Laser scanning measures positions on objects using light pulses. These measurement coordinates are then used to calculate forest area statistics and estimate various forest parameters.
In airborne laser scanning, positions are measured on objects such as the ground and tree crowns. The sensor's location and direction, combined with distance measurement, provide the positions of the reflections as 3D points. The distribution of these coordinates can be used to compute statistics for a forest area and estimate forest parameters such as wood volume, biomass, or stand height. Additionally, in dense forest areas, it is possible to detect and determine the characteristics of individual trees.
Ground-based laser scanning generates a series of 3D points with intensity values for the reflected laser measurements. From this dataset, both a distance image and an intensity image can be created. The distance image can be used to automatically measure tree stems within a field plot.
Point cloud data from ground based laser scanning, classified by the flatness of surfaces (blue=level).
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A point cloud from ground based laser scanning of forest.
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A point cloud from ground based laser scanning of Pinus sylvestris.
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