Retrieval of Tree Height Percentiles over Rugged Mountain Areas via Target Response Waveform of Satellite Lidar
The retrieval of tree height percentiles from satellite lidar waveforms observed over mountainous areas is greatly challenging due to the broadening and overlapping of the ground return and vegetation return. To accurately represent the shape distributions of the vegetation and ground returns, the t...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/16/2/425 |
| _version_ | 1827371197339271168 |
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| author | Hao Song Hui Zhou Heng Wang Yue Ma Qianyin Zhang Song Li |
| author_facet | Hao Song Hui Zhou Heng Wang Yue Ma Qianyin Zhang Song Li |
| author_sort | Hao Song |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The retrieval of tree height percentiles from satellite lidar waveforms observed over mountainous areas is greatly challenging due to the broadening and overlapping of the ground return and vegetation return. To accurately represent the shape distributions of the vegetation and ground returns, the target response waveform (TRW) is resolved using a Richardson–Lucy deconvolution algorithm with adaptive iteration. Meanwhile, the ground return is identified as the TRW component within a 4.6 m ground signal extent above the end point of the TRW. Based on the cumulative TRW distribution, the height metrics of the energy percentiles of 25%, 50%, 75%, and 95% are determined using their vertical distances relative to the ground elevation in this study. To validate the proposed algorithm, we select the received waveforms of the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) lidar over the Pahvant Mountains of central Utah, USA. The results reveal that the resolved TRWs closely resemble the actual target response waveforms from the coincident airborne lidar data, with the mean values of the coefficient of correlation, total bias, and root-mean-square error (RMSE) taking values of 0.92, 0.0813, and 0.0016, respectively. In addition, the accuracies of the derived height percentiles from the proposed algorithm are greatly improved compared with the conventional Gaussian decomposition method and the slope-adaptive waveform metrics method. The mean bias and RMSE values decrease by the mean values of 1.68 m and 2.32 m and 1.96 m and 2.72 m, respectively. This demonstrates that the proposed algorithm can eliminate the broadening and overlapping of the ground return and vegetation return and presents good potential in the extraction of forest structure parameters over rugged mountainous areas. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T10:35:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c572d1aa95dc40e08284a9cd30754fd2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T10:35:46Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-c572d1aa95dc40e08284a9cd30754fd22024-01-26T18:20:18ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922024-01-0116242510.3390/rs16020425Retrieval of Tree Height Percentiles over Rugged Mountain Areas via Target Response Waveform of Satellite LidarHao Song0Hui Zhou1Heng Wang2Yue Ma3Qianyin Zhang4Song Li5School of Electronic Information, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, ChinaSchool of Electronic Information, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, ChinaSchool of Electronic Information, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, ChinaSchool of Electronic Information, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, ChinaSchool of Electronic Information, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, ChinaSchool of Electronic Information, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, ChinaThe retrieval of tree height percentiles from satellite lidar waveforms observed over mountainous areas is greatly challenging due to the broadening and overlapping of the ground return and vegetation return. To accurately represent the shape distributions of the vegetation and ground returns, the target response waveform (TRW) is resolved using a Richardson–Lucy deconvolution algorithm with adaptive iteration. Meanwhile, the ground return is identified as the TRW component within a 4.6 m ground signal extent above the end point of the TRW. Based on the cumulative TRW distribution, the height metrics of the energy percentiles of 25%, 50%, 75%, and 95% are determined using their vertical distances relative to the ground elevation in this study. To validate the proposed algorithm, we select the received waveforms of the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) lidar over the Pahvant Mountains of central Utah, USA. The results reveal that the resolved TRWs closely resemble the actual target response waveforms from the coincident airborne lidar data, with the mean values of the coefficient of correlation, total bias, and root-mean-square error (RMSE) taking values of 0.92, 0.0813, and 0.0016, respectively. In addition, the accuracies of the derived height percentiles from the proposed algorithm are greatly improved compared with the conventional Gaussian decomposition method and the slope-adaptive waveform metrics method. The mean bias and RMSE values decrease by the mean values of 1.68 m and 2.32 m and 1.96 m and 2.72 m, respectively. This demonstrates that the proposed algorithm can eliminate the broadening and overlapping of the ground return and vegetation return and presents good potential in the extraction of forest structure parameters over rugged mountainous areas.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/16/2/425satellite lidarreceived waveformtarget response waveformRichardson–Lucy deconvolutionheight percentiles |
| spellingShingle | Hao Song Hui Zhou Heng Wang Yue Ma Qianyin Zhang Song Li Retrieval of Tree Height Percentiles over Rugged Mountain Areas via Target Response Waveform of Satellite Lidar Remote Sensing satellite lidar received waveform target response waveform Richardson–Lucy deconvolution height percentiles |
| title | Retrieval of Tree Height Percentiles over Rugged Mountain Areas via Target Response Waveform of Satellite Lidar |
| title_full | Retrieval of Tree Height Percentiles over Rugged Mountain Areas via Target Response Waveform of Satellite Lidar |
| title_fullStr | Retrieval of Tree Height Percentiles over Rugged Mountain Areas via Target Response Waveform of Satellite Lidar |
| title_full_unstemmed | Retrieval of Tree Height Percentiles over Rugged Mountain Areas via Target Response Waveform of Satellite Lidar |
| title_short | Retrieval of Tree Height Percentiles over Rugged Mountain Areas via Target Response Waveform of Satellite Lidar |
| title_sort | retrieval of tree height percentiles over rugged mountain areas via target response waveform of satellite lidar |
| topic | satellite lidar received waveform target response waveform Richardson–Lucy deconvolution height percentiles |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/16/2/425 |
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