scholarly journals Area-based lidar-assisted estimation of forest standing volume

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (11) ◽  
pp. 2911-2916 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piermaria Corona ◽  
Lorenzo Fattorini

Airborne laser scanning (lidar) technology is increasingly being applied in forest ecosystem surveys. This research note proposes a design-based approach for the lidar-assisted estimation of forest standing volume when ground surveys are performed by means of fixed-area plots. The lidar measurement of the height of the upper canopy (digital crown model) is performed for the whole study area, and the resulting pixel heights are adopted as auxiliary information to couple with the standing volume acquired on the ground by means of sample plots. The ratio estimator for the total volume of the forest is derived in a complete design-based framework together with an unbiased estimator of its sampling variance and the corresponding confidence interval. The proposed procedure has been tested in Bosco della Fontana, a lowland forest in Northern Italy, obtaining a 95% confidence interval for the total volume, which is approximately 2/3 smaller than that obtained by solely using information arising from field plots.

2018 ◽  
Vol 933 (3) ◽  
pp. 52-62
Author(s):  
V.S. Tikunov ◽  
I.A. Rylskiy ◽  
S.B. Lukatzkiy

Innovative methods of aerial surveys changed approaches to information provision of projecting dramatically in last years. Nowadays there are several methods pretending to be the most efficient for collecting geospatial data intended for projecting – airborne laser scanning (LIDAR) data, RGB aerial imagery (forming 3D pointclouds) and orthoimages. Thermal imagery is one of the additional methods that can be used for projecting. LIDAR data is precise, it allows us to measure relief even under the vegetation, or to collect laser re-flections from wires, metal constructions and poles. Precision and completeness of the DEM, produced from LIDAR data, allows to define relief microforms. Airborne imagery (visual spectrum) is very widespread and can be easily depicted. Thermal images are more strange and less widespread, they use different way of image forming, and spectral features of ob-jects can vary in specific ways. Either way, the additional spectral band can be useful for achieving additional spatial data and different object features, it can minimize field works. Here different aspects of thermal imagery are described in comparison with RGB (visual) images, LIDAR data and GIS layers. The attempt to estimate the feasibility of thermal imag-es for new data extraction is made.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 3360
Author(s):  
Jessica Esteban ◽  
Ronald E. McRoberts ◽  
Alfredo Fernández-Landa ◽  
José Luis Tomé ◽  
Miguel Marchamalo

Forest/non-forest and forest species maps are often used by forest inventory programs in the forest estimation process. For example, some inventory programs establish field plots only on lands corresponding to the forest portion of a forest/non-forest map and use species-specific area estimates obtained from those maps to support the estimation of species-specific volume (V) totals. Despite the general use of these maps, the effects of their uncertainties are commonly ignored with the result that estimates might be unreliable. The goal of this study is to estimate the effects of the uncertainty of forest species maps used in the sampling and estimation processes. Random forest (RF) per-pixel predictions were used with model-based inference to estimate V per unit area for the six main forest species of La Rioja, Spain. RF models for predicting V were constructed using field plot information from the Spanish National Forest Inventory and airborne laser scanning data. To limit the prediction of V to pixels classified as one of the main forest species assessed, a forest species map was constructed using Landsat and auxiliary information. Bootstrapping techniques were implemented to estimate the total uncertainty of the V estimates and accommodated both the effects of uncertainty in the Landsat forest species map and the effects of plot-to-plot sampling variability on training data used to construct the RF V models. Standard errors of species-specific total V estimates increased from 2–9% to 3–22% when the effects of map uncertainty were incorporated into the uncertainty assessment. The workflow achieved satisfactory results and revealed that the effects of map uncertainty are not negligible, especially for open-grown and less frequently occurring forest species for which greater variability was evident in the mapping and estimation process. The effects of forest map uncertainty are greater for species-specific area estimation than for the selection of field plots used to calibrate the RF model. Additional research to generalize the conclusions beyond Mediterranean to other forest environments is recommended.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-103
Author(s):  
Piotr Wężyk ◽  
Paweł Hawryło ◽  
Marta Szostak ◽  
Karolina Zięba-Kulawik ◽  
Monika Winczek ◽  
...  

Abstract The aim of the research carried out in 2018 and financed by the Forest Fund was the analysis of biometric features and parameters of pine stands in the area of the “Bory Tucholskie” National Park (PNBT), where a program of active protection of lichen was initiated in 2017. Environmental analyses were conducted in relation to selected biometric features of trees and stands using laser scanning (LiDAR), including ULS (Unmanned Laser Scanning; RIEGL VUX-1) and TLS (Terrestrial Laser Scanning; FARO FOCUS 3D; X130). Thanks to the application of LiDAR technology, the structure of pine stands was precisely determined by means of a series of descriptive statistics characterizing the 3D spatial structure of vegetation. Using the Trees Crown Model (CHM), the analysis of the volume of tree crowns and the volume of space under canopy was performed. For the analysed sub-compartments, GIS solar analyses were carried out for the solar energy reaching the canopy and the ground level due to active protection of lichen. Multispectral photos were obtained using a specialized RedEdge-M camera (MicaSense) mounted on the UAV multi rotor platform Typhoon H520 (Yuneec). Flights with a thermal camera were also performed in order to detect places on the ground with high temperature. Plant indices: NDVI, NDRE, GNDVI and GRVI were also calculated for sub-compartments. The data obtained in 2017 and 2018 were the basis for spatial and temporal analyses of 4-D changes in stands which were related to the removal of some trees and organic layer (litter, moss layer).


2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (9) ◽  
pp. 3135-3149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marius Hauglin ◽  
Vegard Lien ◽  
Erik Næsset ◽  
Terje Gobakken

2008 ◽  
Vol 35 (10) ◽  
pp. 1080 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurizio Teobaldelli ◽  
Alcoriza David Puig ◽  
Terenzio Zenone ◽  
Marco Matteucci ◽  
Günther Seufert ◽  
...  

The objectives of this research were to investigate the suitability of advanced technologies like 3D-Laser scanning to acquire fair and sound information on structural and architectural characteristics of poplar stand, and to map topology of above-ground tree structures. The study area was an intensive poplar plantation located ~10 km north-west of the city of Pavia within the ‘Parco Regionale del Ticino’, Italy. A forest inventory of the poplar stand was conducted in 2005 and three 14-year-old poplar trees were selected and felled. The main architectural characteristics of poplar trees (destructive measurement) were compared with indirect measurement carried out using a portable on-ground scanning LIDAR IMAGER 5003 combined with the JRC-Reconstructor and AMAPmod softwares. The method permitted us to make an accurate estimate of the vertical and horizontal structure of the stand, to evaluate the stem and branches morphology of selected trees at different height in the canopy, and to create and validate multiscale representations of poplar tree architecture.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susumu Shimada ◽  
Jay Prakash Goit ◽  
Teruo Ohsawa ◽  
Tetsuya Kogaki ◽  
Satoshi Nakamura

A wind measurement campaign using a single scanning light detection and ranging (LiDAR) device was conducted at the Hazaki Oceanographical Research Station (HORS) on the Hazaki coast of Japan to evaluate the performance of the device for coastal wind measurements. The scanning LiDAR was deployed on the landward end of the HORS pier. We compared the wind speed and direction data recorded by the scanning LiDAR to the observations obtained from a vertical profiling LiDAR installed at the opposite end of the pier, 400 m from the scanning LiDAR. The best practice for offshore wind measurements using a single scanning LiDAR was evaluated by comparing results from a total of nine experiments using several different scanning settings. A two-parameter velocity volume processing (VVP) method was employed to retrieve the horizontal wind speed and direction from the radial wind speed. Our experiment showed that, at the current offshore site with a negligibly small vertical wind speed component, the accuracy of the scanning LiDAR wind speeds and directions was sensitive to the azimuth angle setting, but not to the elevation angle setting. In addition to the validations for the 10-minute mean wind speeds and directions, the application of LiDARs for the measurement of the turbulence intensity (TI) was also discussed by comparing the results with observations obtained from a sonic anemometer, mounted at the seaward end of the HORS pier, 400 m from the scanning LiDAR. The standard deviation obtained from the scanning LiDAR measurement showed a greater fluctuation than that obtained from the sonic anemometer measurement. However, the difference between the scanning LiDAR and sonic measurements appeared to be within an acceptable range for the wind turbine design. We discuss the variations in data availability and accuracy based on an analysis of the carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR) distribution and the goodness of fit for curve fitting via the VVP method.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document