Evaluation of tree detection and segmentation algorithms in peat swamp forest based on LiDAR point clouds data

Abstract

Application of LiDAR for tree detection and tree canopy segmentation has been widely used in conifer plantation forest in temperate countries with high accuracy, however its application on tropical natural forest especially peat swamp forest hardly found. The objective of this study was evaluated algorithms of individual tree detection and canopy segmentation used LiDAR data in peat swamp forest. The algorithms included (a) Local Maxima (LM) with various variable window size combined with growing region, (b) LM with various variable window size combined with Voronoi Tessellation, (c) LM with various fixed window size combined with growing region, (d) LM with various fixed window size combined with Voronoi Tessellation, and (e) Tree Relative Distance algorithm. The results show that algorithm with the best accuracy was the Tree Relative Distance algorithm with the highest overall F-score of 0.63. The tree relative distance algorithm also provides the highest accuracy in determining three tree parameters which are position, height and diameter of tree canopy with a RMSE value 1.08 m, 6.45 m, and 1.19 m, respectively.