COMBINATION OF REMOTE SENSING AND IN SITU MEASUREMENTS FOR A DETAILED ASSESSMENT OF BIOPHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF EAST AFRICAN RAINFORESTS: A CASE STUDY FOR KAKAMEGA FOREST, KENYA, AND BUDONGO FOREST, UGANDA

In situ measurements of leaf area index (LAI) were taken in two semi-deciduous rainforests in East Africa. Based on field data and optical high resolution satellite images, transfer functions were established that helped to produce high resolution LAI maps of both areas In a further step, these maps were used to validate the spatial accuracy of the MODIS LAI product for the two test sites. The temporal consistency of the product was investigated based on a time series for the years 2000-2005. Results show that both spatially and temporally the MODIS LAI product represented the test sites' LAI with satisfying accuracy Yet temporal interpolation should be applied to bad data quality pixels before MODIS LAI time series are used for further applications.