Evaluation of nonlinear equations for predicting diameter from tree height

2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 789-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huiquan Bi ◽  
Julian C. Fox ◽  
Yun Li ◽  
Yuancai Lei ◽  
Yong Pang
Keyword(s):  
Prediction Accuracy ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Inverse Function ◽  
Tree Height ◽  
Predictive Performance ◽  
Systematic Evaluation ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Breast Height

With the emergence and advancement of airborne laser scanning technology over the past decade, individual tree height can be easily measured over a large area of forests with a comparable degree of accuracy to conventional ground-based methods. In laser scanning based large-scale forest inventories, the need to predict diameter from remotely sensed tree height calls for a systematic evaluation of equation forms as the first step towards a well-developed approach to developing diameter–height equations. This study evaluated more than 30 height–diameter equations in the forest biometrics literature to select candidates for deriving equation forms for diameter–height equations. The evaluation was based on four criteria: (i) the height–diameter function is inversable; (ii) the inverse function is continuous and monotonically increasing over a specified working range of total tree height; (iii) diameter at breast height is equal to zero when tree height equals breast height in the inverse function; and preferably, (iv) the inverse function has an inflection point that is consistent with biological expectations. A total of 12 candidate equation forms were derived, which included five two-parameter and seven three-parameter equations. The estimation properties and predictive performance of these 12 equation forms were further evaluated and compared through repeated sampling and fitting using data from 3581 trees destructively sampled for taper measurements from Pinus radiata D. Don plantations across New South Wales, Australia. Three equation forms, including the constrained Richards, Weibull, and the combined power and exponential function, displayed superior prediction accuracy and estimation properties and so were recommended as the primary equation forms for developing diameter–height equations. The remaining equation forms were marred by either lower prediction accuracy or poorer estimation properties or both. The three recommended equation forms should only serve as basic deterministic specifications upon which other tree and stand variables should be incorporated as predictors to further improve their predictive performance.

scholarly journals Estimating Individual Tree Height and Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) from Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) Data at Plot Level

Forests ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guangjie Liu ◽  
Jinliang Wang ◽  
Pinliang Dong ◽  
Yun Chen ◽  
Zhiyuan Liu
Keyword(s):  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Terrestrial Laser Scanning ◽  
Tree Height ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Diameter At Breast Height ◽  
Breast Height

scholarly journals Supervised Segmentation of Ultra-High-Density Drone Lidar for Large-Area Mapping of Individual Trees

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 3260
Author(s):  
Martin Krůček ◽  
Kamil Král ◽  
KC Cushman ◽  
Azim Missarov ◽  
James R. Kellner
Keyword(s):  
Random Error ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Tree Height ◽  
High Density ◽  
Mountain Forest ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Estimation Errors ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Individual Trees ◽  
The Impact

We applied a supervised individual-tree segmentation algorithm to ultra-high-density drone lidar in a temperate mountain forest in the southern Czech Republic. We compared the number of trees correctly segmented, stem diameter at breast height (DBH), and tree height from drone-lidar segmentations to field-inventory measurements and segmentations from terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) data acquired within two days of the drone-lidar acquisition. Our analysis detected 51% of the stems >15 cm DBH, and 87% of stems >50 cm DBH. Errors of omission were much more common for smaller trees than for larger ones, and were caused by removal of points prior to segmentation using a low-intensity and morphological filter. Analysis of segmented trees indicates a strong linear relationship between DBH from drone-lidar segmentations and TLS data. The slope of this relationship is 0.93, the intercept is 4.28 cm, and the r2 is 0.98. However, drone lidar and TLS segmentations overestimated DBH for the smallest trees and underestimated DBH for the largest trees in comparison to field data. We evaluate the impact of random error in point locations and variation in footprint size, and demonstrate that random error in point locations is likely to cause an overestimation bias for small-DBH trees. A Random Forest classifier correctly identified broadleaf and needleleaf trees using stem and crown geometric properties with overall accuracy of 85.9%. We used these classifications and DBH estimates from drone-lidar segmentations to apply allometric scaling equations to segmented individual trees. The stand-level aboveground biomass (AGB) estimate using these data is 76% of the value obtained using a traditional field inventory. We demonstrate that 71% of the omitted AGB is due to segmentation errors of omission, and the remaining 29% is due to DBH estimation errors. Our analysis indicates that high-density measurements from low-altitude drone flight can produce DBH estimates for individual trees that are comparable to TLS. These data can be collected rapidly throughout areas large enough to produce landscape-scale estimates. With additional refinement, these estimates could augment or replace manual field inventories, and could support the calibration and validation of current and forthcoming space missions.

scholarly journals Airborne laser scanning applied to eucalyptus stand inventory at individual tree level

2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (12) ◽  
pp. 1373-1382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diogo Nepomuceno Cosenza ◽  
Vicente Paulo Soares ◽  
Helio Garcia Leite ◽  
José Marinaldo Gleriani ◽  
Cibele Hummel do Amaral ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Tree Height ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Equation System ◽  
Airborne Laser Scanning ◽  
Tree Level ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Local Maxima ◽  
Airborne Laser

Abstract: The objective of this work was to evaluate the application of airborne laser scanning (ALS) to a large-scale eucalyptus stand inventory by the method of individual trees, as well as to propose a new method to estimate tree diameter as a function of the height obtained from point clouds. The study was carried out in a forest area of 1,681 ha, consisting of eight eucalyptus stands with ages varying from four to seven years. After scanning, tree heights were obtained using the local maxima algorithm, and total wood stock by summing up individual volumes. To determine tree diameters, regressions fit using data measured in the inventory plots were used. The results were compared with the estimates obtained from field sampling. The equation system proposed is adequate to be applied to the tree height data derived from ALS point clouds. The tree individualization approach by local maxima filters is efficient to estimate number of trees and wood stock from ALS data, as long as the results are previously calibrated with field data.

scholarly journals Adjudicating Perspectives on Forest Structure: How Do Airborne, Terrestrial, and Mobile Lidar-Derived Estimates Compare?

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 2297
Author(s):  
Jonathon J. Donager ◽  
Andrew J. Sánchez Meador ◽  
Ryan C. Blackburn
Keyword(s):  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Tree Height ◽  
Absolute Error ◽  
Forest Monitoring ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Structural Configurations ◽  
Individual Trees

Applications of lidar in ecosystem conservation and management continue to expand as technology has rapidly evolved. An accounting of relative accuracy and errors among lidar platforms within a range of forest types and structural configurations was needed. Within a ponderosa pine forest in northern Arizona, we compare vegetation attributes at the tree-, plot-, and stand-scales derived from three lidar platforms: fixed-wing airborne (ALS), fixed-location terrestrial (TLS), and hand-held mobile laser scanning (MLS). We present a methodology to segment individual trees from TLS and MLS datasets, incorporating eigen-value and density metrics to locate trees, then assigning point returns to trees using a graph-theory shortest-path approach. Overall, we found MLS consistently provided more accurate structural metrics at the tree- (e.g., mean absolute error for DBH in cm was 4.8, 5.0, and 9.1 for MLS, TLS and ALS, respectively) and plot-scale (e.g., R2 for field observed and lidar-derived basal area, m2 ha−1, was 0.986, 0.974, and 0.851 for MLS, TLS, and ALS, respectively) as compared to ALS and TLS. While TLS data produced estimates similar to MLS, attributes derived from TLS often underpredicted structural values due to occlusion. Additionally, ALS data provided accurate estimates of tree height for larger trees, yet consistently missed and underpredicted small trees (≤35 cm). MLS produced accurate estimates of canopy cover and landscape metrics up to 50 m from plot center. TLS tended to underpredict both canopy cover and patch metrics with constant bias due to occlusion. Taking full advantage of minimal occlusion effects, MLS data consistently provided the best individual tree and plot-based metrics, with ALS providing the best estimates for volume, biomass, and canopy cover. Overall, we found MLS data logistically simple, quickly acquirable, and accurate for small area inventories, assessments, and monitoring activities. We suggest further work exploring the active use of MLS for forest monitoring and inventory.

scholarly journals Predicting Growing Stock Volume of Eucalyptus Plantations Using 3-D Point Clouds Derived from UAV Imagery and ALS Data

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 905 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guerra-Hernández ◽  
Cosenza ◽  
Cardil ◽  
Silva ◽  
Botequim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Tree Height ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Volume Estimation ◽  
P Value ◽  
Test Statistic ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Significant Difference

Estimating forest inventory variables is important in monitoring forest resources and mitigating climate change. In this respect, forest managers require flexible, non-destructive methods for estimating volume and biomass. High-resolution and low-cost remote sensing data are increasingly available to measure three-dimensional (3D) canopy structure and to model forest structural attributes. The main objective of this study was to evaluate and compare the individual tree volume estimates derived from high-density point clouds obtained from airborne laser scanning (ALS) and digital aerial photogrammetry (DAP) in Eucalyptus spp. plantations. Object-based image analysis (OBIA) techniques were applied for individual tree crown (ITC) delineation. The ITC algorithm applied correctly detected and delineated 199 trees from ALS-derived data, while 192 trees were correctly identified using DAP-based point clouds acquired from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), representing accuracy levels of respectively 62% and 60%. Addressing volume modelling, non-linear regression fit based on individual tree height and individual crown area derived from the ITC provided the following results: Model Efficiency (Mef) = 0.43 and 0.46, Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) = 0.030 m3 and 0.026 m3, rRMSE = 20.31% and 19.97%, and an approximately unbiased results (0.025 m3 and 0.0004 m3) using DAP and ALS-based estimations, respectively. No significant difference was found between the observed value (field data) and volume estimation from ALS and DAP (p-value from t-test statistic = 0.99 and 0.98, respectively). The proposed approaches could also be used to estimate basal area or biomass stocks in Eucalyptus spp. plantations.

Retrieving individual tree heights from a point cloud generated with optical imagery from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (10) ◽  
pp. 1012-1024
Author(s):  
Meimei Wang ◽  
Jiayuan Lin
Keyword(s):  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle ◽  
Point Cloud ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Tree Height ◽  
Absolute Error ◽  
Coefficient Of Determination ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Aerial Vehicle ◽  
The Mean

Individual tree height (ITH) is one of the most important vertical structure parameters of a forest. Field measurement and laser scanning are very expensive for large forests. In this paper, we propose a cost-effective method to acquire ITHs in a forest using the optical overlapping images captured by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The data sets, including a point cloud, a digital surface model (DSM), and a digital orthorectified map (DOM), were produced from the UAV imagery. The canopy height model (CHM) was obtained by subtracting the digital elevation model (DEM) from the DSM removed of low vegetation. Object-based image analysis was used to extract individual tree crowns (ITCs) from the DOM, and ITHs were initially extracted by overlaying ITC outlines on the CHM. As the extracted ITHs were generally slightly shorter than the measured ITHs, a linear relationship was established between them. The final ITHs of the test site were retrieved by inputting extracted ITHs into the linear regression model. As a result, the coefficient of determination (R2), the root mean square error (RMSE), the mean absolute error (MAE), and the mean relative error (MRE) of the retrieved ITHs against the measured ITHs were 0.92, 1.08 m, 0.76 m, and 0.08, respectively.

Individual Tree Measurement in Tropical Environment using Terrestrial Laser Scanning

2015 ◽  
Vol 73 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Zulkarnain Abdul Rahman ◽  
Zulkepli Majid ◽  
Md Afif Abu Bakar ◽  
Abd Wahid Rasib ◽  
Wan Hazli Wan Kadir
Keyword(s):  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Mean Squared Error ◽  
Tree Height ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Tree Crown ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Branch Diameter ◽  
Reference Tree ◽  
Crown Volume ◽  
Tree Branch

Detailed forest inventory and mensuration of individual trees have drawn attention of research society mainly to support sustainable forest management. This study aims at estimating individual tree attributes from high density point cloud obtained by terrestrial laser scanner (TLS). The point clouds were obtained over single reference tree and group of trees in forest area. The reference tree is treated as benchmark since detailed measurements of branch diameter were made on selected branches with different sizes and locations. Diameter at breast height (DBH) was measured for trees in forest. Furthermore tree height, height to crown base, crown volume and tree branch volume were also estimated for each tree. Branch diameter is estimated directly from the point clouds based on semi-automatic approach of model fitting i.e. sphere, ellipse and cylinder. Tree branch volume is estimated based on the volume of the fitted models. Tree height and height to crown base are computed using histogram analysis of the point clouds elevation. Tree crown volume is estimated by fitting a convex-hull on the tree crown. The results show that the Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) of the estimated tree branch diameter does not have a specific trend with branch sizes and number of points used for fitting process. This explains complicated distribution of point clouds over the branches. Overall cylinder model produces good results with most branch sizes and number of point clouds for fitting. The cylinder fitting approach shows significantly better estimation results compared to sphere and ellipse fitting models.   

scholarly journals Individual tree extraction from terrestrial laser scanning data via graph pathing

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Di Wang ◽  
Xinlian Liang ◽  
Gislain II Mofack ◽  
Olivier Martin-Ducup
Keyword(s):  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Terrestrial Laser Scanning ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Tree Level ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
Computationally Efficient ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Single Crown ◽  
Tree Extraction

Abstract Background Individual tree extraction from terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) data is a prerequisite for tree-scale estimations of forest biophysical properties. This task currently is undertaken through laborious and time-consuming manual assistance and quality control. This study presents a new fully automatic approach to extract single trees from large-area TLS data. This data-driven method operates exclusively on a point cloud graph by path finding, which makes our method computationally efficient and universally applicable to data from various forest types. Results We demonstrated the proposed method on two openly available datasets. First, we achieved state-of-the-art performance on locating single trees on a benchmark dataset by significantly improving the mean accuracy by over 10% especially for difficult forest plots. Second, we successfully extracted 270 trees from one hectare temperate forest. Quantitative validation resulted in a mean Intersection over Union (mIoU) of 0.82 for single crown segmentation, which further led to a relative root mean square error (RMSE%) of 21.2% and 23.5% for crown area and tree volume estimations, respectively. Conclusions Our method allows automated access to individual tree level information from TLS point clouds. The proposed method is free from restricted assumptions of forest types. It is also computationally efficient with an average processing time of several seconds for one million points. It is expected and hoped that our method would contribute to TLS-enabled wide-area forest qualifications, ranging from stand volume and carbon stocks modelling to derivation of tree functional traits as part of the global ecosystem understanding.

scholarly journals Influence of Scan Density on the Estimation of Single-Tree Attributes by Hand-Held Mobile Laser Scanning

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Del Perugia ◽  
Francesca Giannetti ◽  
Gherardo Chirici ◽  
Davide Travaglini
Keyword(s):  
Data Acquisition ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Reference Data ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Castanea Sativa ◽  
Tree Height ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Single Tree ◽  
Breast Height ◽  
Scan Path

Nowadays, forest inventories are frequently carried out using a combination of field measurements and remote sensing data, often acquired with light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors. Several studies have investigated how three-dimensional laser scanning point clouds from different platforms can be used to acquire information traditionally collected with forest instruments, such as hypsometers and callipers to detect single-tree attributes like tree height and diameter at the breast height. The present study has tested the performances of the ZEB1 instrument, a type of hand-held mobile laser scanner, for single-tree attributes estimation in pure Castanea sativa Mill. stands cultivated for fruit production in Central Italy. In particular, the influence of walking scan path density on single-tree attributes estimation (number of trees, tree position, diameter at breast height, tree height, and crown base height) was investigated to test the efficiency of field measures. The point clouds were acquired by walking along straight lines drawn with different spacing: 10 and 15 m apart. A single-tree scan approach, which included walking with the instrument around each tree, was used as reference data. In order to evaluate the efficiency of the survey, the influence of the walking scan path was discussed in relation to the accuracy of single-tree attributes estimation, as well as the time and cost needed for data acquisition, pre-processing, and analysis. Our results show that the 10 m scan path provided the best results, with an omission error of 6%; the assessment of single-tree attributes was successful, with values of the coefficient of determination and the relative root mean square error similar to other studies. The 10 m scan path has also proved to decrease the costs by about €14 for data pre-processing, and a saving of time for data acquisition and data analysis of about 37 min compared to the reference data.

scholarly journals Deriving Individual-Tree Biomass from Effective Crown Data Generated by Terrestrial Laser Scanning

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (23) ◽  
pp. 2793
Author(s):  
Yujie Zheng ◽  
Weiwei Jia ◽  
Qiang Wang ◽  
Xu Huang
Keyword(s):  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Terrestrial Laser Scanning ◽  
Tree Height ◽  
Biomass Estimation ◽  
Tree Biomass ◽  
Crown Height ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Cloud Data ◽  
Biomass Equations

Biomass reflects the state of forest management and is critical for assessing forest benefits and carbon storage. The effective crown is the region above the lower limit of the forest crown that includes the maximum vertical distribution density of branches and leaves; this component plays an important role in tree growth. Adding the effective crown to biomass equations can enhance the accuracy of the derived biomass. Six sample plots in a larch plantation (ranging in area from 0.06 ha to 0.12 ha and in number of trees from 63 to 96) at the Mengjiagang forest farm in Huanan County, Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province, China, were analyzed in this study. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) was used to obtain three-dimensional point cloud data on the trees, from which crown parameters at different heights were extracted. These parameters were used to determine the position of the effective crown. Moreover, effective crown parameters were added to biomass equations with tree height as the sole variable to improve the accuracy of the derived individual-tree biomass estimates. The results showed that the minimum crown contact height was very similar to the effective crown height, and an increase in model accuracy was apparent (with R a 2 increasing from 0.846 to 0.910 and root-mean-square error (RMSE) decreasing from 0.372 kg to 0.286 kg). The optimal model for deriving biomass included tree height, crown length from minimum contact height, crown height from minimum contact height, and crown surface area from minimum contact height. The novelty of the article is that it improves the fit of individual-tree biomass models by adding crown-related variables and investigates how the accuracy of biomass estimation can be enhanced by using remote sensing methods without obtaining diameter at breast height.

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