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Sensitivity of Above-Ground Biomass to Terrestrial LIDAR-Derived Tree Height in Berkelah Tropical Rainforest, Malaysia

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Abstract

Tree height can be derived from airborne and terrestrial LIDAR in a nondestructive way. This study aims to analyze and investigate whether above-ground biomass (AGB) is sensitive or not to tree height derived from terrestrial LIDAR point cloud data in Berkelah tropical rainforest, Malaysia. To select the unit of analysis, a non-probability sampling of which purposive sampling approach was adopted. Accordingly, 32 sample plots were measured and scanned during the field data collection. Upper and lower canopy trees height was derived from airborne and terrestrial LIDAR, respectively. Moreover, terrestrial LIDAR was used to derive DBH of all upper and lower canopy trees. DBH measured in the field was used to validate the DBH manually derived from terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) point cloud data. To calculate AGB of both lower and upper canopy trees, the DBH derived from TLS point cloud data was used. The coefficient of determination R2 and RMSE of the DBH manually derived from TLS point cloud data validated by field measured DBH were 0.99 and 1.37 cm, respectively. This result revealed the existence of almost one to one relationship and based on the statistical test undertaken; there is no statistically significant difference between the two DBH measurements. Moreover, for sensitivity of AGB, when TLS tree height was validated by corresponding trees height from airborne LIDAR, 0.72 and 2.42 m were found for R2 and RMSE, respectively. Based on the findings, AGB is not sensitive to tree height derived from terrestrial LIDAR point cloud data.

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Acknowledgements

This study was conducted for my master thesis in the field of Geo-information Science and Earth Observation with Natural Resources Management specialization at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. I am very grateful to the Faculty of Geo-Information and Earth Observation Science (ITC), University of Twente, and Netherland Fellowship Program (NFP) who provided me the opportunity to pursue M.Sc. degree and granted scholarship for my study. I am also very grateful to the University of Gondar, Ethiopia, for permitting me to study in the Netherlands. I would like to express my deepest and heartfelt gratitude to my supervisors Dr. Yousif A. Hussin and Ir. L. M. Van Leeuwen from ITC, University of Twente, the Netherlands, for their wholehearted guidance and input to the success of the study. My deepest gratitude also goes to Dr. Zulkiflee Abd Latif from Malaysia for his facilitation during field data collection. I would like to acknowledge University Technology Mara, Malaysia (UiTM), for providing the airborne LIDAR data set of the study area. Last but not least, I thank the editor and two anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions which have improved the manuscript.

Funding

This study was funded by the Netherlands Fellowship Program (NFP).

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  1. Department of Agricultural Economics, College of Agriculture and Rural Transformation, University of Gondar, P.O. Box 196, Gondar, Ethiopia

    Agerie Nega Wassihun

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Wassihun, A.N. Sensitivity of Above-Ground Biomass to Terrestrial LIDAR-Derived Tree Height in Berkelah Tropical Rainforest, Malaysia. J Indian Soc Remote Sens 47, 789–799 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12524-019-00956-0

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