Tree Stem Detection and Crown Delineation in a Structurally Diverse Deciduous Forest Combining Leaf-On and Leaf-Off UAV-SfM Data
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Published:2023-09-05
Issue:18
Volume:15
Page:4366
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ISSN:2072-4292
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Container-title:Remote Sensing
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language:en
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Short-container-title:Remote Sensing
Author:
Dietenberger Steffen1ORCID, Mueller Marlin M.1ORCID, Bachmann Felix12, Nestler Maximilian1, Ziemer Jonas2ORCID, Metz Friederike12, Heidenreich Marius G.3, Koebsch Franziska4, Hese Sören2, Dubois Clémence12, Thiel Christian1ORCID
Affiliation:
1. German Aerospace Center, Institute of Data Science, Mälzerstraße 3-5, 07745 Jena, Germany 2. Department of Earth Observation, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Leutragraben 1, 07743 Jena, Germany 3. Department of Spatial Structures and Digitization of Forests, Georg August University of Göttingen, Büsgenweg 1, 37077 Göttingen, Germany 4. Department of Bioclimatology, Georg August University of Göttingen, Büsgenweg 2, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
Abstract
Accurate detection and delineation of individual trees and their crowns in dense forest environments are essential for forest management and ecological applications. This study explores the potential of combining leaf-off and leaf-on structure from motion (SfM) data products from unoccupied aerial vehicles (UAVs) equipped with RGB cameras. The main objective was to develop a reliable method for precise tree stem detection and crown delineation in dense deciduous forests, demonstrated at a structurally diverse old-growth forest in the Hainich National Park, Germany. Stem positions were extracted from the leaf-off point cloud by a clustering algorithm. The accuracy of the derived stem co-ordinates and the overall UAV-SfM point cloud were assessed separately, considering different tree types. Extracted tree stems were used as markers for individual tree crown delineation (ITCD) through a region growing algorithm on the leaf-on data. Stem positioning showed high precision values (0.867). Including leaf-off stem positions enhanced the crown delineation, but crown delineations in dense forest canopies remain challenging. Both the number of stems and crowns were underestimated, suggesting that the number of overstory trees in dense forests tends to be higher than commonly estimated in remote sensing approaches. In general, UAV-SfM point clouds prove to be a cost-effective and accurate alternative to LiDAR data for tree stem detection. The combined datasets provide valuable insights into forest structure, enabling a more comprehensive understanding of the canopy, stems, and forest floor, thus facilitating more reliable forest parameter extraction.
Subject
General Earth and Planetary Sciences
Reference78 articles.
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Cited by
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