Terrestrial laser scanning for plot-scale forest measurement

Newnham, GJ; Armston, JD; Calders, K; Disney, MI; Lovell, JL; Schaaf, CB; Strahler, AH; Danson, FM

Abstract

Plot-scale measurements have been the foundation
for forest surveys and reporting for over 200 years. Through
recent integration with airborne and satellite remote sensing, manual measurements of vegetation structure at the plot scale are now the basis for landscape, continental and international mapping of our forest resources. The use of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) for plot-scale measurement was first demonstrated over a decade ago, with the intimation that these instruments could replace manual measurement methods. This has not yet been the case, despite the unparalleled structural information that TLS can capture. For TLS to reach its full potential, these instruments cannot be viewed as a logical progression of existing plot-based measurement. TLS must be viewed as a disruptive technology that requires a rethink of vegetation surveys and their application across a wide range
of disciplines. We review the development of TLS as a plotscale measurement tool, including the evolution of both instrument hardware and key data processing methodologies.
We highlight two broad data modelling approaches of gap
probability and geometrical modelling and the basic theory
that underpins these. Finally, we discuss the future prospects for increasing the utilisation of TLS for plot-scale forest assessment and forest monitoring.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Oct 27, 2015
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2015
• Deposit Date: Nov 9, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 2, 2016
• Journal: Current Forestry Reports
• Electronic ISSN: 2198-6436
• Publisher: Springer
• Volume: 1
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 239-251
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40725-015-0025-5
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40725-015-0025-5
• Related Public URLs: http://link.springer.com/journal/40725
• Additional Information: Funders : Natural Environment Research Council (NERC);US National Science Foundation; Projects : Full-waveform multispectral lidar to measure vegetation structure and dynamics; Grant Number: NE/I01702X/1; Grant Number: MRI-0923389; Grant Number: DBI-1455636