Ground-based LIDAR: a novel approach to quantify fine-scale fuelbed characteristics
E. Louise Loudermilk A G , J. Kevin Hiers B , Joseph J. O’Brien C , Robert J. Mitchell B , Abhinav Singhania D , Juan C. Fernandez D , Wendell P. CropperA School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Florida, PO Box 110410, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
B Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center at Ichauway, Route 2, Box 2324, Newton, GA 39870, USA.
C USDA Forest Service, Forestry Sciences Laboratory, 320 Green Street, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
D Geosensing Engineering and Mapping Center, University of Florida, PO Box 116580, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
E School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, PO Box 110410, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
F Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Florida, PO Box 116580, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
G Corresponding author. Email: louisel@ufl.edu
International Journal of Wildland Fire 18(6) 676-685 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF07138
Submitted: 22 September 2007 Accepted: 11 November 2008 Published: 22 September 2009
Abstract
Ground-based LIDAR (also known as laser ranging) is a novel technique that may precisely quantify fuelbed characteristics important in determining fire behavior. We measured fuel properties within a south-eastern US longleaf pine woodland at the individual plant and fuelbed scale. Data were collected using a mobile terrestrial LIDAR unit at sub-cm scale for individual fuel types (shrubs) and heterogeneous fuelbed plots. Spatially explicit point-intercept fuel sampling also measured fuelbed heights and volume, while leaf area and biomass measurements of whole and sectioned shrubs were determined from destructive sampling. Volumes obtained by LIDAR and traditional methods showed significant discrepancies. We found that traditional means overestimated volume for shrub fuel types because of variation in leaf area distribution within shrub canopies. LIDAR volume estimates were correlated with biomass and leaf area for individual shrubs when factored by species, size, and plant section. Fuelbed heights were found to be highly variable among the fuel plots, and ground LIDAR was more sensitive to capturing the height variation than traditional point intercept sampling. Ground LIDAR is a promising technology capable of measuring complex surface fuels and fuel characteristics, such as fuel volume.
Additional keywords: fuel sampling, ILRIS, longleaf pine, saw palmetto, wax myrtle, wiregrass.
Acknowledgements
We thank the people at the Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center for their support, especially Matthew Greene and Jason McGee for their hard field and laboratory work. The staff at the Ordway–Swisher Biological Station, namely Steve Coates and James Perry, have been important contacts for the pilot stage of this research. None of this could have been done without the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM) at the University of Florida providing the MTLS and engineering expertise.
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