Comparison of Low-Cost Commercial Unpiloted Digital Aerial Photogrammetry to Airborne Laser Scanning across Multiple Forest Types in California, USA

Science-based forest management requires quantitative estimation of forest attributes traditionally collected via sampled field plots in a forest inventory program. Three-dimensional (3D) remotely sensed data such as Light Detection and Ranging (lidar), are increasingly utilized to supplement and ev...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	James E. Lamping, Harold S. J. Zald, Buddhika D. Madurapperuma, Jim Graham
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	UAS drone forest inventory structure from motion photogrammetry forest Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/e7916cee643d4762b0b41dda2578a300
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:e7916cee643d4762b0b41dda2578a300
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:e7916cee643d4762b0b41dda2578a3002021-11-11T18:53:04ZComparison of Low-Cost Commercial Unpiloted Digital Aerial Photogrammetry to Airborne Laser Scanning across Multiple Forest Types in California, USA10.3390/rs132142922072-4292https://doaj.org/article/e7916cee643d4762b0b41dda2578a3002021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/21/4292https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292Science-based forest management requires quantitative estimation of forest attributes traditionally collected via sampled field plots in a forest inventory program. Three-dimensional (3D) remotely sensed data such as Light Detection and Ranging (lidar), are increasingly utilized to supplement and even replace field-based forest inventories. However, lidar remains cost prohibitive for smaller areas and repeat measurements, often limiting its use to single acquisitions of large contiguous areas. Recent advancements in unpiloted aerial systems (UAS), digital aerial photogrammetry (DAP) and high precision global positioning systems (HPGPS) have the potential to provide low-cost time and place flexible 3D data to support forest inventory and monitoring. The primary objective of this study was to assess the ability of low-cost commercial off the shelf UAS DAP and HPGPS to create accurate 3D data and predictions of key forest attributes, as compared to both lidar and field observations, in a wide range of forest conditions in California, USA. A secondary objective was to assess the accuracy of nadir vs. off-nadir UAS DAP, to determine if oblique imagery provides more accurate 3D data and forest attribute predictions. UAS DAP digital terrain models (DTMs) were comparable to lidar DTMS across most sites and nadir vs. off-nadir imagery collection (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.74–0.99), although model accuracy using off-nadir imagery was very low in mature Douglas-fir forest (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.17) due to high canopy density occluding the ground from the image sensor. Surface and canopy height models were shown to have less agreement to lidar (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.17–0.69), with off-nadir imagery surface models at high canopy density sites having the lowest agreement with lidar. UAS DAP models predicted key forest metrics with varying accuracy compared to field data (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.53–0.85), and were comparable to predictions made using lidar. Although lidar provided more accurate estimates of forest attributes across a range of forest conditions, this study shows that UAS DAP models, when combined with low-cost HPGPS, can accurately predict key forest attributes across a range of forest types, canopies densities, and structural conditions.James E. LampingHarold S. J. ZaldBuddhika D. MadurapperumaJim GrahamMDPI AGarticleUASdroneforest inventorystructure from motionphotogrammetryforestScienceQENRemote Sensing, Vol 13, Iss 4292, p 4292 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	UAS drone forest inventory structure from motion photogrammetry forest Science Q
spellingShingle	UAS drone forest inventory structure from motion photogrammetry forest Science Q James E. Lamping Harold S. J. Zald Buddhika D. Madurapperuma Jim Graham Comparison of Low-Cost Commercial Unpiloted Digital Aerial Photogrammetry to Airborne Laser Scanning across Multiple Forest Types in California, USA
description	Science-based forest management requires quantitative estimation of forest attributes traditionally collected via sampled field plots in a forest inventory program. Three-dimensional (3D) remotely sensed data such as Light Detection and Ranging (lidar), are increasingly utilized to supplement and even replace field-based forest inventories. However, lidar remains cost prohibitive for smaller areas and repeat measurements, often limiting its use to single acquisitions of large contiguous areas. Recent advancements in unpiloted aerial systems (UAS), digital aerial photogrammetry (DAP) and high precision global positioning systems (HPGPS) have the potential to provide low-cost time and place flexible 3D data to support forest inventory and monitoring. The primary objective of this study was to assess the ability of low-cost commercial off the shelf UAS DAP and HPGPS to create accurate 3D data and predictions of key forest attributes, as compared to both lidar and field observations, in a wide range of forest conditions in California, USA. A secondary objective was to assess the accuracy of nadir vs. off-nadir UAS DAP, to determine if oblique imagery provides more accurate 3D data and forest attribute predictions. UAS DAP digital terrain models (DTMs) were comparable to lidar DTMS across most sites and nadir vs. off-nadir imagery collection (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.74–0.99), although model accuracy using off-nadir imagery was very low in mature Douglas-fir forest (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.17) due to high canopy density occluding the ground from the image sensor. Surface and canopy height models were shown to have less agreement to lidar (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.17–0.69), with off-nadir imagery surface models at high canopy density sites having the lowest agreement with lidar. UAS DAP models predicted key forest metrics with varying accuracy compared to field data (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.53–0.85), and were comparable to predictions made using lidar. Although lidar provided more accurate estimates of forest attributes across a range of forest conditions, this study shows that UAS DAP models, when combined with low-cost HPGPS, can accurately predict key forest attributes across a range of forest types, canopies densities, and structural conditions.
format	article
author	James E. Lamping Harold S. J. Zald Buddhika D. Madurapperuma Jim Graham
author_facet	James E. Lamping Harold S. J. Zald Buddhika D. Madurapperuma Jim Graham
author_sort	James E. Lamping
title	Comparison of Low-Cost Commercial Unpiloted Digital Aerial Photogrammetry to Airborne Laser Scanning across Multiple Forest Types in California, USA
title_short	Comparison of Low-Cost Commercial Unpiloted Digital Aerial Photogrammetry to Airborne Laser Scanning across Multiple Forest Types in California, USA
title_full	Comparison of Low-Cost Commercial Unpiloted Digital Aerial Photogrammetry to Airborne Laser Scanning across Multiple Forest Types in California, USA
title_fullStr	Comparison of Low-Cost Commercial Unpiloted Digital Aerial Photogrammetry to Airborne Laser Scanning across Multiple Forest Types in California, USA
title_full_unstemmed	Comparison of Low-Cost Commercial Unpiloted Digital Aerial Photogrammetry to Airborne Laser Scanning across Multiple Forest Types in California, USA
title_sort	comparison of low-cost commercial unpiloted digital aerial photogrammetry to airborne laser scanning across multiple forest types in california, usa
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/e7916cee643d4762b0b41dda2578a300
work_keys_str_mv	AT jameselamping comparisonoflowcostcommercialunpiloteddigitalaerialphotogrammetrytoairbornelaserscanningacrossmultipleforesttypesincaliforniausa AT haroldsjzald comparisonoflowcostcommercialunpiloteddigitalaerialphotogrammetrytoairbornelaserscanningacrossmultipleforesttypesincaliforniausa AT buddhikadmadurapperuma comparisonoflowcostcommercialunpiloteddigitalaerialphotogrammetrytoairbornelaserscanningacrossmultipleforesttypesincaliforniausa AT jimgraham comparisonoflowcostcommercialunpiloteddigitalaerialphotogrammetrytoairbornelaserscanningacrossmultipleforesttypesincaliforniausa
_version_	1718431737171673088

Comparison of Low-Cost Commercial Unpiloted Digital Aerial Photogrammetry to Airborne Laser Scanning across Multiple Forest Types in California, USA

Ejemplares similares