Scholarly record
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF USING RAW DATA: A CASE STUDY WITH CANOPY HEIGHT MODELS OF SHRUBS
Abstract
The quality of spatial data plays a crucial role in environmental modelling and management, especially in local scale studies needing a detail mapping of vegetation elements in a mosaic, near-natural landscape. One of the sources of spatial data for such modelling is airborne LiDAR. Although LiDAR-based vegetation and terrain models are often considered accurate, their quality is dependent on the density of the original raw point clouds and the computation algorithm. The aim of this study was to answer a question of how the method of LiDAR raw data processing affects the accuracy of the resulting canopy height models of shrubs in the mosaic landscape consisting of herbaceous plants and shrub formations. We hypothesize that using raw LiDAR data in conjunction with a suitable algorithm, we can obtain a more accurate shrub model than that acquired from the same raw LiDAR data through a general all-purpose processing used for computation of nationwide digital surface models. The comparison of vertical accuracy of individual models with reference field data showed that combining raw LiDAR data with an algorithm suitable for the studied area could lead to creating better shrub vegetation models than those available from the governmental products. Besides, our results also imply that even data with relatively low point cloud density that are not primarily intended for creating digital models of vegetation can yield a good canopy height model eligible for shrub detection if processed in a suitable way.
Publication Impact Profile
Publication details
References15
V. Moudrý and P. Šímová, “Influence of positional accuracy, sample size and scale on modelling species distributions,” International Journal of Geographical Information Science, vol. 26, no. 11. pp. 2083–2095, 2012.
D. Li, J. Zhang, and H. Wu, “Spatial data quality and beyond,” Int. J. Geogr. Inf. Sci., vol. 26, no. 12, pp. 1–14, 2012.
S. Wu, J. Li, and G. Huang, “Deriving vegetation structure in ecological applications from LiDAR imagery,” J. Environ. Informatics, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 111–114, 2006.
T. Klouček, O. Lagner, and P. Šímová, “How does data accuracy influence the reliability of digital viewshed models? A case study with wind turbines,” Appl. Geogr., vol. 64, no. November, pp. 46–54, 2015.
M. Fogl and V. Moudrý, “Influence of vegetation canopies on solar potential in urban environments,” Appl. Geogr., vol. 66, pp. 73–80, 2016.
M. Melin, J. Matala, L. Mehtätalo, J. Pusenius, and P. Packalen, “Ecological dimensions of airborne laser scanning - Analyzing the role of forest structure in moose habitat use within a year,” Remote Sens. Environ., vol. 173, pp. 238–247, 2016.
N. F. Glenn, L. P. Spaete, T. T. Sankey, D. R. Derryberry, S. P. Hardegree, and J. Mitchell, “Errors in LiDAR-derived shrub height and crown area on sloped terrain,” J. Arid Environ., vol. 75, no. 4, pp. 377–382, 2011.
J. Estornell, L. A. Ruiz, B. Velázquez-Martí, and A. Fernández-Sarría, “Estimation of shrub biomass by airborne LiDAR data in small forest stands,” For. Ecol. Manage., vol. 262, no. 9, pp. 1697–1703, 2011.
C. M. Chance, N. C. Coops, A. A. Plowright, T. R. Tooke, A. Christen, and N. Aven, “Invasive shrub mapping in an urban environment from hyperspectral and LiDAR-derived attributes,” Front. Plant Sci., vol. 7, no. 1528, pp. 1–19, 2016.
N. T. Boelman et al., “Airborne laser scanning and spectral remote sensing give a bird’s eye perspective on arctic tundra breeding habitat at multiple spatial scales,” Remote Sens. Environ., vol. 184, pp. 337–349, 2016.
A. Khosravipour, A. K. Skidmore, and M. Isenburg, “Generating spike-free digital surface models using LiDAR raw point clouds: A new approach for forestry applications,” Int. J. Appl. Earth Obs. Geoinf., vol. 52, pp. 104–114, Oct. 2016.
L. Wasser, R. Day, L. Chasmer, and A. Taylor, “Influence of Vegetation Structure on Lidar-derived Canopy Height and Fractional Cover in Forested Riparian Buffers During Leaf-Off and Leaf-On Conditions,” PLoS One, vol. 8, no. 1, 2013.
M. K. Jakubowski, Q. Guo, and M. Kelly, “Tradeoffs between lidar pulse density and forest measurement accuracy,” Remote Sens. Environ., vol. 130, pp. 245– 253, 2013.
W. Turner et al., “Free and open-access satellite data are key to biodiversity conservation,” Biol. Conserv., vol. 182, pp. 173–176, 2015.
N. Pettorelli, W. F. Laurance, T. G. O’Brien, M. Wegmann, H. Nagendra, and W. Turner, “Satellite remote sensing for applied ecologists: Opportunities and challenges,” Journal of Applied Ecology, vol. 51, no. 4. pp. 839–848, 2014.
View or Download full articleAccess options
SWS access login
Login as SWS Scientific CommitteeLogin as SWS Scientific PartnerLogin as SWS AuthorAuthors and approved SWS contributors will read and export their own linked papers after identity matching by SWS profile, email and SGEM GlobalID.
For librarian assistance: [email protected]
Purchase Instant Access
- Article can be downloaded after successful payment.
- Article may be used according to SWS library access terms.
- Article cannot be redistributed.
