Identification of the Forest Cover Growth on Landscape Level from Aerial Laser Scanning Data

Miroslav Sivák, Miroslav Kardoš, Roman Kadlečík, Juliána Chudá, Julián Tomaštík and Ján Tuček ()
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Miroslav Sivák: Department of Forest Resource Planning and Informatics, Faculty of Forestry, Technical University in Zvolen, T. G. Masaryka 24, 960 01 Zvolen, Slovakia
Miroslav Kardoš: Department of Forest Resource Planning and Informatics, Faculty of Forestry, Technical University in Zvolen, T. G. Masaryka 24, 960 01 Zvolen, Slovakia
Roman Kadlečík: Department of Forest Resource Planning and Informatics, Faculty of Forestry, Technical University in Zvolen, T. G. Masaryka 24, 960 01 Zvolen, Slovakia
Juliána Chudá: Department of Forest Harvesting, Logistics and Ameliorations, Faculty of Forestry, Technical University in Zvolen, T. G. Masaryka 24, 960 01 Zvolen, Slovakia
Julián Tomaštík: Department of Forest Resource Planning and Informatics, Faculty of Forestry, Technical University in Zvolen, T. G. Masaryka 24, 960 01 Zvolen, Slovakia
Ján Tuček: Department of Forest Resource Planning and Informatics, Faculty of Forestry, Technical University in Zvolen, T. G. Masaryka 24, 960 01 Zvolen, Slovakia

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 5, 1-14

Abstract: Aerial laser scanning technology has excellent potential in landscape management and forestry. Due to its specific characteristics, the application of this type of data is the subject of intensive research, with the search for new areas of application. This work aims to identify the boundaries of forest stands, and forest patches on non-forest land. The research objectives cover the diversity of conditions in the forest landscapes of Slovakia, with its high variability of tree species composition (coniferous, mixed, deciduous stands), age, height, and stand density. A semi-automatic procedure was designed and verified (consisting of the creation of a digital terrain model, a digital surface model, and the identification of peaks and contours of tree crowns), which allows after identification of homogeneous areas of forest stands and/or forest patches (areas covered with trees species canopy) with selected parameters (height, crown size, gap size), with high accuracy. The applicability of the proposed procedure increases the use of freely available ALS data (provided by the Office of Geodesy, Cartography, and Cadastre of the Slovak Republic) and freely distributable software tools (QGIS, CloudCompare).

Keywords: airborne laser scanning; digital terrain model; digital surface model; forest stand delineation; forest patch identification (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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