Structural Changes in Boreal Forests Can Be Quantified Using Terrestrial Laser Scanning

Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) has been adopted as a feasible technique to digitize trees and forest stands, providing accurate information on tree and forest structural attributes. However, there is limited understanding on how a variety of forest structural changes can be quantified using TLS in boreal forest conditions. In this study, we assessed the accuracy and feasibility of TLS in quantifying changes in the structure of boreal forests. We collected TLS data and field reference from 37 sample plots in 2014 (T1) and 2019 (T2). Tree stems typically have planar, vertical, and cylindrical characteristics in a point cloud, and thus we applied surface normal filtering, point cloud clustering, and RANSAC-cylinder filtering to identify these geometries and to characterize trees and forest stands at both time points. The results strengthened the existing knowledge that TLS has the capacity to characterize trees and forest stands in space and showed that TLS could characterize structural changes in time in boreal forest conditions. Root-mean-square-errors (RMSEs) in the estimates for changes in the tree attributes were 0.99-1.22 cm for diameter at breast height (Δdbh), 44.14-55.49 cm2 for basal area (Δg), and 1.91-4.85 m for tree height (Δh). In general, tree attributes were estimated more accurately for Scots pine trees, followed by Norway spruce and broadleaved trees. At the forest stand level, an RMSE of 0.60-1.13 cm was recorded for changes in basal area-weighted mean diameter (ΔDg), 0.81-2.26 m for changes in basal area-weighted mean height (ΔHg), 1.40-2.34 m2/ha for changes in mean basal area (ΔG), and 74-193 n/ha for changes in the number of trees per hectare (ΔTPH). The plot-level accuracy was higher in Scots pine-dominated sample plots than in Norway spruce-dominated and mixed-species sample plots. TLS-derived tree and forest structural attributes at time points T1 and T2 differed significantly from each other (p < 0.05). If there was an increase or decrease in dbh, g, h, height of the crown base, crown ratio, Dg, Hg, or G recorded in the field, a similar outcome was achieved by using TLS. Our results provided new information on the feasibility of TLS for the purposes of forest ecosystem growth monitoring.

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Structural Changes in Boreal Forests Can Be Quantified Using Terrestrial Laser Scanning

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs12172672 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (17) ◽

pp. 2672

Author(s):

Tuomas Yrttimaa ◽

Ville Luoma ◽

Ninni Saarinen ◽

Ville Kankare ◽

Samuli Junttila ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Boreal Forests ◽

Point Cloud ◽

Laser Scanning ◽

Structural Changes ◽

Terrestrial Laser Scanning ◽

Basal Area ◽

Forest Stands ◽

Weighted Mean ◽

Time Points ◽

Forest Conditions

Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) has been adopted as a feasible technique to digitize trees and forest stands, providing accurate information on tree and forest structural attributes. However, there is limited understanding on how a variety of forest structural changes can be quantified using TLS in boreal forest conditions. In this study, we assessed the accuracy and feasibility of TLS in quantifying changes in the structure of boreal forests. We collected TLS data and field reference from 37 sample plots in 2014 (T1) and 2019 (T2). Tree stems typically have planar, vertical, and cylindrical characteristics in a point cloud, and thus we applied surface normal filtering, point cloud clustering, and RANSAC-cylinder filtering to identify these geometries and to characterize trees and forest stands at both time points. The results strengthened the existing knowledge that TLS has the capacity to characterize trees and forest stands in space and showed that TLS could characterize structural changes in time in boreal forest conditions. Root-mean-square-errors (RMSEs) in the estimates for changes in the tree attributes were 0.99–1.22 cm for diameter at breast height (Δdbh), 44.14–55.49 cm2 for basal area (Δg), and 1.91–4.85 m for tree height (Δh). In general, tree attributes were estimated more accurately for Scots pine trees, followed by Norway spruce and broadleaved trees. At the forest stand level, an RMSE of 0.60–1.13 cm was recorded for changes in basal area-weighted mean diameter (ΔDg), 0.81–2.26 m for changes in basal area-weighted mean height (ΔHg), 1.40–2.34 m2/ha for changes in mean basal area (ΔG), and 74–193 n/ha for changes in the number of trees per hectare (ΔTPH). The plot-level accuracy was higher in Scots pine-dominated sample plots than in Norway spruce-dominated and mixed-species sample plots. TLS-derived tree and forest structural attributes at time points T1 and T2 differed significantly from each other (p < 0.05). If there was an increase or decrease in dbh, g, h, height of the crown base, crown ratio, Dg, Hg, or G recorded in the field, a similar outcome was achieved by using TLS. Our results provided new information on the feasibility of TLS for the purposes of forest ecosystem growth monitoring.

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Detecting and characterizing downed dead wood using terrestrial laser scanning

10.31219/osf.io/t2h8r ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Tuomas Yrttimaa ◽

Ninni Saarinen ◽

Ville Luoma ◽

Topi Tanhuanpää ◽

Ville Kankare ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Point Cloud ◽

Laser Scanning ◽

Method Development ◽

Dead Wood ◽

Terrestrial Laser Scanning ◽

Detection Accuracy ◽

Visual Interpretation ◽

Wood Volume ◽

Downed Dead Wood ◽

Forest Conditions

Dead wood is a key forest structural component for maintaining biodiversity and storing carbon. Despite its important role in a forest ecosystem, quantifying dead wood alongside standing trees has often neglected when investigating the feasibility of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) in forest inventories. The objective of this study was therefore to develop an automatic method for detecting and characterizing downed dead wood with a diameter exceeding 5 cm using multi-scan TLS data. The developed four-stage algorithm included 1) RANSAC-cylinder filtering, 2) point cloud rasterization, 3) raster image segmentation, and 4) dead wood trunk positioning. For each detected trunk, geometry-related quality attributes such as dimensions and volume were automatically determined from the point cloud. For method development and validation, reference data were collected from 20 sample plots representing diverse southern boreal forest conditions. Using the developed method, the downed dead wood trunks were detected with an overall completeness of 33% and correctness of 76%. Up to 92% of the downed dead wood volume were detected at plot level with mean value of 68%. We were able to improve the detection accuracy of individual trunks with visual interpretation of the point cloud, in which case the overall completeness was increased to 72% with mean proportion of detected dead wood volume of 83%. Downed dead wood volume was automatically estimated with an RMSE of 15.0 m3/ha (59.3%), which was reduced to 6,4 m3/ha (25.3%) as visual interpretation was utilized to aid the trunk detection. The reliability of TLS-based dead wood mapping was found to increase as the dimensions of dead wood trunks increased. Dense vegetation caused occlusion and reduced the trunk detection accuracy. Therefore, when collecting the data, attention must be paid to the point cloud quality. Nevertheless, the results of this study strengthen the feasibility of TLS-based approaches in mapping biodiversity indicators by demonstrating an improved performance in quantifying ecologically most valuable downed dead wood in diverse forest conditions.

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Investigating the Feasibility of Multi-Scan Terrestrial Laser Scanning to Characterize Tree Communities in Southern Boreal Forests

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs11121423 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (12) ◽

pp. 1423 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Tuomas Yrttimaa ◽

Ninni Saarinen ◽

Ville Kankare ◽

Xinlian Liang ◽

Juha Hyyppä ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Boreal Forests ◽

Laser Scanning ◽

Size Variation ◽

Terrestrial Laser Scanning ◽

Basal Area ◽

Point Clouds ◽

Tree Size ◽

Sample Plot ◽

Tree Detection ◽

Plot Size

Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) has proven to accurately represent individual trees, while the use of TLS for plot-level forest characterization has been studied less. We used 91 sample plots to assess the feasibility of TLS in estimating plot-level forest inventory attributes, namely the stem number (N), basal area (G), and volume (V) as well as the basal area weighed mean diameter (Dg) and height (Hg). The effect of the sample plot size was investigated by using different-sized sample plots with a fixed scan set-up to also observe possible differences in the quality of point clouds. The Gini coefficient was used to measure the variation in tree size distribution at the plot-level to investigate the relationship between stand heterogeneity and the performance of the TLS-based method. Higher performances in tree detection and forest attribute estimation were recorded for sample plots with a low degree of tree size variation. The TLS-based approach captured 95% of the variation in Hg and V, 85% of the variation in Dg and G, and 67% of the variation in N. By increasing the sample plot size, the tree detection rate was decreased, and the accuracy of the estimates, especially G and N, decreased. This study emphasizes the feasibility of TLS-based approaches in plot-level forest inventories in varying southern boreal forest conditions.

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Revealing Changes in the Stem Form and Volume Allocation in Diverse Boreal Forests Using Two-Date Terrestrial Laser Scanning

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12070835 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (7) ◽

pp. 835

Author(s):

Ville Luoma ◽

Tuomas Yrttimaa ◽

Ville Kankare ◽

Ninni Saarinen ◽

Jiri Pyörälä ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tree Growth ◽

Point Cloud ◽

Laser Scanning ◽

Terrestrial Laser Scanning ◽

Point Clouds ◽

Stem Volume ◽

Accurate Information ◽

Stem Form ◽

Monitoring Period ◽

Significant Difference

Tree growth is a multidimensional process that is affected by several factors. There is a continuous demand for improved information on tree growth and the ecological traits controlling it. This study aims at providing new approaches to improve ecological understanding of tree growth by the means of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS). Changes in tree stem form and stem volume allocation were investigated during a five-year monitoring period. In total, a selection of attributes from 736 trees from 37 sample plots representing different forest structures were extracted from taper curves derived from two-date TLS point clouds. The results of this study showed the capability of point cloud-based methods in detecting changes in the stem form and volume allocation. In addition, the results showed a significant difference between different forest structures in how relative stem volume and logwood volume increased during the monitoring period. Along with contributing to providing more accurate information for monitoring purposes in general, the findings of this study showed the ability and many possibilities of point cloud-based method to characterize changes in living organisms in particular, which further promote the feasibility of using point clouds as an observation method also in ecological studies.

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THE USING OF TERRESTRIAL LASER (POINT CLOUD) SCANNING TECHNOLOGIES ON URBAN SCALE: EXAMPLE OF THE HISTORICAL URBAN TEXTURE OF LAPSEKİ

INTERNATIONAL REFEREED JOURNAL OF DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE ◽

10.17365/tmd.2021.turkey.23.03 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 0 (23) ◽

pp. 0-0

Author(s):

Hatice Çiğdem ZAĞRA ◽

Sibel ÖZDEN

Keyword(s):

Point Cloud ◽

Laser Scanning ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Terrestrial Laser Scanning ◽

Traditional Methods ◽

Life Project ◽

Three Dimensional Models ◽

Architectural Restoration ◽

Cloud Technologies ◽

Orthophoto Images

Aim: This study aims to comparatively evaluate the use potential of orthophoto images obtained by terrestrial laser scanning technologies on an urban scale through the "Old Lapseki Finds Life Project" prepared using terrestrial laser scanning technologies and the "Enez Historical City Square Project" prepared using traditional methods. Method: In the study, street improvement projects of 29.210 m2 Lapseki and 29.214 m2 Enez city designed on an urban scale were evaluated and compared with descriptive statistics based on different parameters. Results: In the study, it has been determined that terrestrial laser (point cloud) technologies are 99,9% accurate when compared to traditional methods, save time by 83,08% and reduce workforce by 80%. In addition, it has been determined that terrestrial laser scanning technologies accelerate project processes compared to traditional methods. Conclusion: In this study, the use of laser scanning technologies, which are basically reverse engineering applications, in architectural restoration projects, determination of the current situation and damage, architectural documentation of structures and preparation of three-dimensional models, in terms of efficiency in survey studies are evaluated. It has been observed that orthophoto images obtained by terrestrial laser scanning technologies in architectural relief-restoration-restitution projects have potentials' worth using in different stages of the project.

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Network method for deformation analysis of three-dimensional point cloud with terrestrial laser scanning sensor

International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks ◽

10.1177/1550147718814139 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 14 (11) ◽

pp. 155014771881413 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Xiangyang Xu ◽

Hao Yang

Keyword(s):

Point Cloud ◽

Laser Scanning ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Terrestrial Laser Scanning ◽

Deformation Analysis ◽

Transverse Displacement ◽

Displacement Analysis ◽

Accuracy Measurement ◽

Network Method ◽

Displacement Information

The complexity of structural materials is increasing the importance of the technology for high accuracy measurement. How to obtain the displacement information of structural feature points accurately and efficiently is the key issue of deformation analysis. In this article, displacement analysis of a composite arched structure is investigated based on the terrestrial laser scanning technique. A new method based on the measured point cloud is proposed to analyze the displacement of surficial points, resulting in not only the displacement size but also the displacement direction. The innovation lies in extracting the displacement information with a network and remapped point cloud, which is called the network method. The displacement map obtained demonstrates that the transverse displacement in the experiment plays an important role in the safety of the structure, which could not be observed and obtained by the surface approximation method. Therefore, the panorama- and pointwise displacement analysis technologies contribute to ensure the safety of increasingly complex constructions.

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