Abstract
Knowledge about forest road networks is essential for sustainable forest management and fire management. The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of a new hierarchical-hybrid classification tool (HyClass) for mapping paved and unpaved forest roads with LiDAR data. Bare-earth and low-lying vegetation were also identified. For this purpose, a rural landscape (area 70 ha) in northwestern Spain was selected for study, and a road network map was extracted from the cadastral maps as the ground truth data. The HyClass tool is based on a decision tree which integrates segmentation processes at local scale with decision rules. The proposed approach yielded an overall accuracy (OA) of 96.5%, with a confidence interval (CI) of 94.0–97.6%, representing an improvement over pixel-based classification (OA = 87.0%, CI = 83.7–89.8%) using Random Forest (RF). In addition, with the HyClass tool, the classification precision varied significantly after reducing the original point density from 8.7 to 1 point/m2. The proposed method can provide accurate road mapping to support forest management as an alternative to pixel-based RF classification when the LiDAR point density is higher than 1 point/m2.
Highlights
An automatic tool was developed for extracting forest road network information from LiDAR data in a rural landscape area in northern Spain
For cost-effective monitoring of forest road network using LiDAR, we developed a hybrid classification method intended for use by land and forest managers as an alternative approach to complex classifiers such as Random Forest (RF) and time-consuming manual processes
The results obtained confirm that integration of the object/pixel class using simple and robust decision trees can classify the forest road network accurately
Summary
Sustainable forest management should enhance all goods and services provided by forests, by considering the multifunctional role of forests and forest resources, including provision of, e.g., timber and non-timber products (fruits, resins, mushrooms, etc.), watershed regulation and water supply, grazing by livestock, climate regulation, hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation. In this respect, forest roads have become vital components of the human use of forest systems throughout history, providing access that enables people to study, enjoy, contemplate or extract forest resources [2]. In Spain, most forest road networks are designed to enable selvicultural and timber extraction, they are essential for forest risk management, serving as preventive infrastructures (fire breaks), providing access for wildfire forest surveillance and fire prevention and suppression activities and acting as deterrents
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