A Consumer Grade UAV-Based Framework to Estimate Structural Attributes of Coppice and High Oak Forest Stands in Semi-Arid Regions
Semi-arid tree covers, in both high and coppice growth forms, play an essential role in protecting water and soil resources and provides multiple ecosystem services across fragile ecosystems. Thus, they require continuous inventories. Quantification of forest structure in these tree covers provides...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/21/4367 |
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| author | Seyed Arvin Fakhri Hooman Latifi |
| author_facet | Seyed Arvin Fakhri Hooman Latifi |
| author_sort | Seyed Arvin Fakhri |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Semi-arid tree covers, in both high and coppice growth forms, play an essential role in protecting water and soil resources and provides multiple ecosystem services across fragile ecosystems. Thus, they require continuous inventories. Quantification of forest structure in these tree covers provides important measures for their management and biodiversity conservation. We present a framework, based on consumer-grade UAV photogrammetry, to separately estimate primary variables of tree height (H) and crown area (A) across diverse coppice and high stands dominated by <i>Quercus brantii</i> Lindl. along the latitudinal gradient of Zagros mountains of western Iran. Then, multivariate linear regressions were parametrized with H and A to estimate the diameter at breast height (DBH) of high trees because of its importance to accelerate the existing practical DBH inventories across Zagros Forests. The estimated variables were finally applied to a model tree aboveground biomass (AGB) for both vegetative growth forms by local allometric equations and Random Forest models. In each step, the estimated variables were evaluated against the field reference values, indicating practically high accuracies reaching root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.68 m and 4.74 cm for H and DBH, as well as relative RMSE < 10% for AGB estimates. The results generally suggest an effective framework for single tree-based attribute estimation over mountainous, semi-arid coppice, and high stands. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T05:53:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-304d755fe1e941e3b133db28eee925cf |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T05:53:39Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-304d755fe1e941e3b133db28eee925cf2023-11-22T21:32:23ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922021-10-011321436710.3390/rs13214367A Consumer Grade UAV-Based Framework to Estimate Structural Attributes of Coppice and High Oak Forest Stands in Semi-Arid RegionsSeyed Arvin Fakhri0Hooman Latifi1Department of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Faculty of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering, K.N. Toosi University of Technology (KNTU), Tehran 19967-15433, IranDepartment of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Faculty of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering, K.N. Toosi University of Technology (KNTU), Tehran 19967-15433, IranSemi-arid tree covers, in both high and coppice growth forms, play an essential role in protecting water and soil resources and provides multiple ecosystem services across fragile ecosystems. Thus, they require continuous inventories. Quantification of forest structure in these tree covers provides important measures for their management and biodiversity conservation. We present a framework, based on consumer-grade UAV photogrammetry, to separately estimate primary variables of tree height (H) and crown area (A) across diverse coppice and high stands dominated by <i>Quercus brantii</i> Lindl. along the latitudinal gradient of Zagros mountains of western Iran. Then, multivariate linear regressions were parametrized with H and A to estimate the diameter at breast height (DBH) of high trees because of its importance to accelerate the existing practical DBH inventories across Zagros Forests. The estimated variables were finally applied to a model tree aboveground biomass (AGB) for both vegetative growth forms by local allometric equations and Random Forest models. In each step, the estimated variables were evaluated against the field reference values, indicating practically high accuracies reaching root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.68 m and 4.74 cm for H and DBH, as well as relative RMSE < 10% for AGB estimates. The results generally suggest an effective framework for single tree-based attribute estimation over mountainous, semi-arid coppice, and high stands.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/21/4367tree structurebiomassDBH<i>Q. brantii</i>Zagros Forests |
| spellingShingle | Seyed Arvin Fakhri Hooman Latifi A Consumer Grade UAV-Based Framework to Estimate Structural Attributes of Coppice and High Oak Forest Stands in Semi-Arid Regions Remote Sensing tree structure biomass DBH <i>Q. brantii</i> Zagros Forests |
| title | A Consumer Grade UAV-Based Framework to Estimate Structural Attributes of Coppice and High Oak Forest Stands in Semi-Arid Regions |
| title_full | A Consumer Grade UAV-Based Framework to Estimate Structural Attributes of Coppice and High Oak Forest Stands in Semi-Arid Regions |
| title_fullStr | A Consumer Grade UAV-Based Framework to Estimate Structural Attributes of Coppice and High Oak Forest Stands in Semi-Arid Regions |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Consumer Grade UAV-Based Framework to Estimate Structural Attributes of Coppice and High Oak Forest Stands in Semi-Arid Regions |
| title_short | A Consumer Grade UAV-Based Framework to Estimate Structural Attributes of Coppice and High Oak Forest Stands in Semi-Arid Regions |
| title_sort | consumer grade uav based framework to estimate structural attributes of coppice and high oak forest stands in semi arid regions |
| topic | tree structure biomass DBH <i>Q. brantii</i> Zagros Forests |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/21/4367 |
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