Methods of measuring the commercial height of trees in the amazonian region

Abstract

The objective of this study was to analyze different methods of measuring the commercial height of trees for purposes of sustainable forest management in a native forest in the Amazon region. The study was carried out in a Forest Settlement Project. The measurement methods used were: Visual, performed by a person with experience, Suunto clinometer, Haglöf II electronic hypsometer, Vertex IV hypsometer and direct measurement with a tape measure. The methods were compared by means of graphical analysis of the residues and the statistics Bias (V), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and Mean Absolute Differences (MD). The mean time of execution of the measurement was compared by Student's t test at 5% significance. In general, considering the execution time, accuracy of height measures and the cost of implementation, the Suunto clinometer and the visual estimation performed by an experienced person were the methods with the best results.