A Portable Lidar for Rapid Determination of Forest Canopy Structure

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This award provides support for the development of a portable instrument that can be used to provide accurate measurements of the tree height and mass in forested areas. The organization of the forest canopy is closely related to important functional characteristics of the forest: the developmental stage and potential for growth, the exchange of matter and energy with the atmosphere, and the diversity of included habitats. Canopy structure is also an effective predictor of stand attributes important in forest management, such as stem density, basal area, and above-ground biomass. However, understanding of the relation between structure and function is limited by the lack of methods for measuring structures rapidly, accurately, and at scales useful for ecological studies. Remote measurements typically view only the canopy outer surface, and reveal little of the critical internal organization. Although a few airborne scanning instruments that use laser imaging (lidar) have been developed, these systems are proof-of-concept prototypes of spaceborne instruments with limited resolution. The portable lidar system to be developed with support from this award will be able to rapidly assess canopy structure at scales extending from meters to kilometers that can be controlled by the user, and can be deployed either from the ground (looking up) or from towers, cranes, or light aircraft (looking down