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Integrating Airborne Laser Scanning with Data from Global Navigation Satellite Systems and Optical Sensors

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Forestry Applications of Airborne Laser Scanning

Part of the book series: Managing Forest Ecosystems ((MAFE,volume 27))

Abstract

Most forestry applications of airborne laser scanning (ALS) require simultaneous use of various data sources. This chapter covers a number of common issues that practitioners face when dealing with data fusion schemes. The first subsection points out the objectives that may be pursued when integrating different data sources, and the benefits that can be obtained from using diverse remote sensors onboard differing platforms. The next subsections are devoted to the two data sources that usually pose most problems in their spatial co-registration with ALS datasets: field inventory and aerial photographs. All data sources ultimately rely on global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) which are especially error-prone when operating under forest canopies. Positioning methods and spatial accuracy assessment applied to forest plot and individual tree surveying are presented, also including terrestrial laser scanning (TLS). Furthermore, procedures for digital elevation model (DEM) generation are reviewed in the context of their use in orthorectification, which is the most widespread method for fusion of ALS with optical sensors. Drawbacks of using orthophotos are identified, therefore suggesting alternatives: true-orthorectification, back-projecting ALS and image matching.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    More precisely denominated camera constant as most cameras consist of a system of compound lenses, though the collinearity model simplifies it to a pin-point exposure of a single lens with equivalent focal distance.

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Acknowledgments

The author thanks José Antonio Manzanera and Susana Martín (Technical University of Madrid), Petteri Packalén (University of Eastern Finland) and the editors for their revision and useful comments, and Niina Valbuena (European Forest Institute) for language revision. Rubén Valbuena’s work is funded by Metsähallitus (Finnish Forest Service) Grant awarded by the Foundation for European Forest Research (FEFR).

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  1. European Forest Institute HQ, Torikatu 34, 80100, Joensuu, Finland

    Rubén Valbuena

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  1. Rubén Valbuena
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Correspondence to Rubén Valbuena .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Forest Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland

    Matti Maltamo

  2. Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway

    Erik Næsset

  3. Department of Forest Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Jari Vauhkonen

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Valbuena, R. (2014). Integrating Airborne Laser Scanning with Data from Global Navigation Satellite Systems and Optical Sensors. In: Maltamo, M., Næsset, E., Vauhkonen, J. (eds) Forestry Applications of Airborne Laser Scanning. Managing Forest Ecosystems, vol 27. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8663-8_4

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