RECORD
Development of Height-Volume Relationships in Second Growth Abies grandis for Use with Aerial LiDAR
- Title:
- Development of Height-Volume Relationships in Second Growth Abies grandis for Use with Aerial LiDAR
- Creator:
- Tinkham, Wade T.; Smith, Alistair M. S.; Affleck, David L. R.; Saralecos, Jarred D.; Falkowski, Michael J.; Hoffman, Chad M.; Hudak, Andrew T.; Wulder, Michael A.
- Date Created:
- 2016-10-11
- Description:
- Following typical forest inventory protocols, individual tree volume estimates are generally derived via diameter-at-breast-height (DBH)-based allometry. Although effective, measurement of DBH is time consuming and potentially a costly element in forest inventories. The capacity of airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) to provide individual tree-level information poses options for estimating tree-level attributes to enhance the information content of forest inventories. LiDAR provides excellent height measurements and, given the physiologic scaling connection of plant height and volume, using individual tree height-volume relationships could overcome errors associated with the intermediate step of inferring DBH from LiDAR. In this study, 60 Abies grandis (grand fir: 6 cm-64 cm DBH) were destructively sampled to assess stem volume across the Intermountain West in order to develop individual tree height-to-stem volume relationships. Results show DBH (r 2 > 0.98) and height (r 2 > 0.94) are significantly (p < 0.001) related to stem volume via power relationships. LiDAR-derived heights provided a 12 % RMSE improvement in accuracy of individual tree volume over LiDAR-regressed DBH estimates. Comparing height-based estimates with an existing regional allometry by mapping stem volume in a grand fir-dominated stand yielded a 6.3 % difference in total volume. This study demonstrates LiDAR's potential to estimate individual stem volume at forest management scales, utilizing height-volume relationships.
- Document Type:
- Research Article
- Subjects:
- UIEF forest inventory height-volume relationships second growth abies grandis grand fir LiDAR GIS stem volume GIS
- Location:
- UIEF
- Latitude:
- 46.869607
- Longitude:
- -116.733856
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Department:
- Forest, Rangeland, and Fire Sciences
- Type:
- Text
Source
- Preferred Citation:
- "Development of Height-Volume Relationships in Second Growth Abies grandis for Use with Aerial LiDAR", UIEF Research Exchange, University of Idaho Library Digital Collections, https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/uief/items/uief_0160.html
Rights
- Rights:
- In copyright, educational use permitted.
- Standardized Rights:
- http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/