Paper details

Title:

The Accuracy of National ALS Data in Biomass Mapping in Finland

Author(s):

Kankare, V., Vauhkonen, J., Holopainen, M., Vastaranta, M., Hyyppä, J., Hyyppä, H., Alho, P.

Document(s):

Abstract:

The demand for cost­efficient aboveground biomass (AGB) mapping applications at all forest levels is growing worldwide. Airborne laser scanning (ALS) is a promising mapping technique, due to its capability for measuring three­dimensional vegetation structure. The National Land Survey of Finland (NLS) began collecting ALS data throughout Finland in 2008, and collected dataset has great potential for and a wide variety of possible applications in forestry. The main objective of the study was to evaluate the accuracy of NLS’s ALS data in estimation of plot­level AGB and to compare it with existing large­scale forest­mapping techniques, which utilizes satellite imagery and ground plots. The results showed that ALS data can be used to estimate AGB with accuracy of 26.1–38.1%. The accuracy was significantly higher than in MS­NFI which was caused by differences in the RS data utilized To fully utilize the potential of NLS’s ALS data, the following questions should be addressed: 1) the optimal amount of training data required for nearest neighbour estimation, 2) calibration of the ALS data caused by leaf­off situations and 3) effect of varying scanning equipment and parameters on the estimation accuracy. The supportive strengths of the nationally available ALS data are the low costs of the data and the need for new more accurate and cost­efficient methods to map and monitor forest AGBs.

Keywords:

biomass, resources, remote sensing, mapping, laser scanning

Topic:

Biomass Resources

Subtopic:

Biomass potentials and biomass mobilisation

Event:

22nd European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

Session:

1AO.8.2

Pages:

47 - 52

ISBN:

978-88-89407-52-3

Paper DOI:

10.5071/22ndEUBCE2014-1AO.8.2

Price:

FREE