Automatic forest inventory parameter determination from terrestrial laser scanner data

Authors:
H. -G. Maas;A. Bienert;S. Scheller;E. Keane
Affiliations:
Dresden University of Technology, Institute of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Chair of Photogrammetry, 01062 Dresden, Germany;Dresden University of Technology, Institute of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Chair of Photogrammetry, 01062 Dresden, Germany;Dresden University of Technology, Institute of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Chair of Photogrammetry, 01062 Dresden, Germany;TreeMetrics Ltd, The Rubicon Centre, CIT Campus, Cork, Ireland
Venue:
International Journal of Remote Sensing - 3D Remote Sensing in Forestry
Year:
2008

Citing 1
Cited 5

Image Analysis and Mathematical Morphology

Image Analysis and Mathematical Morphology

Preface: 3D Remote Sensing in Forestry

International Journal of Remote Sensing - 3D Remote Sensing in Forestry
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A review of methods and applications of the geometric characterization of tree crops in agricultural activities

Computers and Electronics in Agriculture
Terrestrial laser scanning for measuring the solid wood volume, including branches, of adult standing trees in the forest environment

Computers and Electronics in Agriculture
Terrain classification and identification of tree stems using ground-based LiDAR

Journal of Field Robotics

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Abstract

Terrestrial laser scanners find rapidly growing interest in photogrammetry as efficient tools for fast and reliable three-dimensional (3D) point cloud data acquisition. They have opened a wide range of application fields within a short period of time. Beyond interactive measurement in 3D point clouds, techniques for the automatic detection of objects and the determination of geometric parameters form a high priority research issue. With the quality of 3D point clouds generated by laser scanners and the automation potential in data processing, terrestrial laser scanning is also becoming a useful tool for forest inventory. This paper presents a brief review of current laser scanner systems from a technological point of view and discusses different scanner technologies and system parameters regarding their suitability for forestry applications. Methods for the automatic detection of trees in terrestrial laser scanner data as well as the automatic determination of diameter at breast height (DBH), tree height and 3D stem profiles are outlined. Reliability and precision of the techniques are analysed on the basis of several pilot studies. In these pilot studies more than 97% of the trees could be detected correctly, and DBH could be determined with a precision of about 1.8 cm.