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Developing a regional canopy fuels assessment strategy using multi-scale lidar

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Abstract

Accurate assessments of canopy fuels are needed by fire scientists to understand fire behavior and to predict future fire occurrence. A key descriptor for canopy fuels is canopy bulk density (CBD). CBD is closely linked to the structure of the canopy; therefore, lidar measurements are particularly well suited to assessments of CBD. LANDFIRE scientists are exploring methods to integrate airborne and spaceborne lidar datasets into a national mapping effort. In this study, airborne lidar, spaceborne lidar, and field data are used to map CBD in the Yukon Flats Ecoregion, with the airborne lidar serving as a bridge between the field data and the spaceborne observations. The field-based CBD was positively correlated with airborne lidar observations (R2=0.78). Mapped values of CBD using the airborne lidar dataset were significantly correlated with spaceborne lidar observations when analyzed by forest type (R2=0.62, evergreen and R2=0.71, mixed). Though continued research is necessary to validate these results, they do support the feasibility of airborne and, most importantly, spaceborne lidar data for canopy fuels assessment.

Study Area

Publication type Conference Paper
Publication Subtype Conference Paper
Title Developing a regional canopy fuels assessment strategy using multi-scale lidar
Year Published 2011
Language English
Publisher Conference Secretariat
Contributing office(s) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center
Description 8 p.
Larger Work Type Conference Paper
Larger Work Title Proceedings of SilviLaser 2011, 11th International Conference on LiDAR Applications for Assessing Forest Ecosystems, University of Tasmania, Australia, 16-20 October 2011
First page 1
Last page 8
Conference Title SilviLaser 2011: 11th International Conference on LiDAR Applications for Assessing Forest Ecosystems
Conference Location Hobart, Australia
Conference Date October 16-20, 2011
Country United States
State Alaska
Other Geospatial Yukon flats eco-region
Online Only (Y/N) N
Additional Online Files (Y/N) N
Additional publication details