Mapping site index in coniferous forests using bi-temporal airborne laser scanning data and field data from the Swedish national forest inventory

Appiah Mensah, Alex; Jonzén, Jonas; Nyström, Kenneth; Wallerman, Jörgen; Nilsson, Mats

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2023.121395

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…The use of bi-temporal ALS data to estimate forest growth and site quality has gained momentum in recent years, and has already proven successful in multiple previous studies using varying approaches 19 , 39 , 40 . Previous researchers have emphasised that age-independent models can rely on ALS data to yield landscape assessments of site quality across various time periods without the constraint of age-specific information for trees 22 , 23 , 39 . For instance, landscape estimates of site productivity, commonly presented using the site index, become challenging when information on forest age, species distribution, or top/dominant height or site properties is limited to field plots.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the second step, the models were applied over tessellations of individual grid cells to generate wall-to-wall estimates of Lorey’s mean height at time of each survey occasion (2014 and 2019). We tested different predictive models using various combinations of commonly used ALS metrics related to height and density 23 , 31 . The final predictive model chosen for each year was formulated as a linear regression with the same independent variables which included P95 and the standard derivation of height (heightStdDev).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Eq. 1 , the parameter A is most often the parameter that is most strongly related to site quality 23 , as well as easy to interpret because it is expressed in the same dimension as the response variable, height. The k parameter can also be expressed as a measure of relative height growth from the field mean height measurements at time i and i + a , and a global parameter b : …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, bi-temporal ALS data can be highly beneficial as this information can be used to reduce uncertainties related to disturbance from management (e.g., thinning, clear-cutting, etc.) and facilitates the precise estimation of site productivity through the added information of growth between periods 23 . In parallel with the developments of high resolution remote sensing for measuring forest attributes, ALS data has massively increased the resolution of topographical information and has become an essential tool for modelling soil moisture conditions on a landscape scale 24 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tree growth potential and its relationship with soil moisture conditions across a heterogeneous boreal forest landscape

Larson,

Vigren,

Wallerman

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

Self Cite

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Forest growth varies across landscapes due to the intricate relationships between various environmental drivers and forest management. In this study, we analysed the variation of tree growth potential across a landscape scale and its relation to soil moisture. We hypothesised that soil moisture conditions drive landscape-level variation in site quality and that intermediate soil moisture conditions demonstrate the highest potential forest production. We used an age-independent difference model to estimate site quality in terms of maximum achievable tree height by measuring the relative change in Lorey’s mean height for a five year period across 337 plots within a 68 km2 boreal landscape. We achieved wall-to-wall estimates of site quality by extrapolating the modelled relationship using repeated airborne laser scanning data collected in connection to the field surveys. We found a clear decrease in site quality under the highest soil moisture conditions. However, intermediate soil moisture conditions did not demonstrate clear site quality differences; this is most likely a result of the nature of the modelled soil moisture conditions and limitations connected to the site quality estimation. There was considerable unexplained variation in the modelled site quality both on the plot and landscape levels. We successfully demonstrated that there is a significant relationship between soil moisture conditions and site quality despite limitations associated with a short study period in a low productive region and the precision of airborne laser scanning measurements of mean height.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tree growth potential and its relationship with soil moisture conditions across a heterogeneous boreal forest landscape

Larson,

Vigren,

Wallerman

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

Self Cite

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Mobile laser scanning as reference for estimation of stem attributes from airborne laser scanning

Pires,

Lindberg,

Persson

et al. 2024

Remote Sensing of Environment

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Combining satellite images with national forest inventory measurements for monitoring post-disturbance forest height growth

Pellissier-Tanon,

Ciais,

Schwartz

et al. 2024

Front. Remote Sens.

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Introduction: The knowledge about forest growth, influenced by factors such as tree species, tree age, and environmental conditions, is a key for future forest preservation. Height and age data can be combined to describe forest growth and used to infer known environmental effects.Methods: In this study, we built 14 height growth curves for stands composed of monospecific or mixed species using ground measurements and satellite data. We built a random forest height model from tree species, age, area of disturbance, and 125 environmental parameters (climate, altitude, soil composition, geology, stand ownership, and proximity to road and urban areas). Using feature elimination and SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) analysis, we identified six key features explaining the forest growth and investigated how they affect the height.Results: The agreement between satellite and ground data justifies their simultaneous exploitation. Age and tree species are the main predictors of tree height (49% and 10%, respectively). The disturbed patch area, revealing the regeneration method, impacts post-disturbance growth at 19%. The soil pH, altitude, and climatic water budget in summer impact tree height differently depending on the age and tree species.Discussion: Methods integrating satellite and field data show promise for analyzing future forest evolution.

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Mapping site index in coniferous forests using bi-temporal airborne laser scanning data and field data from the Swedish national forest inventory

Cited by 6 publications

References 44 publications

Tree growth potential and its relationship with soil moisture conditions across a heterogeneous boreal forest landscape

Tree growth potential and its relationship with soil moisture conditions across a heterogeneous boreal forest landscape

Mobile laser scanning as reference for estimation of stem attributes from airborne laser scanning

Combining satellite images with national forest inventory measurements for monitoring post-disturbance forest height growth

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