This paper highlights several approaches to segment and reconstruct trees from LIDAR data and compares the results acquired both from first/last pulse and full waveform data. In a first step, we set up a conventional watershed based segmentation procedure, which robustly interpolates the CHM from the LIDAR data and finds possible stem positions of the tallest trees in the segments calculated fr...

Forest canopy height is an important biophysical variable for quantifying carbon storage in terrestrial ecosystems. Active light detection and ranging (lidar) sensors with discrete-return or waveform lidar have produced reliable measures of forest canopy height. However, rigorous procedures are required for an accurate estimation, especially when using waveform lidar, since backscattered signal...

As third-party lidar software manufacturers are increasingly adding support for full-waveform data, a common question is which algorithm(s) to implement. To this end, a new approach is needed to compare and contrast various lidar waveform processing strategies from a practical, operational perspective. Quality and type of information output, processing speed, suitability for particular applicat...

Full waveform data recording the reflected laser signal from ground objects have been provided by some commercial airborne LIDAR systems in the last few years. Waveform data enable users to explore more information and characteristics of the earth surface than conventional LIDAR point cloud. An important application is to extract extra point clouds from waveform data in addition to the point cl...

Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) in forested areas is used for constructing Digital Terrain Models (DTMs), estimating biomass carbon and timber volume and estimating foliage distribution as an indicator of tree growth and health. All of these purposes are hindered by the inability to distinguish the source of returns as foliage, stems, understorey and the ground except by their relative posi...

LiteMapper-5600 is a new high-accuracy airborne LIDAR system for corridor and wide-area mapping of terrain and vegetation with a unique feature: it digitizes the echo waveform of each measurement. This paper outlines the system and its components, presents first samples of data that were collected recently with a prototype in flight tests, and analyzes system performance. It highlights applicat...

A hyperspectral sensor and a full waveform LiDAR were flown over a temperate Eucalyptus forest in Australia, at the location of the Tumbarumba Ozflux site. Ground cover and leaf area index were derived from the LiDAR dataset while chlorophyll content maps were generated from the hyperspectral imagery using 3D radiative transfer models and the structural information derived from the LiDAR. These...

Various multi-echo and Full-waveform (FW) lidar features can be processed. In this paper, multiple classifers are applied to lidar feature selection for urban scene classification. Random forests are used since they provide an accurate classification and run efficiently on large datasets. Moreover, they return measures of variable importance for each class. The feature selection is obtained by ...

A data-driven method for describing the benthic cover type based on full-waveform bathymetric LiDAR data analysis is presented. The waveform of the bathymetric LiDAR return pulse is first modeled as a sum of three functions: a Gaussian pulse representing the surface return, a function modeling the backscatter and another Gaussian pulse modeling the return from the bottom surface. Two sets of va...