1. Terrestrial laser scanning as a tool for assessing tree growth
- Author
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Christopher Morhart, Jan Hackenberg, Jonathan Sheppard, Heinrich Spiecker, Chair of Forest Growth and Dendroecology, University of Freiburg, Unité de recherche Biogéochimie des Ecosystèmes Forestiers (BEF), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Institut géographique national [IGN] (IGN), Federal Ministry of Education and Research of germany (BMBF) within the Sino-German Lin2Value project 033L049A, German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) within the project 'AgroWertholz' 22031112, European Project: 311919, and Sheppard, Jonathan
- Subjects
FOREST STRUCTURE ,WOOD DENSITY ,BIOMASS ,MODELS ,CLOUDS ,VOLUME ,STEMS ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,cerisier ,[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio] ,0211 other engineering and technologies ,02 engineering and technology ,01 natural sciences ,Annual growth % ,Quantitative Structure Models ,TLS ,Statistics ,Botany ,imagerie à balayage ,Prunus avium L ,Time Series Analysis ,lcsh:Forestry ,Time series ,021101 geological & geomatics engineering ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Nature and Landscape Conservation ,Mathematics ,Tree measurement ,Biomass (ecology) ,cherry tree ,Ecology ,Quantitative structure ,Forestry ,Terrestrial laser scanning ,15. Life on land ,Wild Cherry ,laser ,Tree (data structure) ,allemagne ,croissance des arbres ,lcsh:SD1-669.5 ,Allometry ,Simpletree ,outil d'évaluation ,numérisation - Abstract
Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) technology is a powerful tool for assessing tree growth based on time series analysis, as it allows a level of scrutiny not achievable using established destructive techniques.[br/] We applied TLS technology to 21 wild cherry trees grown in a research plot near Breisach (southern Germany) in order to build quantitative structure models (QSMs) for each tree. Scans were carried out over three subsequent years (2012-2014), so that three QSMs per each tree were constructed.[br/] Using the above approach, we were able to assess the annual growth of the individual wild cherry trees in terms of diameter and height, stem and branch volume, and the merchantable timber fraction. In addition, the growth of single branches of sample trees was detected and quantified. The availability of QSMs based on TLS-derived data allowed the accurate determination of crown length and width, as well as the volume reduction as the result of the tree pruning applied after the first scan (2012). The aboveground biomass (AGB) was assessed for each tree based on the QSM-derived volume and published wood density values for wild cherry, and then compared with AGB values estimated with standard allometric methods, obtaining a very high correlation (r(adj)(2) = 0.941).[br/] We concluded that the proposed approach is an effective non-destructive technique to accurately assess the increase of tree biomass, and discuss its future application in the forestry sector.
- Published
- 2017