EARSeL eProceedings 11, 1/2012 64 CHLOROPHYLL DETERMINATION IN SILVER BIRCH AND SCOTS PINE FOLIAGE FROM HEAVY METAL POLLUTED REGIONS USING SPECTRAL REFLECTANCE DATA Lucie Kupková 1 , Markéta Potůčková 1 , Kateřina Zachová 1 , Zuzana Lhotáková 1 , Veronika Kopačková 2 , and Jana Albrechtová 1 1. Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Science, Czech Republic; e-mail: lucie.kupkova(at)gmail.com 2. Czech Geological Survey, Prague, Czech Republic ABSTRACT The foliage chlorophyll content can be used as one of the indicators of tree stress caused by ad- verses oil conditions with heavy metal contamination being the major stress factor. Linear regres- sion models showing the relation between spectral indexes derived from spectroscopic measure- ments of Norway Spruce foliage and its chlorophyll content were successfully applied in previous studies. Silver Birch (Betulapendula Roth), a pioneer tree species, and Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) used for revegetation after mining activities are typical tree species in the mine reclamation ar- ea of the Sokolov Basin (West Bohemia, Czech Republic). In August 2010 hyperspectral images with a resolution of 5 × 5 m 2 were acquired with the HyMap sensor. In four selected areas with a different level of soil contamination samples of Silver Birch leaves and Scots Pine needles were collected during the field campaign. Spectral reflectance curves of samples were measured in a laboratory with an ASD Field Spec3 spectrometer using the contact probe. The goal of this study is to prove the correlation between spectral reflectance data and the chlorophyll content determined spectrophotometrically in the laboratory using different spectral indices (MCARI, TCARI / OSAVI, mNDVI 705 , ANMB 650–725 ) and to find a mathematical description of this relation. The suitability of different indices for application on coniferous foliage of pine and broad leaved birch is discussed. Although the relations between different indices and the chlorophyll content show similar trends, the ANMB 650–725 index revealed the best results regarding the statistical significance. While the sought relation between spectral indices and the chlorophyll content showed to be statistically sig- nificant in the case of Scots Pine, it was rather weak and thus not applicable in the case of Silver Birch. The present work is a part of a study aiming to create a methodology for chlorophyll deter- mination in Silver Birch and Scots Pine from available hyperspectral data. INTRODUCTION Imaging spectroscopy, namely hyperspectral data have been used rather widely in the last decade for the natural environment monitoring (geology, vegetation cover and health status) and for an extraction of information and knowledge related to environmental change, pollution effects, and ecosystems degradation (1,2,3,4). The present outputs were obtained in the framework of the project ‘Assessment of Mining Related Impacts Based on Utilization of HyMap Airborne Hyperspectral Sensor’ supported by the Czech Science Foundation (GACR). Focusing on the Sokolov lignite mining area in the Czech Republic, this project combines image spectroscopy laboratory data, high resolution hyperspectral data and laboratory biochemical determinations with the goals (5) to assess the current extent of the area affected by mining activities (tailing pounds, acid and heavy metal polluted zones, irritated vegeta- tion, and changes in protection zones of water) (6) to find relationships between stress conditions and the consequential physiological state of vegetation (focus is given to observation of coniferous trees – Norway spruce and Scots Pine and pioneer vegetation – Silver Birch), (3) to prepare inte- grated data analyses based on the thematic maps resulting from the aerial and in situ hyperspec- tral data, implementing new mapping techniques providing a high level of spatial and spectral dis- tinction among all the major environmental components, present at the open pit mine area and its