Estimation of clumping index and LAI from Terrestrial LiDAR data

Abstract

In this study, clumping index and effective leaf area index (LAI) are estimated from Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS) data. Integrating vertical and tilt scanning from Terrestrial laser scanner, accounting zenith angle and path length two factors, discrete directional canopy gap fraction could be calculated and effective LAI could be estimated from canopy gap fraction. Finally, the clumping index and effective LAI are estimated from Terrestrial LiDAR and the results are validated with digital hemispherical photography (DHP). The results show that the regression value R2 of the clumping index, effective LAI and LAI from TLS and DHP is 0.863, 0.741 and 0.563, respectively. This experiment highlights the potential Terrestrial LiDAR for measuring forest structure parameters in plot and could be as a new tool for validating retrieval of these parameters.