Estimating individual tree heights of sugi (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) plantations in mountainous areas using small-footprint airborne LiDAR

Recently, it was shown that individual tree heights could be accurately estimated using small-footprint airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) remote sensing. Because most of the areas studied previously were limited to flat terrain, we investigated the accuracy of LiDAR-derived individual tree height estimates for different types of topographical features in mountainous forests with a steeper and more complex topography. Several middle-aged (40–50 years old) sugi (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) plantations are found in the mountainous regions in Japan; hence, we chose 48-year-old sugi plantations to investigate the accuracy of these estimates. The surveyed area was divided into three types of topographical features; steep slope (mean slope ± SD; 37.6° ± 5.8°), gentle slope (15.6° ± 3.7°), and gentle yet rough terrain (16.8° ± 7.8°). Before estimating tree heights, the number of detected trees within each topographical feature was researched. In each of these terrains, the percentage of trees detected correctly was 74%, 86%, and 92%; the average error between LiDAR-derived and field-measured tree heights was 0.227 m, −0.473 m, and −0.183 m; and the accuracy of the LiDAR-derived tree height estimates, given as root mean square error (RMSE), was 0.901 m, 0.846 m, and 0.576 m, respectively. Consequently, the procedure presented in this study could detect most canopy trees and estimate individual tree heights with an accuracy better than 1 m, even in a forest with a mean slope angle of approximately 38°; thus, indicating that small-footprint airborne LiDAR will be a useful tool for accurately estimating the heights of individual canopy trees in sugi plantations in mountainous areas.

[1]  E. Næsset,et al.  Estimating tree height and tree crown properties using airborne scanning laser in a boreal nature reserve , 2002 .

[2]  Thomas J. Jackson,et al.  Airborne laser measurements of rangeland canopy cover and distribution. , 1992 .

[3]  J. Hyyppä,et al.  DETECTING AND ESTIMATING ATTRIBUTES FOR SINGLE TREES USING LASER SCANNER , 2006 .

[4]  E. Næsset.  Estimating timber volume of forest stands using airborne laser scanner data , 1997 .

[5]  Michael E. Hodgson,et al.  Correlation between aircraft MSS and LIDAR remotely sensed data on a forested wetland in South Carolina , 1987 .

[6]  Yoshiki Yamagata,et al.  Development of Measurement System for the Carbon Sinks under the Kyoto Protocol , 2002 .

[7]  S. Ustin,et al.  Modeling airborne laser scanning data for the spatial generation of critical forest parameters in fire behavior modeling , 2003 .

[8]  Michael A. Wulder,et al.  Tree and Canopy Height Estimation with Scanning Lidar , 2003 .

[9]  R. Hill,et al.  Quantifying canopy height underestimation by laser pulse penetration in small-footprint airborne laser scanning data , 2003 .

[10]  E. Næsset.  Determination of mean tree height of forest stands using airborne laser scanner data , 1997 .

[11]  Steen Magnussen,et al.  Recovering Tree Heights from Airborne Laser Scanner Data , 1999, Forest Science.

[12]  JoBea Way,et al.  Radar estimates of aboveground biomass in boreal forests of interior Alaska , 1994, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[13]  James H. Everitt,et al.  MEASURING CANOPY STRUCTURE WITH AN AIRBORNE LASER ALTIMETER , 1993 .

[14]  W. Krabill,et al.  Gross-merchantable timber volume estimation using an airborne lidar system , 1986 .

[15]  Marco Heurich,et al.  Laser Scanning for Identification of Forest Structures in the Bavarian Forest National Park , 2003 .

[16]  S. Popescu,et al.  Measuring individual tree crown diameter with lidar and assessing its influence on estimating forest volume and biomass , 2003 .

[17]  Mikko Inkinen,et al.  A segmentation-based method to retrieve stem volume estimates from 3-D tree height models produced by laser scanners , 2001, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[18]  G. Qiu,et al.  Accurate estimation of forest carbon stocks by 3-D remote sensing of individual trees. , 2003, Environmental science & technology.

[19]  Patrick D. Gerard,et al.  Characterizing vertical forest structure using small-footprint airborne LiDAR , 2003 .

[20]  S. Magnussen,et al.  Derivations of stand heights from airborne laser scanner data with canopy-based quantile estimators , 1998 .

[21]  M. Hodgson,et al.  An evaluation of LIDAR- and IFSAR-derived digital elevation models in leaf-on conditions with USGS Level 1 and Level 2 DEMs , 2003 .

[22]  E. Næsset.  Predicting forest stand characteristics with airborne scanning laser using a practical two-stage procedure and field data , 2002 .

[23]  Emmanuel P. Baltsavias,et al.  Airborne laser scanning: existing systems and firms and other resources , 1999 .

[24]  Åsa Persson,et al.  Detecting and measuring individual trees using an airborne laser scanner , 2002 .

[25]  Randolph H. Wynne,et al.  Estimating plot-level tree heights with lidar : local filtering with a canopy-height based variable window size , 2002 .

[26]  K. O. Niemann,et al.  Local Maximum Filtering for the Extraction of Tree Locations and Basal Area from High Spatial Resolution Imagery , 2000 .

[27]  K. Kraus,et al.  Determination of terrain models in wooded areas with airborne laser scanner data , 1998 .

[28]  J. Holmgren,et al.  Estimation of Tree Height and Stem Volume on Plots Using Airborne Laser Scanning , 2003, Forest Science.

[29]  M. Nilsson.  Estimation of tree heights and stand volume using an airborne lidar system , 1996 .

[30]  Ross Nelson,et al.  Estimating forest biomass and volume using airborne laser data , 1988 .

[31]  S. Franklin,et al.  Remote sensing of forest environments : concepts and case studies , 2003 .

[32]  J. Hyyppä,et al.  Estimation of timber volume and stem density based on scanning laser altimetry and expected tree size distribution functions , 2004 .

[33]  S. Roberts,et al.  Influence of Fusing Lidar and Multispectral Imagery on Remotely Sensed Estimates of Stand Density and Mean Tree Height in a Managed Loblolly Pine Plantation , 2003, Forest Science.