Combining ALS and NFI training data for forest management planning: a case study in Kuortane, Western Finland

Forest inventories based on airborne laser scanning (ALS) have already become common practice in the Nordic countries. One possibility for improving their cost effectiveness is to use existing field data sets as training data. One alternative in Finland would be the use of National Forest Inventory...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of forest research 2009-05, Vol.128 (3), p.305-317
Main Authors: Maltamo, M, Packalén, P, Suvanto, A, Korhonen, K. T, Mehtätalo, L, Hyvönen, P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aerial photography
Airborne lasers
Area
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Chronology
Cost analysis
Cost effectiveness
Datasets
Deciduous trees
Forest management
Forestry
Life Sciences
Management planning
National forests
Original Paper
Picea abies
Pine trees
Pinus sylvestris
Plant Ecology
Plant Sciences
Plant species
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Summary:Forest inventories based on airborne laser scanning (ALS) have already become common practice in the Nordic countries. One possibility for improving their cost effectiveness is to use existing field data sets as training data. One alternative in Finland would be the use of National Forest Inventory (NFI) sample plots, which are truncated angle count (relascope) plots. This possibility is tested here by using a training data set based on measurements similar to the Finnish NFI. Tree species-specific stand attributes were predicted by the non-parametric k most similar neighbour (k-MSN) approach, utilising both ALS and aerial photograph data. The stand attributes considered were volume, basal area, stem number, mean age of the tree stock, diameter and height of the basal area median tree, determined separately for Scots pine, Norway spruce and deciduous trees. The results obtained were compared with those obtained when using training data based on observations from fixed area plots with the same centre point location as the NFI plots. The results indicated that the accuracy of the estimates of stand attributes derived by using NFI training data was close to that of the fixed area plot training data but that the NFI sampling scheme and the georeferencing of the plots can cause problems in practical applications.
ISSN:1612-4669
1612-4677
DOI:10.1007/s10342-009-0266-6