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The estimation of individual biomass components within tree crowns, such as dead branches (DB), needles (NB), and branch biomass (BB), has received limited attention in the scientific literature despite their significant contribution to forest biomass. This study aimed to assess the potential of multispectral LiDAR data for estimating these biomass components in a multi-layered Abies borissi-regis forest. Destructive (i.e., 13) and non-destructive (i.e., 156) field measurements were collected from Abies borisii-regis trees to develop allometric equations for each crown biomass component and enrich the reference data with the non-destructively sampled trees. A set of machine learning regression algorithms, including random forest (RF), support vector regression (SVR) and Gaussian process (GP), were tested for individual-tree-level DB, NB and BB estimation using LiDAR-derived height and intensity metrics for different spectral channels (i.e., green, NIR and merged) as predictors. The results demonstrated that the RF algorithm achieved the best overall predictive performance for DB (RMSE% = 17.45% and R2 = 0.89), NB (RMSE% = 17.31% and R2 = 0.93) and BB (RMSE% = 24.09% and R2 = 0.85) using the green LiDAR channel. This study showed that the tested algorithms, particularly when utilizing the green channel, accurately estimated the crown biomass components of conifer trees, specifically fir. Overall, LiDAR data can provide accurate estimates of crown biomass in coniferous forests, and further exploration of this method's applicability in diverse forest structures and biomes is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study we investigated the behaviour of aggregate prediction errors in a forest inventory augmented with multispectral Airborne Laser Scanning and airborne imagery. We compared an Area-Based Approach (ABA), Edge-tree corrected ABA (EABA) and Individual Tree Detection (ITD). The study used 109 large 30 × 30 m sample plots, which were divided into four 15 × 15 m subplots. Four different levels of aggregation were examined: all four subplots (quartet), two diagonal subplots (diagonal), two edge-adjacent subplots (adjacent) and subplots without aggregation. We noted that the errors at aggregated levels depend on the selected predictor variables, and therefore, this effect was studied by repeating the variable selection 200 times. At the subplot level, EABA provided the lowest mean of root mean square error (⁠|$\overline{\mathrm{RMSE}}$|⁠) values of 200 repetitions for total stem volume (EABA 21.1 percent, ABA 23.5 percent, ITD 26.2 percent). EABA also fared the best for diagonal and adjacent aggregation (⁠|$\overline{\mathrm{RMSE}}$|⁠ : 17.6 percent, 17.4 percent), followed by ABA (⁠|$\overline{\mathrm{RMSE}}$|⁠ : 19.3 percent, 18.2 percent) and ITD (⁠|$\overline{\mathrm{RMSE}}$|⁠ : 21.8, 21.9 percent). Adjacent subplot errors of ABA were less correlated than errors of diagonal subplots, which resulted also in clearly lower RMSEs for adjacent subplots. This appears to result from edge tree effects, where omission and commission errors cancel for trees leaning from one subplot into the other. The best aggregate performance was achieved at the quartet level, as expected from fundamental properties of variance. ABA and EABA had similar RMSEs at the quartet level (⁠|$\overline{\mathrm{RMSE}}$| 15.5 and 15.3 percent), with poorer ITD performance (⁠|$\overline{\mathrm{RMSE}}$| 19.4 percent). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multispectral light detection and ranging (LiDAR) instruments, such as Optech Titan, record intensities at multiple wavelengths and these intensities can be used for tree species prediction in the same way as multispectral image data. In this paper, our main objective was to compare the accuracy of tree species prediction in a boreal forest area using multispectral LiDAR, the 1064-nm wavelength channel (“unispectral LiDAR”), and unispectral LiDAR with auxiliary aerial image data. We also evaluated the effect of the widely used intensity range correction method. We classified the main tree species of field plots using linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and predicted the species-specific volume proportions (%) for Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), Norway spruce (Picea abies), and broadleaved trees using the $k$ -nearest neighbor imputation. The effect of intensity correction on prediction errors for the dominant tree species was evaluated using optimal parameters derived from: 1) minimal intensity difference between flight lines; 2) parameters suggested by theory; and 3) uncorrected data. Although the range correction increased the classification accuracy slightly, it was observed to be ambiguous, and not consistent with theory for canopy echoes. Regardless, the intensity values were useful for the prediction of dominant tree species and species’ volume proportions. The results for the dominant tree species classification using multispectral LiDAR [overall accuracy (OA) 88.2%, kappa 0.79] were comparable to the use of unispectral LiDAR and aerial images (OA 89.1%, kappa 0.81). We conclude that the multispectral LiDAR may become a useful tool in operational species-specific forest inventories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our objective was to automatically recognize the species composition of a boreal forest from high-resolution airborne winter imagery. The forest floor was covered by snow so that the contrast between the crowns and the background was maximized. The images were taken from a helicopter flying at low altitude so that fine details of the canopy structure could be distinguished. Segments created by an object-oriented image processing were used as a basis for a linear discriminant analysis, which aimed at separating the three dominant tree species occurring in the area: Scots pine, Norway spruce, and downy birch. In a cross validation, the classification showed an overall accuracy of 81.9%, and a kappa coefficient of 0.73. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stem biomass is a fundamental component of the global carbon cycle that is essential for forest productivity estimation. Over the last few decades, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) has proven to be a useful tool for accurate carbon stock and biomass estimation in various biomes. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of multispectral LiDAR data for the reliable estimation of single-tree total and barkless stem biomass (TSB and BSB) in an uneven-aged structured forest with complex topography. Destructive and non-destructive field measurements were collected for a total of 67 dominant and co-dominant Abies borisii-regis trees located in a mountainous area in Greece. Subsequently, two allometric equations were constructed to enrich the reference data with non-destructively sampled trees. Five different regression algorithms were tested for single-tree BSB and TSB estimation using height (height percentiles and bicentiles, max and average height) and intensity (skewness, standard deviation and average intensity) LiDAR-derived metrics: Generalized Linear Models (GLMs), Gaussian Process (GP), Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Regression (SVR) and Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost). The results showcased that the RF algorithm provided the best overall predictive performance in both BSB (i.e., RMSE = 175.76 kg and R2 = 0.78) and TSB (i.e., RMSE = 211.16 kg and R2 = 0.65) cases. Our work demonstrates that BSB can be estimated with moderate to high accuracy using all the tested algorithms, contrary to the TSB, where only three algorithms (RF, SVR and GP) can adequately provide accurate TSB predictions due to bark irregularities along the stems. Overall, the multispectral LiDAR data provide accurate stem biomass estimates, the general applicability of which should be further tested in different biomes and ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Remote sensing of forest canopy cover has been widely studied recently, but little attention has been paid to the quality of field validation data. Ecological literature has two different coverage metrics. Vertical canopy cover (VCC) is the vertical projection of tree crowns ignoring within-crown gaps. Angular canopy closure (ACC) is the proportion of covered sky at some angular range around the zenith, and can be measured with a field-of-view instrument, such as a camera. We compared field-measured VCC and ACC at 15° and 75° from the zenith to different LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) metrics, using several LiDAR data sets and comprehensive field data. The VCC was estimated to a high precision using a simple proportion of canopy points in first-return data. Confining to a maximum 15° scan zenith angle, the absolute root mean squared error (RMSE) was 3.7–7.0%, with an overestimation of 3.1–4.6%. We showed that grid-based methods are capable of reducing the inherent overestimation of VCC. The low scan angles and low power settings that are typically applied in topographic LiDARs are not suitable for ACC estimation as they measure in wrong geometry and cannot easily detect small within-crown gaps. However, ACC at 0–15° zenith angles could be estimated from LiDAR data with sufficient precision, using also the last returns (RMSE 8.1–11.3%, bias –6.1–+4.6%). The dependency of LiDAR metrics and ACC at 0–75° zenith angles was nonlinear and was modeled from laser pulse proportions with nonlinear regression with a best-case standard error of 4.1%. We also estimated leaf area index from the LiDAR metrics with linear regression with a standard error of 0.38. The results show that correlations between airborne laser metrics and different canopy field characteristics are very high if the field measurements are done with equivalent accuracy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A new simple airborne method based on wide optics camera is developed for leaf area index (LAI) estimation in coniferous forests. The measurements are carried out in winter, when the forest floor is completely snow covered and thus acts as a light background for the hemispherical analysis of the images. The photos are taken automatically and stored on a laptop during the flights. The R2 value of the linear regression of the airborne and ground based LAI measurements was 0.89. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Angle count or relascope sampling has traditionally been used in forestry to estimate stand basal area. In this paper, we present an extension to the basal area relascope, the crown relascope, which differs from the normal relascope in that the relascope’s slot is very high and wide. We describe the theoretical basis of the instrument and present results from a field test in which a crown relascope with a basal area factor of 250 m2/ha (0.025) was used to estimate canopy cover of 73 sample plots in northern Finland. The crown relascope estimates had a root mean square difference of 9.3% and an average difference of –3.1% when compared with estimates obtained with the control method, line intersect sampling using the Cajanus tube. The results indicated that the crown relascope is a quick and fairly reliable instrument for canopy cover estimation, especially in relatively sparse forests where crown overlap is insignificant and visibility does not limit an efficient use of the instrument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface fuel load (SFL) constitutes one of the most significant fuel components and is used as an input variable in most fire behavior prediction systems. The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential of discrete-return multispectral Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data to reliably predict SFL in a coniferous forest characterized by dense overstory and complex terrain. In particular, a linear regression analysis workflow was employed with the separate and combined use of LiDAR-derived structural and pulse intensity information for the load estimation of the total surface fuels and individual surface fuel types. Following a leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) approach, the models developed from the different sets of predictor variables were compared in terms of their estimation accuracy. LOOCV indicated that the predictive models produced by the combined use of structural and intensity metrics significantly outperformed the models constructed with the individual sets of metrics, exhibiting an explained variance (R2) between 0.59 and 0.71 (relative Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) 19.3–37.6%). Overall, the results of this research showcase that both structural and intensity variables provided by multispectral LiDAR data are significant for surface fuel load estimation and can successfully contribute to effective pre-fire management, including fire risk assessment and behavior prediction in case of a fire event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In-situ field measurements of sample plots are a major cost component in airborne laser scanning (ALS) based forest inventories. Field measurements on new inventory areas can be reduced by utilizing existing stand attribute models from former inventory areas. We constructed a nationwide model for stem volume, and examined seven different calibration scenarios using 22 inventory areas distributed evenly throughout Finland. These scenarios can be divided into three main categories: 1) calibration with additional predictor variables, 2) calibration with 200 geographically nearest sample plots, and 3) calibration with MS-NFI (Multi-source National Forest Inventory of Finland) volume at the target inventory area. Calibration with degree days, precipitation, and proportion of birch resulted in the greatest decrease in error rate of stem volume predictions. The mean of the root mean square errors (RMSE) among the 22 inventory areas decreased from 28.6% to 25.9%, and the standard deviation of RMSEs from 4.3% to 3.9% using three additional predictor variables. Correspondingly, the mean and standard deviation of absolute values of mean differences (|MD|) decreased from 8.3% to 5.6% and from 5.6% to 4.4%, respectively. All calibration scenarios decreased the error rate, especially the high |MDs| observed in the northern part of Finland. Calibration with sample plots from geographically nearest inventory areas was useful when there were sample plots that offered a good representation of the target area. MS-NFI based calibration was also a reasonable option if loggings and other inconsistencies between datasets could be detected and accounted for. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drone applications are becoming increasingly common in the arena of forest management and forest inventories. In particular, the use of photogrammetrically derived drone-based image point clouds (DIPC) in individual tree detection has become popular. Use of an area-based approach (ABA) in small areas has also been considered. However, in-situ field measurements of sample plots substantially increase the cost of small area forest inventories. Therefore, we examined whether small-scale forest management inventories could be carried out without local field measurements. We used nationwide and regional ABA models for stem volumes fitted with airborne laser scanning (ALS) data to predict stem volumes using corresponding metrics calculated from DIPC data. The stem volumes were predicted at the cell level (15 × 15 m) and aggregated to test plots (30 × 30 m). Height metrics for the dominant tree layer from the DIPC data showed strong correlations with similar metrics computed from the ALS data. The ALS-based models applied with DIPC metrics performed well, especially if the ABA model was fitted in the same geographical area (regional model) and the inventory units were disaggregated to coniferous and deciduous dominated stands using auxiliary information from Multi-source National Forest Inventory data (root mean square error at 30 × 30 m level was 13.1%). The corresponding root mean square error associated with the nationwide ABA model was 20.0% with an overestimation (mean difference 9.6%). • Airborne laser scanning based volume models were applied to drone image point clouds. • Stem volumes were predicted with low error rates without new field measurements. • Pre-classification to coniferous and deciduous dominated stands improved the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]