Feasibility of Terrestrial Laser Scanning for Plotwise Forest Inventories

Xinlian Liang

Maastolaserkeilaimen soveltuvuus koealapuuston mittaamiseen

Xinlian Liang

Tutkimustuotos: Doctoral Thesis › Collection of Articles

Abstrakti

Tarkka ja ajantasainen metsävaratieto on yhä tärkeämpää metsätaloudessa. Laajojen metsäalueiden inventointi ja seuranta perustuu maastomittauksiin ja kaukokartoitustulkintaan. Maastossa mitattuja koealoja hyödynnetään kaukokartoituksen referenssi- tai kalibrointiaineistoina. Tällöin tulkinnassa käytettävien referenssi- tai kalibrointikoealojen mittaustarkkuus on ratkaisevan tärkeää. Perinteisesti maastoreferenssi on kerätty koealoilta manuaalisilla mittauksilla, mikä on työlästä. Korkeiden työvoimakustannusten vuoksi mitattavien puutunnusten määrä on rajallinen, ja joitakin tärkeitä puutunnuksia ei voida operatiivisesti edes mitata. Maastolaserkeilaus (Terrestrial Laser Scanning, TLS) on viime aikoina antanut lupauksia puiden mittaamiseen. Monet puutunnukset korreloivat hyvin TLS-piirteiden kanssa, ja useita menetelmiä puiden mittaukseen on esitetty. TLS:n soveltuvuus koealoihin perustuvaan metsävarojen inventointiin on kuitenkin edelleen epäselvää. Suurin ongelma on TLS-aineiston automaattinen käsittely ja tulkinta. Muita uuden tekniikan käyttöönottoa rajoittavia tekijöitä ovat TLS-laitteiston suhteellisen korkea hinta, tarjolla olevien automaattisten menetelmien huonot mittaustarkkuudet sekä käytännön testien puuttuminen (esim. runkokäyrän mittaus) erilaisissa puustoissa ja metsiköissä. Tutkimuksessa kehitettiin useita TLS-menetelmiä koealojen kartoitukseen ja mittaukseen. Lisäksi menetelmien soveltuvuutta koealoihin perustuvassa metsävarojen inventoinnissa analysoitiin ottaen huomioon runkojen paikannuksen tarkkuus, aineiston keruun tehokkuus sekä tekniikan rajoitukset. Tulosten mukaan TLS-mittaukset ovat soveltuvia metsikkökoealan tarkkaan kartoitukseen ja automaattiset menetelmät tuottivat tarkkoja mittaustuloksia tärkeimmistä puutunnuksista, kuten puiden rinnankorkeusläpimitasta ja runkokäyrästä. Täysin automaattinen TLS-aineiston käsittelymenetelmä, joka tutkimuksessa kehitettiin, tuotti samantasoista mittaustarkkuutta kuin perinteiset metsässä tehtävät mittausmenetelmät tai TLS-pistepilvestä suoritetut manuaaliset mittaukset. Tulokset osoittavat TLS-mittausten olevan potentiaalinen menetelmä operatiiviseen metsävarojen maastoinventointiin. Jatkotutkimuksia tarvitaan operatiivisen TLS-inventointimenetelmän kehittämiseen. Kolme mahdollista tutkimuslinjaa ovat TLS:llä mitattujen tarkkojen puutunnusten (esim. runkokäyrä, tilavuus ja biomassa) integrointi laajojen alueiden inventointeihin, TLS-koealojen hyödyntäminen operatiivisessa valtakunnan metsien inventoinnissa (VMI) sekä laajojen koealojen mittaaminen TLS:llä, esimerkiksi operatiivisen leimikkosuunnittelun yhteydessä. Lisäksi tarvitaan edelleen jatkotutkimuksia TLS-mittausten tarkkuudesta erilaisissa metsiköissä (kehitysluokka, puulaji, aluskasvillisuuden määrä).

Julkaisun otsikon käännös	Maastolaserkeilaimen soveltuvuus koealapuuston mittaamiseen
Alkuperäiskieli	Englanti
Pätevyys	Tohtorintutkinto
Myöntävä instituutio	Aalto-yliopisto
Valvoja/neuvonantaja	Haggren, Henrik, Vastuuprofessori Hyyppä, Juha, Ohjaaja Holopainen, Markus, Ohjaaja, Ulkoinen henkilö
Painoksen ISBN	978-951-711-298-7
Sähköinen ISBN	978-951-711-299-4
Tila	Julkaistu - 2013
OKM-julkaisutyyppi	G5 Tohtorinväitöskirja (artikkeli)

Tutkimusalat

maastolaserkeilaus
maalaserkeilaus
metsien inventointi
runkokäyrä
tilavuus
biomassa
muutostulkinta

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http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-711-299-4

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@phdthesis{22953b0edc9c4d0f85655daed9061c50,

title = "Feasibility of Terrestrial Laser Scanning for Plotwise Forest Inventories",

abstract = "Detailed, up-to-date forest information is increasingly important in quantitative forest inventories. The accuracy of the information retrieval is highly dependent on the quality and quantity of the reference data collected on field sample plots. In practice, the plotwise forest data are used as a reference for the calibration of large-area inventory data measured by aerial and space-borne remote sensing techniques. Field reference data are conventionally collected at the sample plot level by manual measurements. Because of the high costs and labor intensity of manual measurements, the number of tree attributes collected is limited. Some of the most important tree attributes are not even measured or sampled. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) has been recently shown to be a promising technique for forest-related studies. Many tree attributes have been correlated with measurements from TLS data. Numerous TLS methods have been proposed. 6However, the feasibility of applying TLS in plotwise forest inventories is still unclear. The major missing factor is automation of data processing. Other factors hampering the acceptance of the technology include the relatively high cost of the TLS instrument, the low measurement accuracy achieved using the automated data processing currently available, and the shortage of experimental results related to the retrieval of advanced stem attributes (e.g., stem curve) and to different forest conditions. In this study, a series of methods to map sample plots were developed, and their applicability in plotwise forest inventories was analyzed. The accuracy of stem mapping, the efficiency of data collection, and the limitations of the techniques were discussed. The results indicate that TLS is capable of documenting a forest sample plot in detail and that automated mapping methods yield accurate measurements of the most important tree attributes, such as diameter at breast height and stem curve. The fully-automated TLS data processing that was developed in this study resulted in measurement accuracy similar to that of manual measurements using conventional tools or models and of manual measurements from point cloud data. The results of this study support the feasibility of TLS for practical forest field inventories. Further research is needed to explore new protocols for the application of TLS in field inventories. Three possible new directions are the integration of detailed tree attributes (e.g., stem curve, volume, and biomass) in large-area inventories, the utilization of TLS field plots in national forest inventories, and the mapping of large sample plots, e.g., in operational harvest planning. More studies need to be performed on sample plots under different forest conditions (development class, tree species, and amount of ground vegetation).",

keywords = "terrestrial laser scanning, forest inventories, stem curve, volume, biomass, change detection, maastolaserkeilaus, maalaserkeilaus, metsien inventointi, runkok{\"a}yr{\"a}, tilavuus, biomassa, muutostulkinta, terrestrial laser scanning, forest inventories, stem curve, volume, biomass, change detection",

author = "Xinlian Liang",

year = "2013",

language = "English",

isbn = "978-951-711-298-7",

series = "Suomen Geodeettisen laitoksen julkaisuja",

publisher = "Finnish Geodetic Institute",

number = "149",

school = "Aalto University",

}

TY - THES

T1 - Feasibility of Terrestrial Laser Scanning for Plotwise Forest Inventories

AU - Liang, Xinlian

PY - 2013

Y1 - 2013

N2 - Detailed, up-to-date forest information is increasingly important in quantitative forest inventories. The accuracy of the information retrieval is highly dependent on the quality and quantity of the reference data collected on field sample plots. In practice, the plotwise forest data are used as a reference for the calibration of large-area inventory data measured by aerial and space-borne remote sensing techniques. Field reference data are conventionally collected at the sample plot level by manual measurements. Because of the high costs and labor intensity of manual measurements, the number of tree attributes collected is limited. Some of the most important tree attributes are not even measured or sampled. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) has been recently shown to be a promising technique for forest-related studies. Many tree attributes have been correlated with measurements from TLS data. Numerous TLS methods have been proposed. 6However, the feasibility of applying TLS in plotwise forest inventories is still unclear. The major missing factor is automation of data processing. Other factors hampering the acceptance of the technology include the relatively high cost of the TLS instrument, the low measurement accuracy achieved using the automated data processing currently available, and the shortage of experimental results related to the retrieval of advanced stem attributes (e.g., stem curve) and to different forest conditions. In this study, a series of methods to map sample plots were developed, and their applicability in plotwise forest inventories was analyzed. The accuracy of stem mapping, the efficiency of data collection, and the limitations of the techniques were discussed. The results indicate that TLS is capable of documenting a forest sample plot in detail and that automated mapping methods yield accurate measurements of the most important tree attributes, such as diameter at breast height and stem curve. The fully-automated TLS data processing that was developed in this study resulted in measurement accuracy similar to that of manual measurements using conventional tools or models and of manual measurements from point cloud data. The results of this study support the feasibility of TLS for practical forest field inventories. Further research is needed to explore new protocols for the application of TLS in field inventories. Three possible new directions are the integration of detailed tree attributes (e.g., stem curve, volume, and biomass) in large-area inventories, the utilization of TLS field plots in national forest inventories, and the mapping of large sample plots, e.g., in operational harvest planning. More studies need to be performed on sample plots under different forest conditions (development class, tree species, and amount of ground vegetation).

AB - Detailed, up-to-date forest information is increasingly important in quantitative forest inventories. The accuracy of the information retrieval is highly dependent on the quality and quantity of the reference data collected on field sample plots. In practice, the plotwise forest data are used as a reference for the calibration of large-area inventory data measured by aerial and space-borne remote sensing techniques. Field reference data are conventionally collected at the sample plot level by manual measurements. Because of the high costs and labor intensity of manual measurements, the number of tree attributes collected is limited. Some of the most important tree attributes are not even measured or sampled. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) has been recently shown to be a promising technique for forest-related studies. Many tree attributes have been correlated with measurements from TLS data. Numerous TLS methods have been proposed. 6However, the feasibility of applying TLS in plotwise forest inventories is still unclear. The major missing factor is automation of data processing. Other factors hampering the acceptance of the technology include the relatively high cost of the TLS instrument, the low measurement accuracy achieved using the automated data processing currently available, and the shortage of experimental results related to the retrieval of advanced stem attributes (e.g., stem curve) and to different forest conditions. In this study, a series of methods to map sample plots were developed, and their applicability in plotwise forest inventories was analyzed. The accuracy of stem mapping, the efficiency of data collection, and the limitations of the techniques were discussed. The results indicate that TLS is capable of documenting a forest sample plot in detail and that automated mapping methods yield accurate measurements of the most important tree attributes, such as diameter at breast height and stem curve. The fully-automated TLS data processing that was developed in this study resulted in measurement accuracy similar to that of manual measurements using conventional tools or models and of manual measurements from point cloud data. The results of this study support the feasibility of TLS for practical forest field inventories. Further research is needed to explore new protocols for the application of TLS in field inventories. Three possible new directions are the integration of detailed tree attributes (e.g., stem curve, volume, and biomass) in large-area inventories, the utilization of TLS field plots in national forest inventories, and the mapping of large sample plots, e.g., in operational harvest planning. More studies need to be performed on sample plots under different forest conditions (development class, tree species, and amount of ground vegetation).

KW - terrestrial laser scanning

KW - forest inventories

KW - stem curve

KW - volume

KW - biomass

KW - change detection

KW - maastolaserkeilaus

KW - maalaserkeilaus

KW - metsien inventointi

KW - runkokäyrä

KW - tilavuus

KW - biomassa

KW - muutostulkinta

KW - terrestrial laser scanning

KW - forest inventories

KW - stem curve

KW - volume

KW - biomass

KW - change detection

M3 - Doctoral Thesis

SN - 978-951-711-298-7

T3 - Suomen Geodeettisen laitoksen julkaisuja

ER -