Automated land cover change detection and forest succession monitoring using lidar point clouds and gis analyses

Abstract

This paper investigates the possibility of applying light detection and ranging (LiDAR) point clouds and geographic information system (GIS) analyses for land use and land cover (LULC) change detection, mainly with a view to monitoring uncontrolled forest succession occurring on postagricultural lands. The research was conducted in a part of the administrative district of Milicz (in the central-west area of Poland). The areas of interest were parcels in which agricultural use has been abandoned and forest succession processes have progressed. The airborne laser scanning (ALS) data (acquired in 2007, 2012, and 2015) revealed detailed changes in land cover as a result of the progression in the forest succession process. Using the ALS data, the LULC changes and the progress of secondary forest succession are shown, and the vegetation parameters (LiDAR metrics) are presented.