Multi-temporal fine-scale modelling of Larix decidua forest plots using terrestrial LiDAR and hemispherical photographs

Raw point cloud data are directly used as input to solve both tree delineation and tree reconstruction in a single processing pipeline. This includes terrain filtering, intensity filtering, and trunk extraction. These steps are followed by a hierarchical and iterative multi-tree branch and twig reconstruction. Based on multi-temporal DHPs, various foliage states are documented. These DHPs and the reconstructed branching architectures are used to flexibly generate and update multi-temporal 3D models of foliage. In order to quantify the modelling performance with respect to various forest characteristics, a test setup based on simulated forest and acquisition geometries is build up. It can be shown, that typical sources of error in the tree reconstruction process are minimized by the proposed approach. It is possible to estimate wood volume distributions, trunk tapering and leaf area distributions with an error of only 10-14%. Except for strongly overlapping tree crowns, the overall accuracy of the single tree delineation in interlinked tree crowns is higher than 80%. Considering these error margins, we apply the modelling strategy to two forest plots and derive architectural models for three dates during the growing season. Using DHPs as reference data, it can be shown, that the estimated gap fraction values derived from the generated models show an error of only 10-15%.