01.02.23 - How LiDAR data can help measuring the decline of beech trees in the swiss forests

In the last summers, the forests in north-eastern Switzerland have suffered from severe drought. Low precipitation and high temperatures have led to water stress situations and to the decline of individuals of the most sensitive species, such as beech.

Currently, the Swiss Territorial Data Lab (STDL) is collaborating with the Canton of Jura to explore methodologies to locate (small patches of) declining trees.

In particular, some efforts focus on structural analysis of health status using LiDAR data. The approach is to apply an horizontal grid to the point cloud and compute metrics along the height of the corresponding 3D volume to establish a categorical map illustrating health status.

Here an illustration of a simple structural pattern hiding under the canopy to be explored : the understory, invisble on satellite or aerial images.

Geo Innovation News from Swiss Territorial Data Lab (STDL)

#remotesensing #data #forest #datascience