Estimating Mediterranean stand fuel characteristics using handheld mobile laser scanning technology
Kadir Alperen Coskuner A * , Can Vatandaslar B , Murat Ozturk A , Ismet Harman A , Ertugrul Bilgili A , Uzay Karahalil A , Tolga Berber C and Esra Tunc Gormus D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Faculty of Forestry, Karadeniz Technical University, 61080, Trabzon, Türkiye.
B Faculty of Forestry, Artvin Çoruh University, 08100, Artvin, Türkiye.
C Faculty of Science, Karadeniz Technical University, 61080, Trabzon, Türkiye.
D Faculty of Engineering, Karadeniz Technical University, 61080, Trabzon, Türkiye.
* Correspondence to: kacoskuner@ktu.edu.tr
International Journal of Wildland Fire 32(9) 1347-1363 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF23005
Submitted: 18 January 2023 Accepted: 8 July 2023 Published: 1 August 2023
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of IAWF.
Abstract
Background: Accurate, timely and easily obtainable information on stand fuel is of great importance in the prediction of fire behaviour.
Aims: The objective of this study is to measure several stand fuel characteristics with handheld mobile laser scanning (HMLS) in six fuel types for Mediterranean region, and compare the results with traditional field fuel measurements (FFM) in 35 different sampling plots.
Methods: The measurements involved overstorey (the number of trees, diameter at breast height, crown base height, tree height, maximum tree height, stand crown closure) and understorey (understorey closure, understorey height) fuel characteristics, and ground slope. Correlation analysis and t-test were performed to examine the relationship between FFM and HMLS datasets. In addition, cross-validation statistics (RMSE, rRMSE and R2) were employed to evaluate the accuracy of the HMLS method.
Key results: The results indicated strong correlations among all fuel characteristics. However, overstorey fuel characteristics were more favourable (r-values between 0.804 and 0.996, P < 0.01) than understorey (r-values between 0.483 and 0.612, P < 0.01). There was no significant difference between FFM and HMLS datasets in all fuel characteristics (P > 0.05).
Conclusions: The results indicated that the HMLS was practical, cost-effective, time-efficient and required less labour as compared to traditional FFM in plot-level (i.e. 0.1 ha) inventories.
Keywords: forest fires, fuel characteristics, fuel inventory, fuel structure, light detection and ranging (LiDAR), maquis shrubland, Mediterranean region, mobile laser scanning, Pinus brutia.
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