Case Applications for Forest Resource Assessment Using Airborne Laser Scanner

Three case applications for forest resource assessment using airborne laser scanner (LiDAR) will be introduced. The first case is “assessment of high density forest area”. The area where forest maintenance is necessary is extracted using colour composite of three layers developed from laser point group; (1) attained distance from DSM into forest (2) tree height (3) reflection intensity. The second case is “applied counting method for the number of trees”. The method is based on local maximum filtering but improved to be able to calculate the distribution of multi-storied forest by analyzing laser point group. This method is also able to count the number of lower storied trees by considering the area. The third case is “extracting hazard area facing fallen trees”. The risk of fallen trees into conservation area (houses and roads) is evaluated by calculating the location and height of trees using local maximum filter and buffering the tree height from the tree location. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +81-42-307-7471; fax.: +81-42-330-1034