Abstract
Accurate measures of forest structural parameters are essential to forest inventory and growth models, managing wildfires, and modeling of carbon cycle. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) fills the gap between tree scale manual measurements and large scale airborne LiDAR measurements by providing accurate below crown information through non-destructive methods. This study developed innovative methods to extract individual tree height, diameter at breast height (DBH), and crown width of trees in East Texas. Further, the influence of scan settings, such as leaf-on/leaf-off seasons, tree distance from the scanner, and processing choices, on the accuracy of deriving tree measurements were also investigated. DBH was retrieved by cylinder fitting at different height bins. Individual trees were extracted from the TLS point cloud to determine tree heights and crown widths. The R-squared value ranged from 0.91 to 0.97 when field measured DBH was validated against TLS derived DBH using different methods. An accuracy of 92% (RMSE = 1.51 m) was obtained for predicting tree heights. The R-squared value was 0.84 and RMSE was 1.08 m when TLS derived crown widths were validated using field measured crown widths. Examples of underestimations of field measured forest structural parameters due to tree shadowing have also been discussed in this study. The results from this study will benefit foresters and remote sensing studies from airborne and spaceborne platforms, for map upscaling or calibration purposes, for aboveground biomass estimation, and prudent decision making by the forest management.
Highlights
Accurate measures of forest structural parameters and monitoring their changes over time are essential to forest inventory and growth models, managing wildfires, modeling of carbon cycle, and forest management systems [1]
This section includes a description of the study area, descriptions of data used for this study, Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) data processing, and the methods to extract individual trees and retrieve diameter at breast height (DBH), tree height, and crown width
The efficacy of TLS in retrieving different forest structural parameters accurately at an individual tree level using novel methods was clearly demonstrated in this study
Summary
Accurate measures of forest structural parameters and monitoring their changes over time are essential to forest inventory and growth models, managing wildfires, modeling of carbon cycle, and forest management systems [1]. Most extant methods, which include indirect and direct measurement techniques, are limited in their capability to acquire accurate, spatially explicit measurements of forest structural parameters [2,3]. The accuracy of these measurements can be improved using light detection and ranging (LiDAR). Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) fills the gap between tree scale manual measurements and large scale airborne LiDAR measurements by providing a wealth of precise information on various forest structural parameters [12] and a digital record of the three dimensional structure of forests at a given time. To obtain accurate understory information, TLS can produce better results when compared to airborne LiDAR and field measurements [13]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
