Determination of optimal point spacing for reliable RPAS-mounted LiDAR inventory of regenerating forest stands in Saskatchewan

北方森林占萨斯喀彻温省1170万公顷的土地，其中530万公顷被认为是生产性森林，每年的商品销售额超过10亿美元。萨斯喀彻温省通过环境无害的行业标准来管理这一行业，这些标准旨在实现北方森林生态系统的长期可持续性。技术是这一管理系统不可或缺的组成部分。在这方面，光探测和测距(LiDAR)扫描仪是一项值得注意的创新，使林农能够从空中平台更快、更准确地记录、测量和识别森林的关键属性。激光雷达数据对于大片林地来说仍然相对昂贵；需要专门的数据处理系统来评估森林业绩指标(即高度、蓄积量、树种)。福赛特咨询有限公司(福赛特)正在寻找优化更新(再生)调查处于“自由生长”阶段(8-14年)的林分。因此，福赛特向萨斯喀彻温省理工学院提出了一项研究建议，旨在确定使用安装在激光雷达上的遥控飞机系统(RPAS)再生树木的最佳点间距。这项研究的目的是在以前测量的森林林分上采用一系列不同点密度的试验。这项研究将能够确定关于更新林分的可靠森林清查信息的最佳点间距。这反过来又有助于重新调整现有模式和更有效地进行森林管理。

The boreal forest makes up 11.7 million hectares of land in Saskatchewan, of which 5.3 million hectares is considered productive forest accounting for over $1 billion in commodity sales annually. Saskatchewan manages this industry through environmentally-sound industry standards that target long-term sustainability of the boreal forest ecosystem. Technology is an integral component of this management system. In this regard, light detection and ranging (LiDAR) scanners are a notable innovation that permits foresters to document, measure, and identify key attributes of the forest from an aerial platform faster and with better accuracy than ground-based alternatives. LiDAR data is still relatively expensive for large tracts of forested land; specialized data-processing systems are required to evaluate forest performance indicators (i.e. height, volume, species). Forsite Consultants Ltd. (Forsite) is looking to optimize regeneration (regen) surveys for stands in the 'free to grow' stage (8-14 years). Forsite therefore approached Saskatchewan Polytechnic with a research proposal aimed at determining optimal point spacing for regenerating trees using remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) mounted LiDAR. The objective of this research is to employ a series of trials at varying point densities over previously measured forest stands. The research would permit determination of optimal point spacing for reliable forest inventory information with respect to regenerating stands. This in turn would facilitate recalibration of existing models and more efficient forest management.