Evaluating Data Inter-Operability of Multiple UAV–LiDAR Systems for Measuring the 3D Structure of Savanna Woodland
For vegetation monitoring, it is crucial to understand which changes are caused by the measurement setup and which changes are true representations of vegetation dynamics. UAV–LiDAR offers great possibilities to measure vegetation structural parameters; however, UAV–LiDAR sensors are undergoing rapi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-11-01
|
| Series: | Remote Sensing |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/14/23/5992 |
| _version_ | 1797462240035602432 |
|---|---|
| author | Harm Bartholomeus Kim Calders Tim Whiteside Louise Terryn Sruthi M. Krishna Moorthy Shaun R. Levick Renée Bartolo Hans Verbeeck |
| author_facet | Harm Bartholomeus Kim Calders Tim Whiteside Louise Terryn Sruthi M. Krishna Moorthy Shaun R. Levick Renée Bartolo Hans Verbeeck |
| author_sort | Harm Bartholomeus |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | For vegetation monitoring, it is crucial to understand which changes are caused by the measurement setup and which changes are true representations of vegetation dynamics. UAV–LiDAR offers great possibilities to measure vegetation structural parameters; however, UAV–LiDAR sensors are undergoing rapid developments, and the characteristics are expected to keep changing over the years, which will introduce data inter-operability issues. Therefore, it is important to determine whether datasets acquired by different UAV–LiDAR sensors can be interchanged and if changes through time can accurately be derived from UAV–LiDAR time series. With this study, we present insights into the magnitude of differences in derived forest metrics in savanna woodland when three different UAV–LiDAR systems are being used for data acquisition. Our findings show that all three systems can be used to derive plot characteristics such as canopy height, canopy cover, and gap fractions. However, there are clear differences between the metrics derived with different sensors, which are most apparent in the lower parts of the canopy. On an individual tree level, all UAV–LiDAR systems are able to accurately capture the tree height in a savanna woodland system, but significant differences occur when crown parameters are measured with different systems. Less precise systems result in underestimations of crown areas and crown volumes. When comparing UAV–LiDAR data of forest areas through time, it is important to be aware of these differences and ensure that data inter-operability issues do not influence the change analysis. In this paper, we want to stress that it is of utmost importance to realise this and take it into consideration when combining datasets obtained with different sensors. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:33:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-47b2ba97b7594b14b0c8a1b543320764 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:33:41Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-47b2ba97b7594b14b0c8a1b5433207642023-11-24T12:03:51ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922022-11-011423599210.3390/rs14235992Evaluating Data Inter-Operability of Multiple UAV–LiDAR Systems for Measuring the 3D Structure of Savanna WoodlandHarm Bartholomeus0Kim Calders1Tim Whiteside2Louise Terryn3Sruthi M. Krishna Moorthy4Shaun R. Levick5Renée Bartolo6Hans Verbeeck7Laboratory of Geo-Information Science and Remote Sensing, Wageningen University & Research, Droevendaalsesteeg 3, 6708 PB Wageningen, The NetherlandsCAVElab—Computational & Applied Vegetation Ecology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, BelgiumEnvironmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist, Darwin, NT 0820, AustraliaCAVElab—Computational & Applied Vegetation Ecology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, BelgiumCAVElab—Computational & Applied Vegetation Ecology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, BelgiumCSIRO Land and Water, PMB 44, Winnellie, Darwin, NT 0822, AustraliaEnvironmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist, Darwin, NT 0820, AustraliaCAVElab—Computational & Applied Vegetation Ecology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, BelgiumFor vegetation monitoring, it is crucial to understand which changes are caused by the measurement setup and which changes are true representations of vegetation dynamics. UAV–LiDAR offers great possibilities to measure vegetation structural parameters; however, UAV–LiDAR sensors are undergoing rapid developments, and the characteristics are expected to keep changing over the years, which will introduce data inter-operability issues. Therefore, it is important to determine whether datasets acquired by different UAV–LiDAR sensors can be interchanged and if changes through time can accurately be derived from UAV–LiDAR time series. With this study, we present insights into the magnitude of differences in derived forest metrics in savanna woodland when three different UAV–LiDAR systems are being used for data acquisition. Our findings show that all three systems can be used to derive plot characteristics such as canopy height, canopy cover, and gap fractions. However, there are clear differences between the metrics derived with different sensors, which are most apparent in the lower parts of the canopy. On an individual tree level, all UAV–LiDAR systems are able to accurately capture the tree height in a savanna woodland system, but significant differences occur when crown parameters are measured with different systems. Less precise systems result in underestimations of crown areas and crown volumes. When comparing UAV–LiDAR data of forest areas through time, it is important to be aware of these differences and ensure that data inter-operability issues do not influence the change analysis. In this paper, we want to stress that it is of utmost importance to realise this and take it into consideration when combining datasets obtained with different sensors.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/14/23/5992UAV–LiDAR sensor comparisonsavanna woodlandforest structuretree metrics |
| spellingShingle | Harm Bartholomeus Kim Calders Tim Whiteside Louise Terryn Sruthi M. Krishna Moorthy Shaun R. Levick Renée Bartolo Hans Verbeeck Evaluating Data Inter-Operability of Multiple UAV–LiDAR Systems for Measuring the 3D Structure of Savanna Woodland Remote Sensing UAV–LiDAR sensor comparison savanna woodland forest structure tree metrics |
| title | Evaluating Data Inter-Operability of Multiple UAV–LiDAR Systems for Measuring the 3D Structure of Savanna Woodland |
| title_full | Evaluating Data Inter-Operability of Multiple UAV–LiDAR Systems for Measuring the 3D Structure of Savanna Woodland |
| title_fullStr | Evaluating Data Inter-Operability of Multiple UAV–LiDAR Systems for Measuring the 3D Structure of Savanna Woodland |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluating Data Inter-Operability of Multiple UAV–LiDAR Systems for Measuring the 3D Structure of Savanna Woodland |
| title_short | Evaluating Data Inter-Operability of Multiple UAV–LiDAR Systems for Measuring the 3D Structure of Savanna Woodland |
| title_sort | evaluating data inter operability of multiple uav lidar systems for measuring the 3d structure of savanna woodland |
| topic | UAV–LiDAR sensor comparison savanna woodland forest structure tree metrics |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/14/23/5992 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT harmbartholomeus evaluatingdatainteroperabilityofmultipleuavlidarsystemsformeasuringthe3dstructureofsavannawoodland AT kimcalders evaluatingdatainteroperabilityofmultipleuavlidarsystemsformeasuringthe3dstructureofsavannawoodland AT timwhiteside evaluatingdatainteroperabilityofmultipleuavlidarsystemsformeasuringthe3dstructureofsavannawoodland AT louiseterryn evaluatingdatainteroperabilityofmultipleuavlidarsystemsformeasuringthe3dstructureofsavannawoodland AT sruthimkrishnamoorthy evaluatingdatainteroperabilityofmultipleuavlidarsystemsformeasuringthe3dstructureofsavannawoodland AT shaunrlevick evaluatingdatainteroperabilityofmultipleuavlidarsystemsformeasuringthe3dstructureofsavannawoodland AT reneebartolo evaluatingdatainteroperabilityofmultipleuavlidarsystemsformeasuringthe3dstructureofsavannawoodland AT hansverbeeck evaluatingdatainteroperabilityofmultipleuavlidarsystemsformeasuringthe3dstructureofsavannawoodland |