Assessment of standing wood and fiber quality using ground and airborne laser scanning: A review
Assessment of standing wood and fiber quality using ground and airborne laser scanning: A review
Accurate information on the wood-quality characteristics of standing timber and logs is needed to optimize the forest production value chain and to assess the potential of forest resources to meet other services. Physical and chemical characteristics of wood vary with both tree and site characteristics. At the tree scale, crown development, stem shape and taper, branch size and branch location, knot size, type and placement, and age all influence wood properties. More broadly, at the stand level, stocking density, moisture, nutrient availability, climate, competition, disturbance, and stand age have also been identified as key determinants of wood quality. Such information is often captured in polygon based forest inventory data. Other terrain-related spatial information, such as elevation, slope and aspect, can improve assessments of site conditions and limitations upon plant growth which impact wood quality. Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) is an emerging technology, which directly measures the three-dimensional structure of forest canopies using ground or airborne laser instruments, and can provide highly accurate information on individual-tree and stand-level forest structure. In this paper, we explore the potential of LiDAR and other geospatial information sources to model and predict wood quality based on individual-tree and stand structural metrics. We identify a number of key wood quality attributes (i.e., basic wood density, cell perimeter, cell coarseness, fiber length, and microfibril angle) and demonstrate links between these properties and forest structure and site attributes. Finally, the potential for using LiDAR in combination with other geospatial information sources to predict wood quality in standing timber is discussed.
fiber properties, LiDAR, remote sensing, wood quality
1467-1478
Van Leeuwen, Martin
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Hilker, Thomas
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Coops, Nicholas C.
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Frazer, Gordon
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Wulder, Michael A.
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Newnham, Glenn J.
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Culvenor, Darius S.
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1 May 2011
Van Leeuwen, Martin
d0b420da-8c90-41c3-a047-eabd517dbd0b
Hilker, Thomas
c7fb75b8-320d-49df-84ba-96c9ee523d40
Coops, Nicholas C.
5511e778-fec2-4f54-8708-de65ba5a0992
Frazer, Gordon
3d203f30-d7ec-4676-a9af-231ef8abe035
Wulder, Michael A.
13414360-db3d-4d88-a76d-ccffd69d0084
Newnham, Glenn J.
461f980e-fd0f-40f2-98c0-2f33f8611b44
Culvenor, Darius S.
5a9065a0-c5a2-4220-b704-5e241b5b988d
Van Leeuwen, Martin, Hilker, Thomas, Coops, Nicholas C., Frazer, Gordon, Wulder, Michael A., Newnham, Glenn J. and Culvenor, Darius S.
(2011)
Assessment of standing wood and fiber quality using ground and airborne laser scanning: A review.
Forest Ecology and Management, 261 (9), .
(doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2011.01.032).
Abstract
Accurate information on the wood-quality characteristics of standing timber and logs is needed to optimize the forest production value chain and to assess the potential of forest resources to meet other services. Physical and chemical characteristics of wood vary with both tree and site characteristics. At the tree scale, crown development, stem shape and taper, branch size and branch location, knot size, type and placement, and age all influence wood properties. More broadly, at the stand level, stocking density, moisture, nutrient availability, climate, competition, disturbance, and stand age have also been identified as key determinants of wood quality. Such information is often captured in polygon based forest inventory data. Other terrain-related spatial information, such as elevation, slope and aspect, can improve assessments of site conditions and limitations upon plant growth which impact wood quality. Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) is an emerging technology, which directly measures the three-dimensional structure of forest canopies using ground or airborne laser instruments, and can provide highly accurate information on individual-tree and stand-level forest structure. In this paper, we explore the potential of LiDAR and other geospatial information sources to model and predict wood quality based on individual-tree and stand structural metrics. We identify a number of key wood quality attributes (i.e., basic wood density, cell perimeter, cell coarseness, fiber length, and microfibril angle) and demonstrate links between these properties and forest structure and site attributes. Finally, the potential for using LiDAR in combination with other geospatial information sources to predict wood quality in standing timber is discussed.
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: 27 January 2011
e-pub ahead of print date: 21 February 2011
Published date: 1 May 2011
Keywords:
fiber properties, LiDAR, remote sensing, wood quality
Organisations:
Global Env Change & Earth Observation, Geography & Environment
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 384654
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/384654
ISSN: 0378-1127
PURE UUID: d0b594cc-0ca5-4b80-b495-5da0663aa4f9
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Date deposited: 27 Jan 2016 12:21
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 22:02
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Contributors
Author:
Martin Van Leeuwen
Author:
Thomas Hilker
Author:
Nicholas C. Coops
Author:
Gordon Frazer
Author:
Michael A. Wulder
Author:
Glenn J. Newnham
Author:
Darius S. Culvenor
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