Object-Oriented Automatic Identification of Forest Gaps Using Digital Orthophoto Maps and LiDAR Data

Identification of forest gaps is a prerequisite for quantification of their size, shape, and dynamics, and for clarification of both complex structural forest species regeneration and understory species diversity. Although airborne LiDAR and digital orthophoto maps (DOM) have been used separately to...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mao Xuegang, Zhu Liang, Wenyi Fan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2020-03-01
Series:Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07038992.2020.1768515
_version_ 1827794839855431680
author Mao Xuegang
Zhu Liang
Wenyi Fan
author_facet Mao Xuegang
Zhu Liang
Wenyi Fan
author_sort Mao Xuegang
collection DOAJ
description Identification of forest gaps is a prerequisite for quantification of their size, shape, and dynamics, and for clarification of both complex structural forest species regeneration and understory species diversity. Although airborne LiDAR and digital orthophoto maps (DOM) have been used separately to identify forest gaps, few studies have considered integration of the two data sources for forest gap segmentation and classification. True color DOM (20 cm) and airborne LiDAR (3.7 points/m2) data were used to study object-oriented gap identification in the typical natural secondary forest of the Maoershan Experimental Forest Farm (China). Three segmentation schemes based on DOM only data, LiDAR data, and integrated DOM & LiDAR were adopted when processing the object-oriented classification. Based on the segmentation results, the support vector machine classifier was used with DOM spectral features, LiDAR height features, and integrated features from both data sources to identify forest gaps. The Modified Euclidean Distance 3 (ED3Modified) index was selected to assess segmentation quality. Comparison of the three segmentation schemes revealed that segmentation based on LiDAR was the best and the classification accuracy using integrated spectral and height features was the highest (OA = 87%, Kappa = 0.81). Those results could provide technical support for the quantitative analysis of forest gap features.
first_indexed 2024-03-11T18:40:28Z
format Article
id doaj.art-31d860098b2c47b7b8342f020aa6d22f
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1712-7971
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-11T18:40:28Z
publishDate 2020-03-01
publisher Taylor & Francis Group
record_format Article
series Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing
spelling doaj.art-31d860098b2c47b7b8342f020aa6d22f2023-10-12T13:36:23ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCanadian Journal of Remote Sensing1712-79712020-03-0146217719210.1080/07038992.2020.17685151768515Object-Oriented Automatic Identification of Forest Gaps Using Digital Orthophoto Maps and LiDAR DataMao Xuegang0Zhu Liang1Wenyi Fan2Northeast Forestry UniversityNortheast Forestry UniversityNortheast Forestry UniversityIdentification of forest gaps is a prerequisite for quantification of their size, shape, and dynamics, and for clarification of both complex structural forest species regeneration and understory species diversity. Although airborne LiDAR and digital orthophoto maps (DOM) have been used separately to identify forest gaps, few studies have considered integration of the two data sources for forest gap segmentation and classification. True color DOM (20 cm) and airborne LiDAR (3.7 points/m2) data were used to study object-oriented gap identification in the typical natural secondary forest of the Maoershan Experimental Forest Farm (China). Three segmentation schemes based on DOM only data, LiDAR data, and integrated DOM & LiDAR were adopted when processing the object-oriented classification. Based on the segmentation results, the support vector machine classifier was used with DOM spectral features, LiDAR height features, and integrated features from both data sources to identify forest gaps. The Modified Euclidean Distance 3 (ED3Modified) index was selected to assess segmentation quality. Comparison of the three segmentation schemes revealed that segmentation based on LiDAR was the best and the classification accuracy using integrated spectral and height features was the highest (OA = 87%, Kappa = 0.81). Those results could provide technical support for the quantitative analysis of forest gap features.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07038992.2020.1768515
spellingShingle Mao Xuegang
Zhu Liang
Wenyi Fan
Object-Oriented Automatic Identification of Forest Gaps Using Digital Orthophoto Maps and LiDAR Data
Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing
title Object-Oriented Automatic Identification of Forest Gaps Using Digital Orthophoto Maps and LiDAR Data
title_full Object-Oriented Automatic Identification of Forest Gaps Using Digital Orthophoto Maps and LiDAR Data
title_fullStr Object-Oriented Automatic Identification of Forest Gaps Using Digital Orthophoto Maps and LiDAR Data
title_full_unstemmed Object-Oriented Automatic Identification of Forest Gaps Using Digital Orthophoto Maps and LiDAR Data
title_short Object-Oriented Automatic Identification of Forest Gaps Using Digital Orthophoto Maps and LiDAR Data
title_sort object oriented automatic identification of forest gaps using digital orthophoto maps and lidar data
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07038992.2020.1768515
work_keys_str_mv AT maoxuegang objectorientedautomaticidentificationofforestgapsusingdigitalorthophotomapsandlidardata
AT zhuliang objectorientedautomaticidentificationofforestgapsusingdigitalorthophotomapsandlidardata
AT wenyifan objectorientedautomaticidentificationofforestgapsusingdigitalorthophotomapsandlidardata