Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Estimating Forest Inventory Information for the Talladega National Forest Using Airborne Laser Scanning Systems

Version 1 : Received: 5 June 2024 / Approved: 5 June 2024 / Online: 7 June 2024 (11:45:30 CEST)

How to cite: Lee, T.; Vatandaslar, C.; Merry, K.; Bettinger, P.; Peduzzi, A.; Stober, J. Estimating Forest Inventory Information for the Talladega National Forest Using Airborne Laser Scanning Systems. Preprints 2024, 2024060354. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202406.0354.v1 Lee, T.; Vatandaslar, C.; Merry, K.; Bettinger, P.; Peduzzi, A.; Stober, J. Estimating Forest Inventory Information for the Talladega National Forest Using Airborne Laser Scanning Systems. Preprints 2024, 2024060354. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202406.0354.v1

Abstract

Accurately assessing forest structure and maintaining up-to-date information about forest structure is crucial for various forest planning efforts, including the development of reliable forest plans and assessments of the sustainable management of natural resources. Field measurements traditionally applied to acquire forest inventory information (e.g., basal area, tree volume, and aboveground biomass) are labor-intensive and time-consuming. To address this limitation, remote sensing tech-nology has been widely applied in modeling efforts to help estimate forest inventory information. Among various remotely sensed data, LiDAR can potentially help describe forest structure. This study was conducted to estimate and map forest inventory information across the Talladega Na-tional Forest by employing ALS-derived data and aerial photography. The quality of predictive models was evaluated to determine whether additional remotely sensed data can help improve forest structure estimates. Additionally, the quality of general predictive models was compared to that of species-group models. This study confirms that quality level 2 LiDAR data was sufficient for developing adequate predictive models (R2adj. ranging between 0.71 and 0.82) when compared to the predictive models based on LiDAR and aerial imagery. Additionally, this study suggests that species-group predictive models were of higher quality than general predictive models. Lastly, landscape-level maps were created from the predictive models, and these may be helpful to plan-ners, forest managers, and landowners in their management efforts.

Keywords

Aerial imagery; airborne laser scanning; forest inventory; LiDAR; Mixed pine hardwood forest

Subject

Environmental and Earth Sciences, Remote Sensing

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