Outlook for the single-tree-level forest inventory in Nordic countries

Ville Kankare*, Markus Holopainen, Mikko Vastaranta, Xinlian Liang, Xiaowei Yu, Harri Kaartinen, Antero Kukko, Juha Hyyppä

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference article in proceedingsScientificpeer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In Nordic countries, the forest resource information systems have advanced to a state where substand-level information can be utilized. The demand of high detail up-to-date forest resource information has become a prerequisite for many of the operators working with the data, but the information on the forest attributes such as species-specific timber assortments and tree quality cannot be obtained accurately enough from the current inventory systems. Therefore, the forest organizations are actively looking forward and started the development of the next generation forest inventory platforms. The vision is, a radical leap in the cost effectiveness of forestry and wood supply will be gained through new digital services and Big Data applications. The most prominent solution for the increased demand on the information detail is single-tree-level forest inventory through various laser scanning technologies (airborne-, terrestrial- and mobile laser scanning, (ALS, TLS and MLS, respectively)) but it has not yet been adapted into operational forestry mainly due to the higher costs and challenges in data processing. Many studies have already concluded that single-tree-level information will play an important role in the next generation’s forest mapping systems that will be based on multisource approach. The challenges in multisource approach have been the data acquisition, automatic tree attribute measurements and the optimal data combinations. MLS and harvester data are of high interest technologies in the reference data acquisition but have not yet been implemented into practical applications. The goal of the present outlook was to evaluate and discuss the potential and challenges of the laser scanning technologies (especially ALS and TLS) in single-tree-level forest inventory as a part of multisource approach which, when implemented, will create a scenario for vast forest big data.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Rise of Big Spatial Data
EditorsIgor Ivan, Alex Singleton, Jiri Horak, Tomas Inspektor
PublisherSpringer
Pages183-195
Number of pages13
VolumePart F3
ISBN (Print)9783319451220
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017
MoE publication typeA4 Conference publication
EventGIS Ostrava Conference on the Rise of Big Spatial Data - Ostrava, Czech Republic
Duration: 16 Mar 201618 Mar 2016

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography
PublisherSpringer
VolumePart F3
ISSN (Print)1863-2246
ISSN (Electronic)1863-2351

Conference

ConferenceGIS Ostrava Conference on the Rise of Big Spatial Data
Country/TerritoryCzech Republic
CityOstrava
Period16/03/201618/03/2016

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