scholarly journals Creating Landscape-Scale Site Index Maps for the Southeastern US Is Possible with Airborne LiDAR and Landsat Imagery

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ranjith Gopalakrishnan ◽  
Jobriath Kauffman ◽  
Matthew Fagan ◽  
John Coulston ◽  
Valerie Thomas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Loblolly Pine ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Landsat Imagery ◽  
Site Index ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Forest Site ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Southeastern Us ◽  
Index Maps

Sustainable forest management is hugely dependent on high-quality estimates of forest site productivity, but it is challenging to generate productivity maps over large areas. We present a method for generating site index (a measure of such forest productivity) maps for plantation loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) forests over large areas in the southeastern United States by combining airborne laser scanning (ALS) data from disparate acquisitions and Landsat-based estimates of forest age. For predicting canopy heights, a linear regression model was developed using ALS data and field measurements from the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the US Forest Service (n = 211 plots). The model was strong (R2 = 0.84, RMSE = 1.85 m), and applicable over a large area (~208,000 sq. km). To estimate the site index, we combined the ALS estimated heights with Landsat-derived maps of stand age and planted pine area. The estimated bias was low (−0.28 m) and the RMSE (3.8 m, relative RMSE: 19.7%, base age 25 years) was consistent with other similar approaches. Due to Landsat-related constraints, our methodology is valid only for relatively young pine plantations established after 1984. We generated 30 m resolution site index maps over a large area (~832 sq. km). The site index distribution had a median value of 19.4 m, the 5th percentile value of 13.0 m and the 95th percentile value of 23.3 m. Further, using a watershed level analysis, we ranked these regions by their estimated productivity. These results demonstrate the potential and value of remote sensing based large-area site index maps.

Eight-Year Performance of Loblolly Pine with Pisolithus Ectomycorrhizae on a Good-Quality Forest Site

1988 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 275-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald H. Marx ◽  
Charles E. Cordell ◽  
Alexander Clark
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Taeda ◽  
Loblolly Pine ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Site Index ◽  
Forest Site ◽  
Water Deficits ◽  
Growing Seasons ◽  
Area Growth ◽  
Pinus Taeda L ◽  
Crown Closure

Abstract Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L) seedlings with different initial amounts of Pisolithus tinctorius (Pt) ectomycorrhizae (Pt index 0, 27, 46, 68, or 88) were planted on a good-quality site (site index 90 ft at age 50) in southwest Georgia. After 8 years and crown closure, trees with Pt indices of 88 and 68 had significantly better survival and greater heights, diameters, volumes, and green weights per tree and per ac than nursery-run, control seedlings (Pt index 0). Volume and weight yields per ac were over 50% greater and volume and weight yields per tree were over 20% greater for trees in the Pt index 88 treatment than they were for control trees. A special statistical analysis indicated that average per ac volume was positively correlated with initial Pt index values larger than 58. Tree-ring analyses showed that trees with a Pt index of 88 had significantly greater annual basal area growth than controls during growing seasons with water deficits of 8 to 13 in. Annual growth did not differ when water deficits were greater or less than these amounts. After 8 years, Pt basidiocarps were present throughout the study site. Mycorrhizal treatment integrity may have been lost after 3 or 4 years. South. J. Appl. For. 12(4):275-280

scholarly journals Incidence of ash dieback in the Left-Bank Forest-Steppe depending on stand characteristics

2020 ◽  
pp. 157-164
Author(s):  
V. L. Meshkova ◽  
V. L. Borysova
Keyword(s):  
Stocking Density ◽  
Site Index ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Forest Steppe ◽  
Forest Site ◽  
Left Bank ◽  
Site Conditions ◽  
Ash Dieback ◽  
European Ash ◽  
Stand Characteristics

The incidence of ash dieback in the forest-steppe part of Sumy and Kharkiv Regions was analysed taking into account the type of forest site conditions, the stand age, relative stocking density, site index class and the proportion of European ash in the stand composition. Ash dieback is quite widespread in inspected stands of the Left-Bank Forest-Steppe of Sumy and Kharkiv Regions. The disease spreads similarly in natural and artificial stands. It was more often revealed in the fresh fertile forest site conditions, however, such forest site conditions are the most spread and the most favourable for European ash. It was found that ash dieback incidence tends to grow with a stand aging and lasts up to the stand’s age of 80. It can be explained by the development of stem and collar rots which occur later. Ash dieback incidence is the highest in the stands with 40–70 % of ash in their composition, at a relative density of stocking over 0.5 in the stands of different site index classes.

scholarly journals Ancient Maya wetland fields revealed under tropical forest canopy from laser scanning and multiproxy evidence

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (43) ◽  
pp. 21469-21477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Beach ◽  
Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach ◽  
Samantha Krause ◽  
Tom Guderjan ◽  
Fred Valdez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Population Expansion ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Field Systems

We report on a large area of ancient Maya wetland field systems in Belize, Central America, based on airborne lidar survey coupled with multiple proxies and radiocarbon dates that reveal ancient field uses and chronology. The lidar survey indicated four main areas of wetland complexes, including the Birds of Paradise wetland field complex that is five times larger than earlier remote and ground survey had indicated, and revealed a previously unknown wetland field complex that is even larger. The field systems date mainly to the Maya Late and Terminal Classic (∼1,400–1,000 y ago), but with evidence from as early as the Late Preclassic (∼1,800 y ago) and as late as the Early Postclassic (∼900 y ago). Previous study showed that these were polycultural systems that grew typical ancient Maya crops including maize, arrowroot, squash, avocado, and other fruits and harvested fauna. The wetland fields were active at a time of population expansion, landscape alteration, and droughts and could have been adaptations to all of these major shifts in Maya civilization. These wetland-farming systems add to the evidence for early and extensive human impacts on the global tropics. Broader evidence suggests a wide distribution of wetland agroecosystems across the Maya Lowlands and Americas, and we hypothesize the increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane from burning, preparing, and maintaining these field systems contributed to the Early Anthropocene.

A non-parametric framework to estimate fertilization response in loblolly pine plantations using environmental covariates

2021 ◽  
Vol 94 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-426
Author(s):  
Stephen M Kinane ◽  
Cristian R Montes ◽  
Bronson P Bullock
Keyword(s):  
Loblolly Pine ◽  
Model Performance ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
Spatial Prediction ◽  
Site Index ◽  
Modeling Framework ◽  
Environmental Covariates ◽  
Southeastern Us ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Non Parametric

Abstract Fertilization is a common practice to increase the productivity and the stand value in the southeastern US. The decision to fertilize a given site is driven by site characteristics and the expected magnitude of response. To determine the magnitude, forest researchers typically rely on fertilization trials established throughout the region of interest and derive growth equations to reflect an increase in either site index or volume. Such equations lack an explicit spatial prediction component. To bridge this gap, we developed a modeling framework that explicitly evaluates the likelihood of a fertilization response as a binary process and the magnitude of such response as a separate model. The methodology relies on the non-parametric interpolator thin plate spines. To test the efficacy of this framework, both percent volume and dominant height response to repeated fertilizer treatments were estimated using data from long-term research trials in Georgia. Several environmental covariates were evaluated on their ability to reduce the models’ root mean square error and account for more of the variation in percent gain from fertilization regimes. Results showed that the inclusion of such covariates improved the model performance and reduced errors associated with interpolation. Thresholding expected responses from fertilization treatments allows practitioners to evaluate the probability of achieving a given response.

Growth basal area: a field method for appraising forest site potential for stockability

1983 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick C. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Site Index ◽  
Field Method ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Diameter Growth ◽  
Forest Site ◽  
A Site

Growth basal area (GBA) is a field method for determining site potential limitations on stockability. It is defined as the basal area (BA) at which dominant trees grow 1 in. (25 mm) diameter per decade at age 100. Diameter growth is a constant used to compare sites; basal area is a variable used to express different site potentials for stockability. For example, a site with GBA = 220 ft2/acre (50 m2/ha) means dominants will grow 1 in. per decade (25 mm) in diameter at 220 ft2 BA. This is twice the stockability potential of a site with GBA = 110 ft2 (25 m2/ha). GBA is determined by relating current stand diameter growth rate and BA to a curve which permits adjustment of current BA to that for 1 in. per decade diameter growth. GBA is based on two assumptions: (i) rate of diameter growth decreases with increasing basal area and is an index of intertree competition. (ii) Change in GBA with age is related to stand age. GBA can be combined with site index (SI), shown as SI-GBA, to connote different productivities within an SI class. GBA is discussed in regard to concept of GBA curve development, assumptions made, applications, and constraints.

How Many Tree Heights Should You Measure for Natural, Atlantic Coastal Plain Loblolly Site Index?

1981 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 180-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Thomas Lloyd
Keyword(s):  
Sample Size ◽  
Loblolly Pine ◽  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Site Index ◽  
Atlantic Coastal Plain ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Site Class ◽  
Pinus Taeda L ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Atlantic Coastal

Abstract Sample size is tabulated for the number of tree heights needed to site-classify plots growing natural, Atlantic coastal plain loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.). The size of the sample depends on observed stand age and selected site-class size, index age, and classification success rate. The most important outcome is the relationship of sample size to stand age because putting it into practice results in uniformly reliable site-index estimates.

scholarly journals APPLICABILITY ANALYSIS OF CLOTH SIMULATION FILTERING ALGORITHM FOR MOBILE LIDAR POINT CLOUD

2018 ◽  
Vol XLII-3 ◽  
pp. 107-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Cai ◽  
W. Zhang ◽  
J. Qi ◽  
P. Wan ◽  
J. Shao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Point Cloud ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
Cloth Simulation ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Three Samples ◽  
Separate Point ◽  
A New Technique

Classifying the original point clouds into ground and non-ground points is a key step in LiDAR (light detection and ranging) data post-processing. Cloth simulation filtering (CSF) algorithm, which based on a physical process, has been validated to be an accurate, automatic and easy-to-use algorithm for airborne LiDAR point cloud. As a new technique of three-dimensional data collection, the mobile laser scanning (MLS) has been gradually applied in various fields, such as reconstruction of digital terrain models (DTM), 3D building modeling and forest inventory and management. Compared with airborne LiDAR point cloud, there are some different features (such as point density feature, distribution feature and complexity feature) for mobile LiDAR point cloud. Some filtering algorithms for airborne LiDAR data were directly used in mobile LiDAR point cloud, but it did not give satisfactory results. In this paper, we explore the ability of the CSF algorithm for mobile LiDAR point cloud. Three samples with different shape of the terrain are selected to test the performance of this algorithm, which respectively yields total errors of 0.44 %, 0.77 % and1.20 %. Additionally, large area dataset is also tested to further validate the effectiveness of this algorithm, and results show that it can quickly and accurately separate point clouds into ground and non-ground points. In summary, this algorithm is efficient and reliable for mobile LiDAR point cloud.

An Interim Economic Comparison of Thinning Treatments in a High Site Quality Red Pine Plantation

1988 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hal O. Liechty ◽  
David D. Reed ◽  
Glenn D. Mroz
Keyword(s):  
Loblolly Pine ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Site Index ◽  
Red Pine ◽  
Site Quality ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Economic Returns ◽  
Machine Productivity ◽  
Current Product ◽  
Harvesting Costs

Abstract Harvesting costs for seven thinning treatments applied to a highly productive (site index 81 at base age 50) red pine stand (age 22) were calculated using machine productivity rates developed for loblolly pine. The economic value of each treatment 10 years after the initial thinning was determined using the calculated harvesting costs and current product prices. Plots thinned to 60 ft2 ba/ac, 30% height, and 120 ft2 ba/ac treatments had the highest returns regardless of whether pulpwood or pulpwood and sawtimber markets were used to determine returns. The superior economic returns from the 30% and 120 ft2 treatments reflected the higher overall product yields from these thinning strategies. However, the 60 ft2 treatment, which had the second lowest merchantable cubic-foot yields in the study, had returns similar to the higher yielding treatments. This was due to: (1) larger early returns from the initial heavy thinnings in the 60 ft2 treatment, and (2) the decreased harvesting costs related to increased stand diameter growth of the heavier thinned treatment. North. J. Appl. For. 5:211-215, Sept. 1988.

scholarly journals Predicting Dominant Height from Plantation Age and the Diameter Distributions—Site-Prepared Loblolly Pine

1996 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 148-150
Author(s):  
R. L. Bailey ◽  
Stacey W. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Loblolly Pine ◽  
Site Index ◽  
Pine Plantations ◽  
Diameter Distribution ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Average Height ◽  
Regression Equations ◽  
Distribution Characteristics ◽  
Dominant Height ◽  
Plantation Age

Abstract With over 1,300 observations from plots in mechanically site-prepared loblolly pine plantations, regression equations are fitted that predict average height of dominant and codominant trees (i.e., site index trees)from stand age and diameter distribution characteristics. The equations can be used to avoid measuring heights and thus reduce costs of volume inventories in loblolly pine plantations. South. J. Appl. For. 20(3):148-150.

Urban energetics applications and Geomatic technologies in a Smart City perspective

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Bitelli ◽  
P. Conte ◽  
T. Csoknyai ◽  
E. Mandanici
Keyword(s):  
Smart City ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Energy Sector ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
City Management ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Research Areas

The management of an urban context in a Smart City perspective requires the development of innovative projects, with new applications in multidisciplinary research areas. They can be related to many aspects of city life and urban management: fuel consumption monitoring, energy efficiency issues, environment, social organization, traffic, urban transformations, etc. Geomatics, the modern discipline of gathering, storing, processing, and delivering digital spatially referenced information, can play a fundamental role in many of these areas, providing new efficient and productive methods for a precise mapping of different phenomena by traditional cartographic representation or by new methods of data visualization and manipulation (e.g. three-dimensional modelling, data fusion, etc.). The technologies involved are based on airborne or satellite remote sensing (in visible, near infrared, thermal bands), laser scanning, digital photogrammetry, satellite positioning and, first of all, appropriate sensor integration (online or offline). The aim of this work is to present and analyse some new opportunities offered by Geomatics technologies for a Smart City management, with a specific interest towards the energy sector related to buildings. Reducing consumption and CO2 emissions is a primary objective to be pursued for a sustainable development and, in this direction, an accurate knowledge of energy consumptions and waste for heating of single houses, blocks or districts is needed. A synoptic information regarding a city or a portion of a city can be acquired through sensors on board of airplanes or satellite platforms, operating in the thermal band. A problem to be investigated at the scale A problem to be investigated at the scale of the whole urban context is the Urban Heat Island (UHI), a phenomenon known and studied in the last decades. UHI is related not only to sensible heat released by anthropic activities, but also to land use variations and evapotranspiration reduction. The availability of thermal satellite sensors is fundamental to carry out multi-temporal studies in order to evaluate the dynamic behaviour of the UHI for a city. Working with a greater detail, districts or single buildings can be analysed by specifically designed airborne surveys. The activity has been recently carried out in the EnergyCity project, developed in the framework of the Central Europe programme established by UE. As demonstrated by the project, such data can be successfully integrated in a GIS storing all relevant data about buildings and energy supply, in order to create a powerful geospatial database for a Decision Support System assisting to reduce energy losses and CO2 emissions. Today, aerial thermal mapping could be furthermore integrated by terrestrial 3D surveys realized with Mobile Mapping Systems through multisensor platforms comprising thermal camera/s, laser scanning, GPS, inertial systems, etc. In this way the product can be a true 3D thermal model with good geometric properties, enlarging the possibilities in respect to conventional qualitative 2D images with simple colour palettes. Finally, some applications in the energy sector could benefit from the availability of a true 3D City Model, where the buildings are carefully described through three-dimensional elements. The processing of airborne LiDAR datasets for automated and semi-automated extraction of 3D buildings can provide such new generation of 3D city models.

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