Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Langning Huo, Joachim Strengbom, Tomas Lundmark, Per Westerfelt, Eva Lindberg
Summary: In sustainable forest resource management, establishing forest conservation areas is crucial for maintaining forest biodiversity. However, assessing the conservation value of forests can be challenging due to their large and remote nature. This study explores the use of dense airborne laser scanning (ALS) data to estimate conservation values, specifically focusing on identifying different types of indicator trees.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Marc Fuhr, Etienne Lalechere, Jean-Matthieu Monnet, Laurent Berges
Summary: Building a network of interconnected overmature forests is crucial for biodiversity conservation. LiDAR technology can accurately assess forest structural parameters and identify overmature forest patches over large areas. In this study, an index combining forest structural maturity attributes was developed to characterize the maturity of field plots. LiDAR metrics, along with elevation, slope, and echo intensity distribution, were important for predicting forest maturity. The model showed a high correlation between observed and predicted maturity values, indicating accurate ranking of field plots.
REMOTE SENSING IN ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Valtteri Soininen, Antero Kukko, Xiaowei Yu, Harri Kaartinen, Ville Luoma, Otto Saikkonen, Markus Holopainen, Leena Matikainen, Matti Lehtomaeki, Juha Hyyppae
Summary: Reviewing the growth of boreal forests using airborne laser scanning can provide valuable insights into forest carbon sinks. This study examined the 20-year growth values of a research site in southern Finland and compared direct and indirect methods of growth measurement. The results showed that long-term growth of height, diameter, and stem volume can be accurately recorded, with high correlation coefficients in the best-case scenarios.
Article
Forestry
Marie-Claude Jutras-Perreault, Terje Gobakken, Erik Naesset, Hans Ole Orka
Summary: Centuries of forest exploitation have caused significant loss of natural forests in Europe, leading to a decline in populations for many species. The Norwegian government has set a target of protecting 10% of forested area, yet less than 2% of Norway's forests are natural. A study using ALS data and NFI measurements aimed to predict the presence of natural forests in southeastern Norway, finding that semi-natural forests had the highest accuracy.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Hans Ole orka, Marie-Claude Jutras-Perreault, Jaime Candelas-Bielza, Terje Gobakken
Summary: Forest ecosystems play a crucial role in providing habitats and services for various species. The concept of woodland key habitats (WKH) is important for biodiversity management, and the current study suggests using airborne laser scanning (ALS) data to automate the delineation of geomorphological WKH. By combining the results with a map, field surveyors can be guided more effectively. The study concludes that further automation could improve the efficiency of WKH inventories.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Andrea Hevia, Anabel Calzado, Reyes Alejano, Javier Vazquez-Pique
Summary: This study uses forest inventory data, low-density airborne laser scanning (ALS) data, and geostatistical analysis to estimate the old-growth indices (OGIs) of the oldest tree species in the Mediterranean areas and demonstrates its significance in identifying old-growth forests.
Article
Optics
Yadong Guo, Xiankun Wang, Dianpeng Su, Fanlin Yang, Guoyu Li, Chao Qi
Summary: This study proposes a hierarchical registration algorithm for laser point clouds considering building eave attributes. By using the FPPE dataset to improve registration accuracy, the method effectively enhances the registration accuracy of laser point clouds.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Manuela Hirschmugl, Florian Lippl, Carina Sobe
Summary: This study examines the options for assessing vertical forest structure in a mountainous near-natural forest in the Austrian Alps using airborne and spaceborne LiDAR data. The indicators of foliage height diversity (FHD) and number of layers (NoL) are investigated. Expert-based assessment (EBA) outperforms break-detection algorithm (BDA) in terms of overall accuracy (OA) for estimating NoL. ALS data shows better OA for NoL than GEDI data. The usability of waveform-based structure parameters shows promise and should be further tested on larger areas.
Article
Engineering, Aerospace
Ulas Yunus Ozkan, Tufan Demirel, Ibrahim Ozdemir, Serhun Saglam, Ahmet Mert
Summary: This study examined the capability of combined LiDAR/WorldView-3 data in estimating plot-level stand attributes in a complex forest in northwest Turkey. Prediction models were developed at different levels, with multiple linear regression (MLR) and random forest (RF) modeling approaches tested. The results showed higher prediction accuracy for height at tree species level and forest types level, with homogeneous coniferous stands providing higher estimation accuracy. The combination of aerial laser scanning and high resolution satellite data has potential for predicting stand attributes in complex forest ecosystems.
ADVANCES IN SPACE RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Forestry
H. A. Cameron, D. Schroeder, J. L. Beverly
Summary: Wildfire decision support systems utilize ALS technology to predict fire behavior with higher resolution fuel mapping. ALS has been found to effectively predict forest attributes relevant to fire behavior, indicating its potential for fire management applications.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF WILDLAND FIRE
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Alex Appiah Mensah, Jonas Jonen, Kenneth Nystrom, Jorgen Wallerman, Mats Nilsson
Summary: Recent advancements in remote sensing of forests have shown that bi-temporal ALS data and auxiliary information can accurately predict and map site productivity of Norway spruce and Scots pine populations. Multiple linear regression and non-parametric random forests models were used for prediction, and the predictors included height metrics, altitude, distance to coast, and soil moisture. These models and maps are valuable for operational forest management planning in Sweden.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Francisco Mauro, Andrew T. Hudak, Patrick A. Fekety, Bryce Frank, Hailemariam Temesgen, David M. Bell, Matthew J. Gregory, T. Ryan McCarley
Summary: This study analyzes the use of airborne laser scanning (ALS) data in developing regional strategies and creating multiple forest attribute maps. Results show that semiparametric models perform better than parametric models without calibration, while calibration reduces bias for parametric models. Using semiparametric models and rasterized predictors is justified for rapid results with minimal loss in accuracy or precision, even without calibration.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Maxence Martin, Osvaldo Valeria
Summary: This research aims to determine the ability of Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) technology to identify age-related structural diversity in old-growth boreal forests. The study found that ALS technology can accurately distinguish between early and late old-growth forests, and revealed the presence of large tracts of late old-growth forests within old-growth forests of unknown age.
REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Syed Adnan, Ruben Valbuena, Tuomo Kauranne, Ranjith Gopalakrishnan, Matti Maltamo
Summary: Through the study, it was found that for forest structure assessment, a concentric circular plot size of approximately 11-14 meters radius and a sample size of approximately 50-80 trees may be the optimal choice for reliable BALM estimation. Additionally, the ALS point density does not have a significant impact on the relationship between BALM estimates and various ALS metrics as long as the point density is at least 5 points per square meter.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
C. R. Traylor, M. D. Ulyshen, D. Wallace, E. L. Loudermilk, C. W. Ross, C. Hawley, R. A. Atchison, J. L. Williams, J. McHugh
Summary: Forest canopies play a crucial role in animal biodiversity globally. The structure and composition of canopies have an impact on biodiversity, and LiDAR technology has helped to understand these relationships. In this study, the researchers used LiDAR to investigate the effects of invasive shrubs on insect biodiversity in Georgia, USA. The results showed that tree composition strongly influenced all insect groups, but the responses varied among different functional groups.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hans Ole Orka, Janis Gailis, Mathias Vege, Terje Gobakken, Kenneth Hauglund
Summary: Today's availability of large amounts of high-resolution satellite imagery necessitates effective preprocessing methods. One such method is mosaicking, which is required in many applications utilizing optical satellite imagery from the Landsat and Sentinel-2 archives. Maintaining the original data structure and preserving metadata is advantageous for further analysis, and creating mosaics that match the phenological state of natural phenomena can be beneficial for certain applications. This work presents Geomosaic, an open-source tool coded in Python that produces analysis-ready satellite data mosaics from Landsat and Sentinel-2 imagery.center dot The produced mosaics preserve pixel metadata for further analysis and can be used on multiple platforms.
Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Nelson Grima, Marie -Claude Jutras-Perreault, Terje Gobakken, Hans Ole orka, Harald Vacik
Summary: Ecosystem services make significant contributions to human well-being and economies, but measuring and quantifying them accurately is challenging. The use of indicators as proxies to estimate ecosystem services has been proposed as a solution. This study conducted a literature review and generated a list of 85 indicators for measuring ecosystem services, categorized according to the CICES (v5.1) classification system. The study also identified which of these indicators can be derived from remotely sensed data, with some being directly related, some indirectly related, and others currently not derivable.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Ana de Lera Garrido, Terje Gobakken, Marius Hauglin, Erik Naesset, Ole Martin Bollandsas
Summary: The aim of this study was to analyze the accuracy of forest attribute predictions from the nationwide forest attribute map (SR16). Field observations from 33 forest inventory projects in Norway were used for validation. The overall results showed satisfactory accuracy, but there were large differences in accuracy among different inventory projects, with forest structure being the most influential factor.
SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Marie-Claude Jutras-Perreault, Erik Naesset, Terje Gobakken, Hans Ole Orka
Summary: This study utilized ALS data and vegetation indices from optical images to predict the presence of standing dead trees in a managed forest in Southern Norway. Area-based regression models were initially tested but proved to be statistically insignificant due to limited ground reference information. A tree-based approach, however, successfully identified standing dead trees based on ALS point cloud data and vegetation indices.
SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Marie-Claude Jutras-Perreault, Terje Gobakken, Erik Naesset, Hans Ole orka
Summary: This study proposes a tree-based approach that combines remote sensing data to predict the presence of standing dead trees (SDT) in forests. By comparing different remotely sensed data sources, it was found that NDVI calculated from aerial images accurately predicts the presence of SDT, while NDVI calculated from satellite images is less accurate.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Victor F. Strimbu, Erik Naesset, Hans Ole Orka, Jari Liski, Hans Petersson, Terje Gobakken
Summary: This study proposes an integrated methodology to estimate changes in forest carbon pools at the level of forest stands by combining field measurements and ALS data. The results demonstrate that ALS data can be used indirectly through a chain of models to estimate soil carbon changes at the primary level of forest management.
CARBON BALANCE AND MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Remote Sensing
Endre Hansen, Julius Wold, Michele Dalponte, Terje Gobakken, Lennart Noordermeer, Hans Ole Orka
Summary: The study applied area-based approaches to predict rot occurrence, rot severity, and rot volume. Random Forest models were built and validated using remotely sensed data and ground reference data. The results showed that rot volume models performed better due to the correlation between timber volume and rot volume.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF REMOTE SENSING
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ritwika Mukhopadhyay, Erik Naesset, Terje Gobakken, Ida Marielle Mienna, Jaime Candelas Bielza, Gunnar Austrheim, Henrik Jan Persson, Hans Ole orka, Bjorn-Eirik Roald, Ole Martin Bollandsas
Summary: Due to climate change, treelines are shifting to higher altitudes and latitudes. Accurately estimating the biomass of trees and shrubs in alpine areas is crucial for carbon reporting. This study utilized remotely sensed data, such as airborne laser scanning (ALS) and digital aerial photogrammetry (DAP), to estimate aboveground biomass (AGB) in a treeline ecotone in Southern Norway. Despite weak fit of the prediction models, the estimates showed adequate precision with relatively narrow confidence intervals (CIs). The results suggest that ALS and DAP data can be effectively used for AGB estimation in treeline ecotones.
Article
Forestry
Victor F. Strimbu, Tron Eid, Terje Gobakken
Summary: This paper introduces a software tool called GAYA 2.0 for simulating forest development and performing scenario analysis to evaluate carbon sequestration potential, net present value, and climate change impacts under different management regimes. A case study in Norway is presented to demonstrate the tool's potential, showing changes in optimal management strategies and future predictions of forest carbon balance.