using the GIS software for the sample units. These variables were statistically compared with the same variables obtained by conventional inventory (measured in the field). The results revealed that there was no statistically significant difference between the conventional method and the measurement performed in a GIS environment. The differences between the values obtained by the different methods are related to errors of observation and measurement in conventional inventories, and the period and time of image acquisition. Accordingly to the speed and efficiency of the GIS method, it can be considered that such a method may assist and complement the conventional inventory. It is noteworthy that this method does not replace the conventional method, but can support the implementation of inventory, decreasing the number of variables measured in the field which has a high cost of measurement.