RCN-IBDR: Coordinating the Development of Terrestrial Lidar Scanning for Aboveground Biomass and Ecological Applications

波士顿大学被授予一个支持研究协调网络的奖项，以开发一种简单、低成本、安装在三脚架上的地面激光扫描仪，该扫描仪可以快速调查森林林分，并自动准确地测量林分中包含的地上生物量。这项工作的更广泛影响包括通过暑期实习鼓励代表性不足的群体参与，从而服务于科学从业人员多样化的更广泛目标。一到三名研究生将接受快速发展的地面激光扫描领域的培训，提供有助于推动研究和商业技术发展的技能和经验。此外，广泛使用的激光雷达生物量扫描仪可能是在区域和较粗的空间尺度上更好地评估碳清单和监测的关键。这将对全球碳管理作出重要贡献，进而有助于减少人类对气候的影响。通过精心设计的采样，通常结合飞机和/或卫星图像，这些测量可以用来估计生物量，以及大片森林区域生物量随时间的变化。这些信息对于研究碳循环和测量减缓大气中二氧化碳的人为增加至关重要。第二项网络活动确定和开发了该激光扫描仪和类似激光扫描仪在森林生态和相关领域的其他新应用。该研究网络包括来自美国、英国、荷兰、瑞士、澳大利亚和其他国家的研究人员，他们目前正在使用商业和研究建造的地面激光雷达扫描仪来研究植被和森林生态。网络活动包括将激光雷达建造者、用户和生态学家聚集在一起的讲习班；较小的技术开发人员会议；实验室之间的研究生或研究人员交流；以及实验室和现场标准化和相互比较活动。

An award is made to Boston University supporting a Research Coordination Network to develop a simple, low-cost, tripod-mounted terrestrial laser scanner that can rapidly survey a forest stand and automatically provide an accurate measurement of the amount of aboveground biomass contained within the stand. Broader impacts of this work include encouraging the participation of underrepresented groups through a summer internship, thus serving the broader goal of diversity in practitioners of science. One to three graduate students will be trained in the rapidly developing field of terrestrial laser scanning, providing skills and experience that will help move research and commercial technology forward. Moreover, a widely-available lidar biomass scanner could be the key to better assessment of carbon inventory and monitoring at regional and coarser spatial scales. This would make an important contribution to global carbon management and, in turn, help reduce human impact on climate.By carefully-designed sampling, often incorporating aircraft and/or satellite images, these measurements can be used to provide estimates of biomass, and change in biomass with time, over large areas of forest. Such information is essential for studies of the carbon cycle and measurement of mitigation of anthropogenic increases of atmospheric carbon dioxide. A second network activity identifies and develops other new applications of this and similar laser scanners in forest ecology and related fields. The research network includes researchers from the United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, and other nations who are presently working with commercial and research-built terrestrial lidar scanners to study vegetation and forest ecology. Network activities include workshops to bring lidar builders, users, and ecologists together; smaller technology developer's meetings; exchanges of graduate students or researchers between laboratories; and laboratory and field standardization and intercomparison activities.