Autonomous navigation in outdoor environments with vegetation is difficult because available sensors make very indirect measurements on quantities of interest such as the supporting ground height and the location of obstacles. We introduce a terrain model that includes spatial constraints on these quantities to exploit structure found in outdoor domains and use available sensor data more effect...

A topic of recurring interest in ecological research is the degree to which vegetation structure influences the distribution and abundance of species. Here we test the applicability of remote sensing, particularly novel use of waveform lidar measurements, for quantifying the habitat heterogeneity of a contiguous northern hardwoods forest in the northeastern United States. We apply these results...

High spatial resolution measurements of vegetation structure in three-dimensions (3D) are essential for accurate estimation of vegetation biomass, carbon accounting, forestry, fire hazard evaluation and other land management and scientific applications. Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) is the current standard for these measurements but requires bulky instruments mounted on commercial aircraf...

Elevation gradients provide opportunities to explore environmental controls on forest structure and functioning. We used airborne imaging spectroscopy and lidar (light detection and ranging) to quantify changes in threedimensional forest structure and canopy functional traits in twenty 25 ha landscapes distributed along a 3300 m elevation gradient from lowland Amazonia to treeline in the Peruvi...

Detailed modeling of floodplain flows and associated processes requires data on mixed, heterogeneous vegetation at river reach scale, though the collection of vegetation data is typically limited in resolution or lack spatial information. This study investigates physically-based characterization of mixed floodplain vegetation by means of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS). The work aimed at devel...

In plants, investment in height improves access to light, but incurs costs in construction and maintenance of the stem. Because the benefits of plant height depend on which other height strategies are present, competition for light can usefully be framed as a game-theoretic problem. The vertical structure of the world’s vegetation, which is inefficient for plant growth, can then be understood a...

Hiram College conducts long-term vegetation monitoring to investigate changes in the structure and composition of the forests at the College's J.H. Barrow Field Station. This effort includes sampling tree dimensions data in fifty by twenty meter plots, with the goal of developing vertical and horizontal profiles of the forest structure. These structure data are traditionally depicted for visual...

............................................................................................................. xv Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................... xiii Chapter 1. General Introduction .................................................................................. 1 1.1 Overview of the management of native ...