International Journal of Applied Earth Observations and Geoinformation 94 (2021) 102239

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International Journal of Applied Earth

Observations and Geoinformation
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jag

Biomass and vegetation coverage survey in the Mu Us sandy land - based on

unmanned aerial vehicle RGB images
Guo Zi-chena, b, Wang Taoa, Liu Shu-lina, *, Kang Wen-pinga, Chen Xianga, b, Feng Kuna, b,
Zhang Xue-qina, b, Zhi Yinga, b
a
Key Laboratory of Deserts and Desertification, The Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources (NIEER), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Donggang
West Road 320, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730000, China
b
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences(UCAS), No.19(A) Yuquan Road, Shijingshan District, Beijing, 100049, PR China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Accurate detection of vegetation cover and biomass of shrub communities in sandy area is beneficial for eval­
UAV uating ecosystem, improving remote sensing models, and assessing the accuracy of remote sensing. Unmanned
Vegetation coverage aerial vehicles (UAVs) have replaced traditional measurement methods in biomass and fraction of vegetation
Aboveground biomass
coverage (FVC) detection owing to the high spatial resolution of their imagery, their high positioning accuracy,
Net aboveground biomass
and their ease of use. The existing methods of detecting biomass via UAVs, however, are not suitable for surface
Shrub
Mu Us sandy land fluctuations, dwarf shrubs, and herbs. Futhermore, the method of calculating FVC using UAV RGB images has not
yet been tested in sandy areas. To accurately extract FVC data, aboveground biomass (ABS) and net aboveground
biomass (NABS) of shrub communities in the desert regions, UAV RGB images of 87 sample plots in the Mu Us
sandy land were collected and used to obtain the FVC and biomass information via the object-based classification
method, single shrub canopy biomass model and vegetation index-based method. The results are as follows: (1)
the method of calculating ABS and NABS based on shrub canopy width extraction can be used in desert shrub
communities, and results show that the ABS and NABS of vegetation communities increases from 15 to 800 g/m2
and 10–250 g/m2, respectively, in the Mu Us sandy land; and (2) the lowest value of ABS (NABS) appeared in the
mobile sandy dunes and the highest value appeared in the semi-fixed sandy dunes; (3) under fixed thresholds
conditions, the FVC can be extracted accurately using the excess green method, visible atmospherically resistant
index, vegetative index, green red vegetation index and red green blue vegetation index (RGBVI); and (4) the
correlation between the FVC calculated by the five RGB vegetation indexes and NABS in this study is greater than
that between FVC and ABS (e.g. R2NABS - RGBVI = 0.734, R2ABS - RGBVI = 0.666), and the FVC calculated by RGBVI
can be used to estimate NABS in the Mu Us sandy land. This study will provide new insights for field in­
vestigations of the ABS, NABS, and FVC in sandy areas.

1. Introduction
The implementation of a series of ecological conservation projects
over the past 40 years, resulted in a significant in the vegetation
coverage and biomass of China, with the leaf area growth –particulatly
in the northern regions(Zhao et al., 2017; Liu, et al., 2018)-accounting
for 25 % of the global total(Chen et al., 2019). Afforestation in arid and
semi-arid areas in northern China is achieved mainly through measures
such as banning grazing, converting farmland to forest, and planting
shrubs in moderation (Zhu and Liu, 1987; Liu, 1986). Accurately
estimating biomass and vegetation coverage plays a key role assessing
ecological projects. Remote sensing (RS), a detection tool that works on
a large spatial scale, can efficiently obtain biomass and vegetation
coverage data using different spatialisation methods including the
vegetation index-biomass regression equation (Zandler et al., 2015; Ren
and Zhou, 2019), net primary productivity (NPP) time series-relative
growth rates method (Eisfelder et al., 2017), phenolog-based methods
(Schucknecht et al., 2017), the vegetation index method (Boyd et al.,
2002), spectral mixed analysis (Mayes et al., 2012), machine learning
(Anderson et al., 2018), and decision trees (Hansen et al., 2002). These

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: guozichen1993@lzb.ac.cn (Z.-c. Guo), wangtao@lzb.ac.cn (T. Wang), liusl@lzb.ac.cn (S.-l. Liu), kangwp@lzb.ac.cn (W.-p. Kang), chenxx1991@
lzb.ac.cn (X. Chen), fengkun@lzb.ac.cn (K. Feng), zhangxueqin17@mails.ucas.ac.cn (X.-q. Zhang), zhiying@lzb.ac.cn (Y. Zhi).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2020.102239
Received 1 April 2020; Received in revised form 5 September 2020; Accepted 12 September 2020
Available online 23 September 2020
0303-2434/© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Z.-c. Guo et al.
RS methods require field survey data as validation or input parameters,
unfortunately, traditional field research methods (i.e., line transect,
quadrat, and belt transect) take up impractical amounts of time and
labour, and are also difficult to use for a pixel-scale survey with a sense
of real space, meaning that the detection accuracy obtained with satel­
lite data remains limited. This is particulatly true in areas with sparse or
low vegetation coverage area, as the vegetation will be much more
difficult to detect (Okin et al., 2001; Asner and Heidebrecht, 2002).
Fortunately, data from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can distinguish
between vegetation and soil background information effectively and at a
high spatial resolution (Zhang et al., 2019), indicating that UAVs could
be a platform for scale conversation between RS and field investigations
and could to fill in the gaps in satellite data.
There are currently two main methods for detecting the aboveground
biomass (ABS) of vegetation using UAVs; one is based on extracting
vegetation indexes (VIs), texture and other image features o (Liu et al.,
2019); while uses three-dimensional (3D) point clouds to detect the
structural characteristics of the vegetation(Picos et al., 2020). The VIs
method detects farmland and grassland biomass well(Yue et al., 2019;
Maimaitijiang et al., 2019). However, VIs are sensitive to chlorophyll,
and thus limited in their ability to detect the biomass of dry vegetation
(Doughty and Cavanaugh, 2019). Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR)
data and digita close-up photogrammetry based on UAV data can be
used to build 3D models of vegetation, in a process known as
Structure-From-Motion (SFM) (Grüner et al., 2019; Schonberger and
Frahm, 2016; Cooper et al., 2017; Bendig et al., 2014), and superfine
canopy-height-models (CHM) derived from SFM are often used in tree
height extraction (Prošek and Šímová, 2019). However, CHM and SFM
require extremely high-quality point cloud data when the local surface
vegetation is less than 2 m tall (Glenn et al., 2011; Streutker and Glenn,
2006). Upgrades in UAV positioning systems and improvement in
camera resolution, have increased the point cloud density obtained from
digital close-range photogrammetry taken using UAVs (Alonzo et al.,
2020); however, the detection of sample area still requires good site
conditions (e.g. a high-quality camera, good weather conditions, set­
tings for the surfaces, sensors, and direction) (Dandois and Ellis, 2013).
This means multiple investigations, will require time and energy to
adjust the flight plans for conditions in which terrain and vegetation
statuses differ. In the sandy land, surface fluctuations is up to 5 m and
the sparse herbs were only 10 cm high, this resulted in difficulties to
extract the shrub and herb heights using SFM or CHM on such a surface.
Nonetheless, the ABS of sandy land shrubs had a good regression rela­
tionship with crown width, and there was a significant difference be­
tween the color of new and old branches (Tang et al., 2015; Liu, 2014).
Therefore, the ABS and NABS could be measured by extracting the
morphology of the shrub canopy.
Similarly, methods to evaluate the FVC using UAV data-such as using
a channel in the color space (Coy et al., 2016), RGB VIs, and support
vector machine(Jay et al., 2019) and machine learning (Stojanova et al.,
2010) methods-have been discussed. The RGB VI method is the simplest
and most commonly used UAV method for detecting vegetation
coverage (Rasmussen et al., 2016), and there are five different indexes in
use: excess green (EXG) (Woebbecke et al., 1995), visible atmospheri­
cally resistant index (VARI) (Gitelson et al., 2002), vegetative index
(VEG) (Marchant and Onyango, 2000; Hague et al., 2006), green red
vegetation index (MGRVI) and red green blue vegetation index (RGBVI)
(Bendig et al., 2015). The key point of the VI method is the determi­
nation of a threshold value, which can be based on a clustering method
(Aho et al., 2008) and the fixed threshold method(Kim et al., 2018;
Ashapure et al., 2019). However, there are limited studies using these
two methods to determine thresholds in arid areas ; therefore, the
effectiveness of VIs have not yet been evaluated in sandy land regions.
Hence, the purpose of this study is: (1) to propose a new method to
measure the ABS (NABS) of shrub communities in arid and semi-arid
regions based on consumer drones; (2) to determine the most suitable
method for calculating the FVC of sandy land regions area via RGB
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International Journal of Applied Earth Observations and Geoinformation 94 (2021) 102239
images of a UAV; and (3) to provide a fast method for estimating ABS or
NABS in the field by exploring the relationship between FVC and ABS
(NABS).
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Study area
The study area is the Mu Us sandy land, located between 37◦ 00′ to
40◦ 00′ N and 106◦ 30′ to 111◦ 00′ E, with a total area of 91,700 km2, and
encompassing ten counties in three provinces. The elevation of the Mu
Us sandy land is between 700 and 2000 m. The average annual pre­
cipitation in the Mu Us sandy land decreases from 440 mm in the
southeast to 250 mm or less in the west. In the arid and semi-arid areas
of China, the hydrothermal conditions of the Mu Us sandy land were
found to be better than those of other sandy lands (Wang, 2003). It was
likewise discovered that the FVC of the Mu Us sandy land has been
increasing for the past few decades (Guo et al., 2018). Among the land
use types in the Mu Us sandy land (Fig. 1-a and -b), the sand area con­
stitutes 19.10 %, the low coverage grass area represents 10.90 %, the
medium coverage grass area accounts for 26.90 %, and the high
coverage grass area is 19.70 % (Xu et al., 2015). The growing season in
the region begins from the 131st to 140th calendar day and ends on the
281st to 290th calendar day (Kang et al., 2018). In order to ensure the
uniformity of land use type and FVC of the sampling points, 87 sampling
points were randomly selected from within the period of the end of the
growing season in the Mu Us sandy land (Fig. 1-b).
Due to the arid climate and frequent sandstorm activities in the Mu
Us sandy land, the vegetation in this area is short and sparse. As such, its
zonal plants are shrubs, mainly including Artemisia ordosica Krasch
(A. ordosica), Caragana, Hedysarum scoparium Fisch. et Mey.
(H. scoparium), and Salix gordejevii Y. L. Chang et Skv. (S. gordejevii) (Cui,
2012). A.ordosica, a small shrub, is the dominant species in the vege­
tation communities of the Mu Us sandy land. The young branches of the
shrub are either purplish red or tawny, while the older branches are
either grayish white or grayish brown (Lin, 1991). There were two
species of Caragana in the study area: Caragana intermedia Kuang et H. C.
Fu and Caragana korshinskii Kom. The two species of Caragana are similar
in morphology and do not need to be distinguished in terms of biomass
calculation. This year’s new branch exhibited a light green color, while
the old branch that has grown in previous years had grayish green and
grayish yellow colors (Fu et al., 1993). S. gordejevii is a sand-fixing plant
introduced and cultivated in the Mu Us sandy land. Its old branches are
yellowish white and glossy, while its new branches are yellowish brown
(Wang et al., 1989). H. scoparium are planted by airplanes and are the
vanguard of the sand-fixing vegetation of the mobile dunes. Its young
shoots are yellowish green, and the old ones are grayish white (Cui et al.,
1998).
2.2. Field sampling scheme design
Before flying the drone, we selected eight to nine shrubs from the
sample plot and marked them with plates. Thereafter, we chose 1 m × 1
m quadrat with both low and high coverage of grassland (Fig. 2-c, -d,
and -e). At the same time, the geomorphology, soil type, degree of
desertification, and vegetation type of the sample land were recorded.
We likewise accurately recorded the longitude and latitude of the center
of the plate for subsequent image coordinate positioning.
In this study, the DJI Phantom 4pro UAV, which uses a four-rotor
flight system, equipped with an anti-shake platform and a 20 million
pixel camera, and can withstand force 7 winds, was used for image
collection. The UAV took off at an altitude of 40 m and shot the sample
plots vertically. The course and transverse overlaps were at least 50 %,
and the area was about 200 × 200 m2. We noted that excessive wind
speed will affect the effect of shrub assembly and the presence of clouds
will affect the color consistency after image mosaic.
Z.-c. Guo et al. International Journal of Applied Earth Observations and Geoinformation 94 (2021) 102239

Fig. 1. (a) Study area location and (b) sampling plots distribution.

Fig. 2. UAV images processing and field vegetation investigation: a. Display of UAV image Mosaic results; b. Drone images identify pre-tagged plants; c. Quadrat
sampling of high coverage grassland d. Quadrat sampling of low coverage grassland; and e. Shrubs marking and sampling.

After flying the drone, we accurately recorded the crown width and
the species of the marked shrubs. After which, we cut these samples’
aboveground part, wherein the new branches were identified by branch
color. We likewise accurately recorded the number of species in the herb
selection box and cut off the ground and bag.
2.3. Treatment and modeling of shrub and herb biomass
In order to calculate shrub biomass, a total of 118 A. ordosica, 25
Caragana, 40 H. scoparium, and 4 S. gordejevii were collected in this
study. Moreover, their canopy width was measured directly in the field.
The ABS (NABS) were obtained though weighing, after drying in the
laboratory. The relationship between ABS (NABS) and canopy width
determined using SPSS 22. Linear, quadratic, cubic, logarithmic and
power regressions were used for the regression models. When the
regression models of A. ordosica, Caragana, and H. scoparium were
established, 20 % of the data were left to verify the model. The existing
model established by Tang et al. (2015) was used and the data of four
S. gordejevii. were verified.
2.4. Image processing
2.4.1. Image preprocessing
In this study, the Pix4dmapper 4.4 software was used for UAV image
preprocessing. The software is a professional UAV image data processing
system, and has a one-button automatic operation which can automat­
ically read camera parameters and self-check the camera without pro­
fessional knowledge. The UAV orthophoto image is obtained from photo
and altitude data by aero triangulation together with photo control
points, point cloud coordinate calculation, and feature point matching.

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Z.-c. Guo et al.
The software can create a high spatial resolution orthophoto image,
which is beneficial to subsequent processing. One of the plots’ pre­
treatment results are shown in Fig. 2-a. The image sharpness is shown in
Fig. 2-b, wherein markers and shrubs can be clearly found in the image.
2.4.2. Image classification and shrub crown amplitude extraction
Multi-scale segmentation and supervised classification based on the
eCognition Developer 8.9 software were applied to the classification of
shrubs, herbaceous, and sandy areas of the plots. In the multi-scale
segmentation operation, in order to ensure the accuracy of shrub
shape segmentation, the scale parameters should be 80–150, shape pa­
rameters should be 0.4 to 0.6, and tightness parameters should be 0.4 to
0.6. In the supervised classification process, RGB band layer values and
layer averages are used as feature parameters to participate in the
classification.
After extracting the shape of the shrub canopy width, the east-west
and north-south diameters of the canopy width were calculated using
Arcgis 10.7. Thereafter, the average of the two canopy widths was taken.
2.4.3. Calculation of ABS and NABS in sample plots
The canopy diameters of all shrubs, high-coverage, and low-coverage
grass areas in the sample plots were obtained, after which, the ABS
(NABS) of the shrubs in the sample plots were calculated using the
canopy width-ABS (NABS) model of a single shrub. Next, the ABS of
herbs in the sample plots was calculated using the ABS of high-coverage
grassland and low-coverage grassland per square meter collected in the
field. In the desertified land of the study area, most herbs were annual,
so the ABS and NABS of herbs were considered equal.
2.4.4. FVC calculation
This study made use of the RGB VIs to extract the FVC of the UAV
images. The vegetation information enhancement indices were used to
transform the RGB image into a grayscale image, thereby highlighting
the vegetation information. We likewise determined the need for a
threshold to separate the vegetation information from other informa­
tion. The VIs used in this study are shown in Table 1. In this study,
vegetation classifications by fixed threshold and k-means clustering
method were compared.
3. Results
3.1. The models of shrub canopy diameter, biomass and net biomass in
the Mu Us sandy land
The tested results of the relationships between ABS (NABS) and
canopy width model of a single shrub using the regression models (e.g.,
linear, logarithm, quadratic, and power) are exhibited in Table 2 and
Fig. 3.
After comparing the fitting effect and significance of each model in
Table 2, we found that ABS, NABS, and shrub canopy diameter showed
an exponential growth trend. The growth trend of ABS was greater than
that of NABS (Fig. 3). The growth trend of Hedysarum scoparium ABS
(NABS) was the slowest among the shrubs (Fig. 3-e and -f), while that of
A. ordosica was the fastest (Fig. 3-a and -b).
Table 1
RGB VIs used in this study.
Vegetation indice The formula
2g-r-b
EXG
g = G/(R + G+B) r = R/(R + G+B) b = B/(R + G+B)
VARI (G-R)/(G + R-B)
VEG G/(R0.667×B0.333)
MGRVI (G2-R2)/(G2+R2)
RGBVI (G2-R × B)/(G2+R × B)
R, G, and B represent the pixel values of the red, green and blue wave segment
respectively.
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International Journal of Applied Earth Observations and Geoinformation 94 (2021) 102239
The results of model validation from data not involved in the model
are as follows: the model of A. ordosica validation results were MAE =
0.2031 and MSE = 0.1039; the Caragana Model validation results were
MAE = 0.5317 and MSE = 0.3931; The H. scoparium Model validation
results MAE = 0.2666 and MSE = 0.1069. Concurrently, four strains of
S. gordejevii were collected in this study to verify the fitting accuracy of
Tang et al. (2015) with result showing MAE = 1.189 and MSE = 2.195.
The values of MAE and MSE indicate that the accuracy of the canopy
width and the ABS (NABS) model for a single shrub meets the re­
quirements of calculation.
3.2. Classification results based on objects and extraction accuracy of
crown amplitude
A total of 87 sample plots were classified in this study. The Kappa
accuracy of all samples was determined to be above 70 %. The classi­
fication results according to the degree of desertification are shown in
Fig. 4.
In order to ensure the accuracy of the extraction results of the shrub
crown diameter, we compared the marked shrub size in the sample plot
with the extracted shrub size. The results were as follows: MAE =
0.01915 and RMSE = 0.00769. The results show that the extracted
crown amplitude was reliable.
The ABS (NABS) of all sample plots were calculated according to the
degree of desertification in Fig. 5. It can be seen that the ABS increased
from 15 to 800 g/m2 and the NABS increased from 10–250 g/m2 as the
desertification degree decreased. The lowest value of ABS (NABS)
appeared in the mobile sandy dunes and the highest value appeared in
the semi-fixed sandy dunes. The ABS (NABS) of the mobile sandy dunes
is relatively concentrated, ranging from 15 to 250 g/m2 (from 10 to 100
g/m2). With the decrease of desertification degree from mobile sandy
dunes to semi-mobile dunes, the ABS (NABS) obviously increased. At the
same time, the dispersion degree of semi-mobile sandy dunes ABS
(NABS) increased from 80 to 770 g/m2 (from 40 to 230 g/m2). ABS
(NABS) of semi-fixed sandy dunes was shown to fluctuate greatly,
ranging from 80 to 800 g/m2 (from 40 to 260 g/m2). The fluctuation
range of fixed sandy dunes ABS (NABS) decreased between the range of
80 and 640 g/m2 (from between 60 and 190 g/m2). It can be seen from
the mean value and distribution, as shown in the box diagram that with
the increase of surface fixation, ABS and NABS tend to be stable.
The highest ratio of NABS to ABS was seen in mobile sandy dunes
(ratio = 0.4136). The ratios of the remaining desertification types are as
follows: semi-mobile sandy dunes exhibited a ratio of 0.3660, semi-fixed
sandy dunes showed a ratio of 0.3906, and fixed sandy dunes demon­
strated a ratio of 0.4018.
3.3. Vegetation coverage extraction results of UAV RGB image
In this study, EXG, NGRID, MGRVI, RGBVI, and VEG algorithms were
used to extract the vegetation coverage of UAV RGB images. With the RS
vegetation indice, choosing the appropriate threshold value to distin­
guish vegetation from bare land is essential in calculating vegetation
coverage. In this study, we compared the histogram after RGB vegeta­
tion indice enhancement algorithm in 20 different sample plots and
found that the vegetation information was concentrated before a fixed
threshold. The histograms of one of the low-coverage and high-coverage
sample plots are shown in Fig. 6. Therein, the X-axis represents the gray
level, the Y-axis represents the number of pixels, asterisks and dotted
lines represent the k-means clustering points, and the green part rep­
resents the actual vegetation interval.
As shown in Fig. 6, for these five RGB vegetation indice enhancement
algorithms, the actual vegetation interval is not a function of the level of
FVC in any way. In addition, by comparing the different lighting con­
ditions of other sample plots, we found that the influence of FVC and
light changes on the threshold values of the five RGB VIs could be
ignored. Moreover, the threshold values of the five VIs were shown to be
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Table 2
The fitting effects and significance of shrub canopy width and ABS(NABS) model.
A.ordosica’s ABS A.ordosica’s NABS Caragana’s ABS Caragana’s NABS H. scoparium’s ABS H. scoparium’ s NABS
The model name
2 2 2 2 2
R α R α R α R α R α R2 α
− 27 − 26 − 9 − 5 − 14 10
The power 0.81 9.0e 0.76 8.1e 0.90 1.1e 0.86 7.6e 0.82 8.4e 0.72 1.8e−
19 38 5 5 8 8
Linear 0.71 6.7e− 0.61 3.1e− 0.70 1.2e− 0.72 1.3e− 0.64 1.2e− 0.62 2.4e−
16 16 4 4 6 7
Logarithmic 0.63 1.2e− 0.440 2.7e− 0.61 1.1e− 0.68 3.9e− 0.49 3.0e− 0.53 7.8e−
20 28 5 4 13 8
Quadratic 0.71 4.9e− 0.66 4.1e− 0.74 3.6e− 0.73 1.0e− 0.84 3.2e− 0.69 1.3e−

Fig. 3. The optimal fitting models of ABS (NABS) and crown diameter of three shrubs in the Mu Us sandy land.

as follows: the threshold value of EXG was 0.05; the VARI threshold was
0.05; the VEG indice threshold was 1.05; the MGRVI indice threshold
was 0.05; the RGBVI indice threshold was 0.05.
According to the principle of the k-means clustering algorithm, it can
be determined that: (1) when EXG algorithm uses k-means clustering,
the low coverage area will be significantly underestimated while the
high coverage will be somewhat underestimated; (2) when VARI algo­
rithm uses k-means clustering, both the low and high coverage areas will
be underestimated to some extent; (3) VEG algorithm uses k-means
clustering, the high coverage area will be underestimated; (4) when
MGRVI algorithm uses k-means clustering, the low coverage area will be
seriously overestimated; and (5) when RGBVI algorithm uses k-means
clustering, both high and low coverage areas will be underestimated.
After calculating for all the sample plots, the flaw of the k-means clus­
tering algorithm was found to be that the high value underestimates, the
low value overestimates, and the vegetation cover cannot be accurately

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Fig. 4. Classification results based on objects for different degrees of desertified lands: a. Mobile sand dunes; b. Semi-mobile sand dunes; c. Semi-fixed sand dunes; d.
Fixed sand dunes.

Fig. 5. Box diagram of ABS (a) and NABS (b) on desertified lands of different degrees.

6
Z.-c. Guo et al.
Fig. 6. Histogram of RGB vegetation indice pixel values for high and low coverage.
ascertained Therefore, we infer that the method of k-means clustering is
not applicable to the calculation of RGB FVC and that the fixed threshold
should be used to compute for FVC.
The results after using fixed threshold classification are shown in
Fig. 7. It can be seen that the coverage difference of each algorithm is
very small. The estimates for low coverage areas ignored a few herbs
relative to the true coverage, while those for the high coverage areas
ignored some dead vegetation. Among them, the EXG algorithm per­
formed the best in the estimation of high coverage areas.
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International Journal of Applied Earth Observations and Geoinformation 94 (2021) 102239
3.4. The relationship between vegetation coverage and ABS (NABS)
Linear, logarithmic, quadratic, cubic and power functions were used
for fitting regression. The model fitting degree, significance and root
mean square error are shown in Table 3. It can be seen that both ABS and
NABS have the best fitting results with the RGBVI index (the equations
are Y = 1273.5x1.054 and Y = 9.2 + 483.4x - 451.6x2 + 671.4x3). The
fitting result of NABS and vegetation indice is better than that of ABS.
The optimal model for the fitting of EXG indice and ABS is the power
function (the fitting equation is Y = 1236.9x0.984), and the optimal
model for the fitting of EXG indice and NABS is the cubic function (the
fitting equation is Y = -14.8 + 1079x - 3400.1x2 - 4788.4x3). The fitting
Z.-c. Guo et al.
Fig. 7. The coverage of each vegetation indice calculated based on a fixed threshold.
relationship betweenthe VARI indice and ABS and NABS is not ideal,
with the optimal fitting equation being the cubic function (the equations
are Y = 111.6− 77.4x + 6921.2x2 - 10433.3x3 and Y = 35.4 + 231.3x +
869.6x2 - 1369.7x3 respectively). The fitting effect between the VEG
indice and ABS (NABS) is second only to that of RGBVI, with the optimal
fitting equations being Y = 66.6 + 256.1x + 4450x2 - 5410.5x3 and Y =
19 + 364x + 90.6x2 respectively. MGRVI has the worst fitting effect with
ABS (NABS) among the five indices.
The fitting curves of each exponential model are listed as shown in
Fig. 8, wherein it can be seen that the relationships between all indices
and ABS (NABS) is increasing and tends to be linear. The red line rep­
resents the optimal fitting model of each indice.
4. Discussion
In this study, the fixed threshold method was more accurate than the
clustering method when RGB VIs were used to calculate the FVC for UAV
images. By combining the UAV RGB image of the shrub canopy width
extracted by object-based approach with the biomass model of a single
shrub canopy, the biomass of sandy shrub communities can be investi­
gated over a wide area. In the shrub communities, the expression of FVC
for NABS was better than that for ABS and the reason for this was the the
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International Journal of Applied Earth Observations and Geoinformation 94 (2021) 102239
proportion of shrubs and grasses. We were able to verify this reason in
this study.
4.1. The FVC threshold as calculated by the UAV RGB VIs method
We conducted a cluster analysis of VIs using the k-means method and
found that the latter would lead to an underestimation of areas with a
low FVC and overestimation of areas with a high FVC. This inaccuracy is
occurs because clustering algorithms are affected by the number of
categories while the number of pixels of soil and vegetation are
constantly changing. Other researchers have also found that the
threshold value for judging the segmentation of vegetation via cluster
analysis would be affected by the proportion of surface vegetation and
bare soil, resulting in a relatively large error (Marcial-Pablo et al., 2019).
There are also marked differences in the accuracy of threshold extrac­
tion via the clustering method when it is used for different VIs (Xiaoqin
et al., 2015). After studying the histogram of images converted from VIs
to greyscale images, we found that although the peak features of the
histogram varied with the change in the FVC, as in other scholars’
studies, the expression of vegetation values remained within the same
range (Yang et al., 2018; Ashapure et al., 2019).
When using the fixed threshold method for classification results,
Z.-c. Guo et al. International Journal of Applied Earth Observations and Geoinformation 94 (2021) 102239

Table 3 increase gradually (Chang et al., 2003; Li et al., 2006; Tang et al., 2019).
Fitting effect of each indice and ABS(NABS). Furthermore, the ABS per unit of herbaceous area is much lower than
ABS(g/m2) NABS(g/m2) that for the shrub covered area. Therefore, the ABS and NABS gradually
EXG
2 tended to be stabilise gradually while the degrees of desertification and
R F RMSE R2 F RMSE
surface fixation decreased and increased, respectively.
Linear 0.612 108.9 109.0 0.640 122.4 34.2 At present, height is the most common dimension parameter
Logistic 0.561 88.3 106.9 0.589 98.8 33.3
Quadratic 0.612 53.73 108.2 0.641 60.6 33.8
extracted by UAV 3D model. Wijesingha et al. (2019) extracted the
Cubic 0.616 35.85 105.8 0.654 42.1 32.8 height of grassland by using TLS and CHM model to estimate the
Power 0.641 123.2 119.6 0.634 119.7 36.9 biomass of grassland, and the minimum nRMSE of sample biomass was
ABS(g/m2) NABS(g/m2) 17.2 %. They believed that TSL and CHM model were used in hetero­
VARI
2
geneous grassland would affect the accuracydue to the influence of
R F RMSE R2 F RMSE
topography. Zhang et al. (2018) extracted shrub canopy height based on
Linear 0.418 49.5 106.3 0.502 69.7 36.6 CHM model, RMSE was 19.79 cm, which was lower than the measured
Logistic 0.390 44.7 140.2 0.469 60.8 47.8
Quadratic 0.421 24.7 113.8 0.504 34.5 37.9
results. Poley et al. (2020) used UAV RGB VIs to estimate the ABS of
Cubic 0.428 16.7 106.7 0.505 22.8 36.8 shrub communities, and the accuracy was higher than that of the 3D
Power 0.387 43.6 128.3 0.484 64.7 43.0 model. However, as we discussed in the previous paper, the expression
ABS(g/m2) NABS(g/m2) ability of VIs on dead vegetation was limited. Compared with the current
VEG
2
results of UAV detection of ABS in shrub communities, our results could
R F RMSE R2 F RMSE
be acceptable (nRMSE of crown amplitude: 5.5 %).
Linear 0.623 113.8 99.6 0.702 162.7 32.5 Our work has some value for calculating the ABS of temperate arid
Logistic 0.554 85.6 95.1 0.633 119.2 31.2
grasslands via RS. We calculated the scale NPP of the sample plots and
Quadratic 0.623 56.1 106.4 0.703 80.4 32.2
Cubic 0.625 37.2 115.1 0.703 52.8 32.1 compared it with the MODIS product (MOD17A3H) for the same time
Power 0.612 108.6 108.5 0.684 149.4 34.3 period (Fig. 10). There have been many studies on the carbon content of
ABS(g/m2) NABS(g/m2) aboveground shrubs in the Mu Us sandy land: A. ordosica (Zhou et al.,
MGRVI
2
2013), H. scoparium (Liu et al., 2018a,b), and S. gordejevii (Zhao, 2014),
R F RMSE R2 F RMSE
and the studies thereon show how NABS into NPP. The overall NPP
Linear 0.437 53.6 106.1 0.523 75.6 36.4 estimated by using MODIS data for the Mu Us sandy land is 100 g⋅c/m2
Logistic 0.402 46.4 132.5 0.483 64.3 45.2
higher than that obtained in our study, but the trend in the variation
Quadratic 0.439 26.6 111.1 0.523 37.3 37.1
Cubic 0.443 17.8 106.7 0.524 24.6 36.6 between the sample plots is quite similar. Li et al. (2016) used the pure
Power 0.403 46.5 125.5 0.502 69.5 42.0 vegetation index (PVI) to detect grassland biomass at the remote sensing
ABS(g/m2) NABS(g/m2)
scale and found that the ABS of low-temperature semi-arid grassland in
RGBVI the Mu Us sandy area was 0− 420 g /m2, with an average of 137.7 g/m2,
R2 F RMSE R2 F RMSE
which is lower than that the result of our study. However, this is likely
Linear 0.665 136.9 87.8 0.733 189.5 32.5 because Li et al. (2016) used the relationship between farmland PVI and
Logistic 0.598 102.5 76.5 0.665 136.9 31.2
ABS as the basis of their research, but the ABS of farmland was signifi­
Quadratic 0.665 67.5 87.7 0.733 93.5 32.2
Cubic 0.666 44.5 90.4 0.734 61.6 32.1 cantly lower than that the same area covered with desert shrubs. In John
Power 0.687 115.8 93.0 0.723 180.4 34.3 et al. (2018) in which ABS extraction was based on the FVC, the ABS of
Mu Us sandy area was only 50 g/m2, which is most likely due to their
low estimates of vegetation coverage in the area. We believe that the
some dead information is mixed with other information such as soil. We inaccuracy of ground model is one of the important reasons for remote
likewise confirmed this by sampling the dead information and the soil sensing inversion errors, and the addition of UAV will improve the ac­
information in several samples. We selected dead vegetation informa­ curacy of ground model.
tion and bare land information as part of the sample plots, and obtained Our study also indicated the accuracy of the method for inverting
Fig. 9 to illustrates this point. This means that the ability of VIs to ABS using the regression relationship between the FVC and ABS. The
respond to dead vegetation is limited. maximum R2 value of this method is around 0.7, which is similar to that
We used 59 field measurement coverage results to test the coverage obtained John et al. (2018). Other researchers have also found that the
results calculated by the RGB vegetation indices. We obtained the best degree of interpretation of the VI for ABS is below 0.7. (Wang et al.,
following RMSE results: RMSEexg = 0.089, RMSEvari = 0.101, RMSEveg = 2019; Ren et al., 2018; Jiang et al., 2013). However, when we used the
0.093, RMSEmgrvi = 0.099, and RMSErgbvi = 0.096. In general, the regression model described above to analyse the expression between
calculation of vegetation coverage by RGB indices can meet the re­ ABS and shrub coverage, we found that the R2 value could reach 0.82
quirements of replacing field measurement. (Table 4). Interestingly, however, the R2 value did not improve signifi­
cantly when the NABS was analysed. This means that shrubs is a major
4.2. Detection of shrub community biomass in the Mu Us sandy land using contributor to ABS in the pixel, although the NABS of the herbaceous
UAV data vegetation and shrubs may not be significantly different. Therefore,
when using the FVC or VIs to estimate the ABS, we believe that the
We found that the optimal fitting model for the ABS, NABS, and proportion of shrubs and herbs present is an error factor that cannot be
canopy width of three shrub species in the Mu Us sandy land was a ignored. At the same time, At the same time, we can also explain that in
power function, and this was supported by the results of Liu (2014) and our study, FVC is more representative of NABS than ABS.
Tang et al. (2015). However, our study–which had three sample
years–does ignore the impacts of inter-annual climate change on the 4.3. Advantages and limitations of this study
biomass of individual shrubs, which may have a certain influence on the
estimate of the NABS per shrub in non-sampling years (particularly The ABS (NABS) detection method used in this study is relatively
when they were extremely dry) because of the absence of biomass accurate and low-cost, which is suitable for large biomass surveys in
samples with long time series given the length of the study period. sandy land and other areas with simple surface fluctuations of vegeta­
The decrease in the degree of desertification will cause the species tion types. However, it does have the following limitations: i) there is no
richness of the shrub community and the proportion of annual herbs to accurate method for extracting continuous shrub crown amplitude

9
Z.-c. Guo et al. International Journal of Applied Earth Observations and Geoinformation 94 (2021) 102239

Fig. 8. The coverage calculated by different vegetation indices was fitted to the ABS(NABS) curve of the sample plot.

10
Z.-c. Guo et al. International Journal of Applied Earth Observations and Geoinformation 94 (2021) 102239

method combining a single shrub biomass model and object-based

image shrub canopy width extraction accurately measured the ABS of
shrub communities; iii) the method of combining RGB VIs with a fixed
threshold is more suitable for extracting the FVC than combining RGB
VIs with a clustering threshold; iv) the difference between shrub and
herb biomass means that the R2 value of the using FVC to estimate ABS
should be approximately 0.68; therefore, the FVC was more represen­
tative of the NABS (the R2 value of which could be as high as 0.73) than
of the ABS.
The lowest value of ABS (NABS) appeared in the mobile sandy dunes
and the highest value appeared in the semi-fixed sandy dunes. The ABS
(NABS) of the shrub communities in the Mu Us sandy land tended to be
Fig. 9. EXG index of dead vegetation and bare land.
stable with the increase of fixed degree of sandy land.
The proportion of shrub and grass is one of the main factors influ­
encing the accuracy of the ABS model as estimated by the FVC in shrub
communities. The FVC calculated using the RGBVI can be better used to
estimate the NABS in the Mu Us sandy land with the following model: Y
= 9.2 + 483.4x - 451.6x2 + 671.4x3, where Y represents the NABS of the
sample plot scale in units g/m2 and x represents the FVC calculated by
the RGBVI.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Guo Zi-chen: Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Writing -

review & editing, Investigation, Writing - original draft. Wang Tao:
Conceptualization. Liu Shu-lin: Conceptualization, Investigation,
Writing - review & editing. Kang Wen-ping: Investigation, Writing -
Fig. 10. Differences between NPP calculated in this study and MODIS products.
review & editing. Chen Xiang: Investigation. Feng Kun: Investigation.
Zhang Xue-qin: Investigation. Zhi Ying: Investigation.
Table 4
Fitting effect of shrub coverage and ABS (NABS).
Declaration of Competing Interest
ABS(g/m2) NABS(g/m2)
Shrub coverage
R2 F R2 F The authors report no declarations of interest.
Linear 0.712 167.9 0.714 169.7
Logistic 0.713 83.4 0.714 83.6
Acknowledgments
Quadratic 0.721 56.8 0.715 55.1
Cubic 0.817 303.4 0.735 188.6
Power 0.740 193.1 0.681 145.1 This study is supported by the Project of National Key Research and
Development Program of China, “Assessment on evolution trend and
stability of desertified land in the semi-arid region of northern China”
value, and this may cause errors in the results. Under conditions in
(2016YFC0500902).
which the sizes of the segmented crowns are controlled, however, this
error is acceptable; ii) factors such as the density and height of the shrub
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