Forest stand inventory based on combined aerial and terrestrial close-range photogrammetry

Abstract

In this article we introduce a new method for forest management inventories especially suitable for highly-valued timber where the precise estimation of stem parameters (diameter, form, and tapper) plays the key role for market purposes. The unmanned aerial system (UAS)-based photogrammetry is combined with terrestrial photogrammetry executed by walking inside the stand and the individual tree parameters are estimated. We compare two automatic methods for processing of the point clouds and the delineation of stem circumference at breast height. The error of the diameter estimation was observed to be under 1 cm root mean square error (RMSE) and the height estimation error was 1 m. Apart from the mentioned accuracy, the main advantage of the proposed work is shorter time demand for field measurement; we could complete both inventories of 1 hectare forest stand in less than 2 h of field work.