Estimating Single-Tree Crown Biomass of Norway Spruce by Airborne Laser Scanning: A Comparison of Methods with and without the Use of Terrestrial Laser Scanning to Obtain the Ground Reference Data
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Area
2.2. Forest Inventory: Stratification
2.3. Field Data
DBH (cm) | BR (kg) | n | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
min | max | mean | min | max | mean | ||
TLS model training dataset | 9.7 | 39.8 | 22.2 | 8.9 | 152.3 | 60.7 | 29 |
ALS model training dataset | 7.1 | 37.7 | 19.6 | - | - | - | 68 |
Validation dataset | 16.6 | 40.3 | 25.4 | 28.6 | 163.2 | 75.7 | 17 |
2.3.1. Sample Plot Data
2.3.2. Destructive Sampling Data
2.4. Laser Scanner Data
2.4.1. ALS Data
2.4.2. TLS Data
2.5. Calculations and Analysis
2.5.1. Single-Tree Segmentation
- Field measured trees were linked to ALS-derived crown segments if the field measured stem positions were inside the segment.
- Since the procedure allows for overlapping segments, a field tree with a position inside more than one segment would be connected to the segment with the shortest distance from its centroid to the field tree position.
- ALS model training data: only trees with one single field measured tree position within a segment were used.
- Validation data: If more than one field measured tree was inside a segment the sum of the crown biomass for all the field trees positioned inside, the segment was used as the reference crown biomass.
- Validation data: Segments encompassing trees that were not destructively sampled were excluded from the validation dataset, since the reference biomass was not known for the whole segment.
2.5.2. ALS-Derived Variables
2.5.3. TLS-Derived Variables
Variable | Description |
---|---|
CRlength | Crown length. Vertical distance from the crown base height to the highest laser echo assigned to the tree. |
CRA10,..,80 | Crown projection area. Area of the crown projection measured at heights corresponding to 10, 20, 40, 60 and 80 percent of the crown length. |
CRAsum | Crown projection area sum. The sum of the area of the crown projection measurements at heights corresponding to 10, 20, 40, 60 and 80 percent of the crown length. |
CRW10,..,80 | Crown width. The crown width measured at heights corresponding to 10, 20, 40, 60 and 80 percent of the crown length. |
CRWsum | Crown width sum. The sum of the crown width measurements at heights corresponding to 10, 20, 40, 60 and 80 percent of the crown length. |
2.5.4. Crown Biomass Predicted Using TLS to Obtain the Reference Values
2.5.5. Crown Biomass Predicted Using an Existing Allometric Model
2.5.6. Final Validation
3. Results
Variable | Relative score |
---|---|
CRAsum | 89 |
CRWsum | 69 |
CRA10 | 53 |
CRA40 | 52 |
CRA20 | 45 |
CRW40 | 16 |
CRlength | 12 |
CRW60 | 10 |
CRW10 | 7 |
CRA60 | 6 |
CRW20 | 5 |
CRW80 | 2 |
CRA80 | 1 |
Model fit | Validation | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Predictor variables | R2 | RMSE% | bias% | |
A | CRvol | 0.50 | 32.4 | 10.2 ns |
B | Hmax + CRdiam a | — b | 35.1 | −4.3 ns |
Model | β0 | β1 | β2 |
---|---|---|---|
| 9.59208 | 0.73589 | - |
| −3.90421 | 2.83414 | 0.93242 |
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Hauglin, M.; Gobakken, T.; Astrup, R.; Ene, L.; Næsset, E. Estimating Single-Tree Crown Biomass of Norway Spruce by Airborne Laser Scanning: A Comparison of Methods with and without the Use of Terrestrial Laser Scanning to Obtain the Ground Reference Data. Forests 2014, 5, 384-403. https://doi.org/10.3390/f5030384
Hauglin M, Gobakken T, Astrup R, Ene L, Næsset E. Estimating Single-Tree Crown Biomass of Norway Spruce by Airborne Laser Scanning: A Comparison of Methods with and without the Use of Terrestrial Laser Scanning to Obtain the Ground Reference Data. Forests. 2014; 5(3):384-403. https://doi.org/10.3390/f5030384
Chicago/Turabian StyleHauglin, Marius, Terje Gobakken, Rasmus Astrup, Liviu Ene, and Erik Næsset. 2014. "Estimating Single-Tree Crown Biomass of Norway Spruce by Airborne Laser Scanning: A Comparison of Methods with and without the Use of Terrestrial Laser Scanning to Obtain the Ground Reference Data" Forests 5, no. 3: 384-403. https://doi.org/10.3390/f5030384