Forest canopy gap fraction from terrestrial laser scanning

Danson, FM ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3984-0432, Hetherington, D, Morsdorf, F and et, al 2007, 'Forest canopy gap fraction from terrestrial laser scanning' , IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, 4 (1) , pp. 157-160.

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Abstract

A terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) was used to measure canopy directional gap fraction distribution in forest stands in the Swiss National Park, eastern Switzerland. A scanner model was derived to determine the expected number of laser shots in all directions, and these data were compared with the measured number of laser hits to determine directional gap fraction at eight sampling points. Directional gap fraction distributions were determined from digital hemispherical photographs recorded at the same sampling locations in the forest, and these data were compared with distributions computed from the laser scanner data. The results showed that the measured directional gap fraction distributions were similar for both hemispherical photography and TLS data with a high degree of precision in the area of overlap of orthogonal laser scans. Analysis of hemispherical photography to determine canopy gap fraction normally requires some manual data processing; laser scanners offer semiautomatic measurement of directional gap fraction distribution plus additional threedimensional information about tree height, gap size, and foliage distributions.

Item Type:	Article
Themes:	Subjects / Themes > Q Science > Q Science (General) Subjects / Themes > T Technology > T Technology (General) Subjects / Themes > Q Science > QK Botany Subjects outside of the University Themes
Schools:	Schools > School of Environment and Life Sciences Schools > School of Environment and Life Sciences > Ecosystems and Environment Research Centre
Journal or Publication Title:	IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters
Publisher:	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Refereed:	Yes
ISSN:	1545-598X
Depositing User:	FM Danson
Date Deposited:	23 Nov 2009 10:52
Last Modified:	16 Feb 2022 08:50
URI:	https://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/2506

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