Forestry Applications Of Airborne Laser Scanning

Airborne laser scanning (ALS) has emerged as one of the most promising remote sensing technologies to provide data for research and operational applications in a wide range of disciplines related to management of forest ecosystems. This book provides a comprehensive, state-of-the-art review of the research and application of ALS in a broad range of forest-related disciplines, especially forest inventory and forest ecology. However, this book is more than just a collection of individual contributions – it consists of a well-composed blend of chapters dealing with fundamental methodological issues and contributions reviewing and illustrating the use of ALS within various domains of application. The reviews provide a comprehensive and unique overview of recent research and applications that researchers, students and practitioners in forest remote sensing and forest ecosystem assessment should consider as a useful reference text.

Ideal for both undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of geography, forestry, ecology, geographic information science, remote sensing, and photogrammetric engineering, LiDAR Remote Sensing and Applications expertly joins LiDAR principles, data processing basics, applications, and hands-on practices in one comprehensive source. The LiDAR data within this book is collected from 27 areas in the United States, Brazil, Canada, Ghana, and Haiti and includes 183 figures created to introduce the concepts, methods, and applications in a clear context. It provides 11 step-by-step projects predominately based on Esri’s ArcGIS software to support seamless integration of LiDAR products and other GIS data. The first six projects are for basic LiDAR data visualization and processing and the other five cover more advanced topics: from mapping gaps in mangrove forests in Everglades National Park, Florida to generating trend surfaces for rock layers in Raplee Ridge, Utah. Features Offers a comprehensive overview of LiDAR technology with numerous applications in geography, forestry and earth science Gives necessary theoretical foundations from all pertinent subject matter areas Uses case studies and best practices to point readers to tools and resources Provides a synthesis of ongoing research in the area of LiDAR remote sensing technology Includes carefully selected illustrations and data from the authors' research projects Before every project in the book, a link is provided for users to download data

Written by a team of international experts, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the major applications of airborne and terrestrial laser scanning. It focuses on principles and methods and presents an integrated treatment of airborne and terrestrial laser scanning technology. After consideration of the technology and processing methods, the book turns to applications, such as engineering, forestry, cultural heritage, extraction of 3D building models, and mobile mapping. This book brings together the various facets of the subject in a coherent text that will be relevant for advanced students, academics and practitioners.

Written by a team of international experts, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the major applications or airborne and terrestrial laser scanning.

3D surface representation has long been a source of information describing surface character and facilitating an understanding of system dynamics from micro-scale (e.g. sand transport) to macro-scale (e.g. drainage channel network evolution). Data collection has been achieved through field mapping techniques and the use of remotely sensed data. Advances in this latter field have been considerable in recent years with new rapid-acquisition methods being developed centered around laser based technology. The advent of airborne and field based laser scanning instruments has allowed researchers to collect high density accurate data sets and these are revealing a wealth of new information and generating important new ideas concerning terrain characterisation and landform dynamics. The proposed book collates a series of invited peer revieved papers presented at the a conference on geoinformatics and LIDAR to be held at the National Centre for Geocomputation based in the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. Current constraints in field survey and DEM construction are reviewed together with technical and applied issues around the new technology. The utility of the data in process modelling is also covered. The book will be of great value to researchers in the field of geomorphology, geostatistics, remote sensing and GIS and will prove extremely useful to students and practitioners concerned with terrain analysis. The proposed work will: Highlight major technological breakthrough in 3D data collection. Feature examples of application across a wide range of environmental areas. Critically evaluate the role of laser based techniques in the environment. Detail theory and application of laser techniques in the natural environment.

LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) directly measures canopy vertical structures, and provides an effective remote sensing solution to accurate and spatiallyexplicit mapping of forest characteristics, such as canopy height and Leaf Area Index. However, many factors, such as large data volume and high costs for data acquisition, precludes the operational and practical use of most currently available LiDARs for frequent and large-scale mapping. At the same time, a growing need is arising for realtime remote sensing platforms, e.g., to provide timely information for urgent applications. This study aims to develop an airborne profiling LiDAR system, featured with on-the-fly data processing, for near real- or real- time forest inventory. The development of such a system involves implementing the on-board data processing and analysis as well as building useful regression-based models to relate LiDAR measurements with forest biophysical parameters. This work established a paradigm for an on-the-fly airborne profiling LiDAR system to inventory regional forest resources in real- or near real- time. The system was developed based on an existing portable airborne laser system (PALS) that has been previously assembled at NASA by Dr. Ross Nelson. Key issues in automating PALS as an on-the-fly system were addressed, including the design of an archetype for the system workflow, the development of efficient and robust algorithms for automatic data processing and analysis, the development of effective regression models to predict forest biophysical parameters from LiDAR measurements, and the implementation of an integrated software package to incorporate all the above development. This work exploited the untouched potential of airborne laser profilers for realtime forest inventory, and therefore, documented an initial step toward developing airborne-laser-based, on-the-fly, real-time, forest inventory systems. Results from this work demonstrated the utility and effectiveness of airborne scanning or profiling laser systems for remotely measuring various forest structural attributes at a range of scales, i.e., from individual tree, plot, stand and up to regional levels. The system not only provides a regional assessment tool, one that can be used to repeatedly, remotely measure hundreds or thousands of square kilometers with little/no analyst interaction or interpretation, but also serves as a paradigm for future efforts in building more advanced airborne laser systems such as real-time laser scanners.

Topographic Laser Ranging and Scanning, Second Edition, provides a comprehensive discussion of topographic LiDAR principles, systems, data acquisition, and data processing techniques. This edition presents an introduction and summary of various LiDAR systems and their principles and addresses the operational principles of the different components and ranging methods of LiDAR systems. It discusses the subsequent geometric processing of LiDAR data, with particular attention to quality, accuracy, and meeting standards and addresses the theories and practices of information extraction from LiDAR data, including terrain surface generation, forest inventory, orthoimage generation, building reconstruction, and road extraction. Written by leaders in the field, this comprehensive compilation is a must-have reference book for senior undergraduate and graduate students majoring or working in diverse disciplines, such as geomatics, geodesy, natural resources, urban planning, computer vision, and computer graphics. It is also vital resource for researchers who are interested in developing new methods and need in-depth knowledge of laser scanning and data processing and other professionals may gain the same from the broad topics addressed in this book. New in the Second Edition: A comprehensive array of new laser ranging and scanning technologies. Developments in LiDAR data format and processing techniques. Regrouping of surface modeling, representations and reconstruction. Enhanced discussions on the principles and fundamentals beyond small-footprint pulsed laser systems and new application examples. Many new examples and illustrations.

The objective of the Forum was to reach a consensus on what are the mapping and forestry applications that airborne scanner technology can fill now or in the near future; what are the appropriate sensors, processing systems, and analysis methods; what developments are needed to get the applications implemented; what expertise is available; and what is the likelihood of success. The key to achieving this objective was to develop an understanding by all participants of the application problems, financial constraints, technical problems, and scientific issues. Part 1 of this report consists of syntheses of introductory presentations and the work session discussions, as well as a summary of the wrap-up session. Part 2 contains the papers presented and the banquet speech is in part 3. Appendices include the final agenda, questions for the work sessions, an executive summary of other relevant initiatives mentioned during the Forum, and a list of participants.

This book presents the latest advances in remote-sensing and geographic information systems and applications. It is divided into four parts, focusing on Airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and Optical Measurements of Forests; Individual Tree Modelling; Landscape Scene Modelling; and Forest Eco-system Modelling. Given the scope of its coverage, the book offers a valuable resource for students, researchers, practitioners, and educators interested in remote sensing and geographic information systems and applications.