Forest Management
The capture of up-to-date, accurate information is increasingly vital for forest management. In the past, forest inventory parameters were obtained by inspections, terrestrial surveys and by extrapolating from previous inventories. In view of the size of forest stands and increased demands placed on accuracy, the old methods are no longer economical or sufficiently precise. Aerial photography and satellite imagery only partially improve the situation.
Forest canopy model
© LFG Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
Airborne laser scanner and RGB/NIR line scanner imagery combine to provide wide area elevation data and image data capture capability in a timely and efficient way. Trimble Forest Management solutions are easily implemented in the following scenarios:
- Inventory control and future projection
- Forest management and monitoring
- Planning and optimization of transport routes
- Planning for drainage and fertilization
- Appraisal of potential erosion
- Harvesting forecasts and timber growth
3D presentation DSM Billenhagen
© LFG Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
|
True ortho image RGB Billenhagen
© LFG Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
|
The following parameters can be derived directly and automatically from Trimble Harrier data:
- Height of forest canopy and single tree height
- Single tree segmentation and crown area
- Tree number and stand density
- 3D coordinates of tree centers
- Classification of deciduous and coniferous trees
- Fine-grained detail such as tree diameter at breast height, timber volume, timber growth, and species
Tree centers and crown area
© Natscan Project, University of Freiburg, Germany
The extraction of forestry information is the objective of numerous research projects.
Within the framework of the Highscan EU project, research institutes in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Finland have developed a forest inventory method using high-resolution satellite and airborne laser scanner data. Parameters such as tree height, mean stand height, stand density, crown area and timber volume were successfully extracted from the laser scanner data to assess forest stands for forest inventories. Results proved to be significantly more accurate than parameters obtained by conventional methods and field inventories. Advantages of the airborne laser scanning technology include high pulse rate and high rate of penetration of vegetation.
Color-coded tree heights
© HUT, Finland
|
3D model of a woodland area
© HUT, Finland
|
Project Natscan's central point of interest is the study of advanced laser scanning methods and their adaptation to the requirements of environmental monitoring. To formulate a two-phase laser-assisted inventory system, data from airborne laser scanning systems is integrated with detailed scans from a terrestrial platform for recording environmentally relevant information with high precision. At present, parameters for environmental monitoring are acquired terrestrially with the aid of aerial photographs and satellite images or by extrapolating previous inventories. These methods are costly and time-consuming and often deliver insufficiently accurate or out-of-date results.
For Project Natscan, existing airborne laser scanner systems were modified and GIS-compatible analysis programs were developed for forest inventories and for planning power line corridors. As a partner in the Natscan project, TopoSys—a European service provider and user of Trimble GeoSpatial products—enhanced its laser scanning system to deliver high-resolution data with uniform surface distribution of surface measurements.
The Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems Department of the University of Freiburg, Germany (FELIS) developed algorithms for 3D object recognition, image analysis, measurement and visualization of the terrain surface and objects on it, on the basis of the laser scanner and image data captured by TopoSys.
Segmentation of crown area and tree centers
© Natscan project, University of Freiburg, Germany
Classification in deciduous and coniferous trees
© Natscan project, University of Freiburg, Germany
|