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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 35(10)

Building a topological and geometrical model of poplar tree using portable on-ground scanning LIDAR

Maurizio Teobaldelli A C , Alcoriza David Puig B , Terenzio Zenone A , Marco Matteucci A , Günther Seufert A and Vitor Sequeira B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A EC, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Climate Change Unit, 21027, Ispra, Italy.

B EC, Joint Research Centre, Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen, Nuclear Safeguards Unit, 21027, Ispra, Italy.

C Corresponding author. Email: maurizio.teobaldelli@jrc.it

This paper originates from a presentation at the 5th International Workshop on Functional–Structural Plant Models, Napier, New Zealand, November 2007.

Functional Plant Biology 35(10) 1080-1090 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP08053
Submitted: 7 March 2008  Accepted: 29 July 2008   Published: 11 November 2008

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to investigate the suitability of advanced technologies like 3D-Laser scanning to acquire fair and sound information on structural and architectural characteristics of poplar stand, and to map topology of above-ground tree structures. The study area was an intensive poplar plantation located ~10 km north-west of the city of Pavia within the ‘Parco Regionale del Ticino’, Italy. A forest inventory of the poplar stand was conducted in 2005 and three 14-year-old poplar trees were selected and felled. The main architectural characteristics of poplar trees (destructive measurement) were compared with indirect measurement carried out using a portable on-ground scanning LIDAR IMAGER 5003 combined with the JRC-Reconstructor and AMAPmod softwares. The method permitted us to make an accurate estimate of the vertical and horizontal structure of the stand, to evaluate the stem and branches morphology of selected trees at different height in the canopy, and to create and validate multiscale representations of poplar tree architecture.

Additional keywords: IMAGER 5003, multiscale tree graph, AMAPmod, JRC-Reconstructor, Populus spp.


Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the CarboEurope IP project, funded by the European Commission, Directorate-General Research, Sixth Framework Program (Contract N. GOCE-CT-2003–505572). The structural tree modelling (indirect stand and tree architecture analysis and topology coding) was made by M. Teobaldelli; range scans were made by D. Puig and M. Teobaldelli; the direct tree architectural analysis and biomass survey were made by M. Teobaldelli, Z. Terenzio and M. Matteucci; technical and financial support were provided by G. Seufert and V. Sequeira. We thank Marlene Dürr, Zoltan Somogyi and the other colleagues of the Climate Change Units for helping us during the direct measurement. We also thank Yves Caraglio (CIRAD-UMR AMAP, Montpellier-France) and Frédéric Danjon (INRA, France) for help and comments during the preparation of the manuscript. Moreover, we thank the two anonymous reviewers and the two editors whose contributions were helpful in improving this paper.


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