6533b82afe1ef96bd128b709

RESEARCH PRODUCT

A Model-Based Approach for the Recovery of Forest Attributes Using Airborne Laser Scanning Data

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description

As three-dimensional wall-to-wall information on forest structure, ALS echoes provide information on the growing stock and canopy structure. Even though the ALS echo heights are associated with the dimensions of trees, a theoretical model to relate ALS data with interesting forest attributes is missing. The recorded observation of echo height can be viewed as an outcome of a complex process mixing several random sub-processes related to the forest and the atmosphere in a non-trivial way. The forest-related processes include those generating stand density, tree heights, tree locations, tree crown shapes, and the internal structure of tree crowns. This chapter presents our recent work on development of a theoretical model for ALS echo heights. Furthermore, extensions are presented to take into account randomness in tree crown shape, to incorporate the penetration of laser pulses into tree crowns, and to develop the model for mixed stands.