ABSTRACT:Following the pioneering work introduced in [Lehtola et al., ISPRS J. Photogramm. Remote Sens. 99, 2015, pp. 25-29], we extend the state-of-the-art intrinsic localization solution for a single two-dimensional (2D) laser scanner from one into (quasi) three dimensions (3D). By intrinsic localization, we mean that no external sensors are used to localize the scanner, such as inertial measurement devices (IMU) or global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). Specifically, the proposed method builds on a novel concept of local support-based filtering of outliers, which enables the use of six degrees-of-freedom (DoF) simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) for the purpose of enacting appropriate trajectory corrections into the previous one-dimensional solution. Moreover, the local support-based filtering concept is platform independent, and is therefore likely to be widely generalizable. The here presented overall method is yet limited into quasi-3D by its inability to recover trajectories with steep curvature, but in the future, it may be further extended into full 3D.
The goal of the study was to determine circadian movements of silver birch (Petula Bendula) branches and foliage detected with terrestrial laser scanning (TLS). The study consisted of two geographically separate experiments conducted in Finland and in Austria. Both experiments were carried out at the same time of the year and under similar outdoor conditions. Experiments consisted of 14 (Finland) and 77 (Austria) individual laser scans taken between sunset and sunrise. The resulting point clouds were used in creating a time series of branch movements. In the Finnish data, the vertical movement of the whole tree crown was monitored due to low volumetric point density. In the Austrian data, movements of manually selected representative points on branches were monitored. The movements were monitored from dusk until morning hours in order to avoid daytime wind effects. The results indicated that height deciles of the Finnish birch crown had vertical movements between -10.0 and 5.0 cm compared to the situation at sunset. In the Austrian data, the maximum detected representative point movement was 10.0 cm. The temporal development of the movements followed a highly similar pattern in both experiments, with the maximum movements occurring about an hour and a half before (Austria) or around (Finland) sunrise. The results demonstrate the potential of terrestrial laser scanning measurements in support of chronobiology.
Abstract:We present a new application of terrestrial laser scanning and mathematical modelling for the quantitative change detection of tree biomass, volume, and structure. We investigate the feasibility of the approach with two case studies on trees, assess the accuracy with laboratory reference measurements, and identify the main sources of error, and the ways to mitigate their effect on the results. We show that the changes in the tree branching structure can be reproduced with about ±10% accuracy. As the current biomass detection is based on destructive sampling, and the change detection is based on empirical models, our approach provides a non-destructive tool for monitoring important forest characteristics without laborious biomass sampling. The efficiency of the approach enables the repeating of these measurements over time for a large number of samples, providing a fast and effective means for monitoring forest growth, mortality, and biomass in 3D.
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