Methods of Quantifying the Visual Filtering of Vegetation to Minimize the Impact of Buildings on the Landscape

Abstract: Vegetation is used by landscape planners and designers to reduce the visual impact of buildings. The choice of the species to be used depends on the characteristics of the crown canopy filtering. Nevertheless, the information on crown canopy filtering is scarce. This work examines the degree of filtering in canopy architecture of Quercus pyrenaica. The district of the Ambroz Valley, in Cáceres Province was chosen as the experimental area for the purposes of this research, and here Quercus pyrenaica were chosen as the most representative species. Two methods were selected for this study: hemispheric photography and vertical photography. All data was gathered during the summer as this is when the canopy of the species analyzed reaches its maximum leaf area index. The main aim of this research is to compare the hemispherical photographic method for calculating the amount of light that passes through the canopy, with that of vertical photography to obtain filtering percentages in plants.