A precise estimation of the 3D structure of the forest based on the fusion of airborne and terrestrial lidar data

Modern forest inventory is based on the accurate and precise characterization of the 3D structure of the forest. Although LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is an effective tool to estimate forest parameters, when acquired from single view point it is not able to represent accurately the entire scene. To solve this problem, in this paper we present a method that integrates the terrestrial and airborne LiDAR data. The proposed method first performs an automatic co-registration of the data sources based on the spatial pattern of the structure of the stand plot. Second, it integrates the LiDAR point clouds to accurately represent the structure of the crown. The resulting fused LiDAR point cloud can be used for an accurate estimation of the crown parameters, thus making it possible a more comprehensive representation of the 3D structure of the forest stand. Experimental results carried out in a oakland savanna in Fresno (California) confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method.