During the past decade, airborne laser scanning (ALS) has established its status as the state-of-the-art method for detailed forest mapping and monitoring. Current operational forest inventory widely utilizes ALS-based methods. Recent advances in sensor technology and image processing have enabled the extraction of dense point clouds from digital stereo imagery (DSI). Compared with ALS data, the DSI-based data are cheap and the point cloud densities can easily reach that of ALS. In terms of point density, even the high-altitude DSI-based point clouds can be sufficient for detecting individual tree crowns. However, there are significant differences in the characteristics of ALS and DSI point clouds that likely affect the accuracy of tree detection. In this study, the performance of high-altitude DSI point clouds was compared with low-density ALS in detecting individual trees. The trees were extracted from DSI-and ALS-based canopy height models (CHM) using watershed segmentation. The use of both smoothed and unsmoothed CHMs was tested. The results show that, even though the spatial resolution of the DSI-based CHM was better, in terms of detecting the trees and the accuracy of height estimates, the low-density ALS performed better. However, utilizing DSI with shorter ground sample distance (GSD) and more suitable image matching algorithms would likely enhance the accuracy of DSI-based approach.

Silvicultural tending of seedling stands is important to producing quality timber. However, it is challenging to allocate where and when to apply these silvicultural tending actions. Here, we tested and evaluated two methodological modifications of the ordinary area-based approach (ABAOrdinary) that could be utilized in the airborne laser scanning-based forest inventories and especially seedling stand characterization. We hypothesize that ABA with added individual tree detection-derived features (ABAITD) or correcting edge-tree effects (ABAEdge) would display improved performance in estimating the tree density and mean tree height of seedling stands. We tested this hypothesis using single-photon laser (SPL) and linear-mode laser (LML) scanning data covering 89 sample plots.The obtained results supported the hypothesis as the methodological modifications improved seedling stand characterization. Compared to the performance of ABAordinary, relative bias in tree density estimation decreased from 17.2% to 10.1% when we applied ABAITD. In the case of mean height estimation, the relative root mean square error decreased from 19.5% to 16.3% when we applied ABAEdgeITD. The SPL technology provided practically comparable or, in some cases, enhanced performance in seedling stand characterization when compared to conventional LML technology. Based on the obtained findings, it seems that the tested methodological improvements should be carefully considered when ALS-based inventories supporting forest management and silvicultural decision-making are developed further.

Assessment of the amount of carbon sequestered and the value of ecosystem services provided by urban trees requires reliable data. Predicting the proportions and allometric relationships of individual urban trees with models developed for trees in rural forests may result in significant errors in biomass calculations. To better understand the differences in biomass accumulation and allocation between urban and rural trees, two existing biomass models for silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) were tested for their performance in assessing the above-ground biomass (AGB) of 12 urban trees. In addition, the performance of a volume-based method utilizing accurate terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) data and stem density was evaluated in assessing urban tree AGB. Both tested models underestimated the total AGB of single trees, which was mainly due to a substantial underestimation of branch biomass. The volume-based method produced the most accurate estimates of stem biomass. The results suggest that biomass models originally based on sample trees from rural forests should not be used for urban, open-grown trees, and that volume-based methods utilizing TLS data are a promising alternative for non-destructive assessment of urban tree AGB. (C) 2017 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Canopy gaps and their characteristic features (e.g. area and shape) influence the availability of nutrients, moisture and light in a forest ecosystem, and consequently affect the regeneration process and species composition in the forest. Most of the earlier research on canopy gap used field measurement and conventional remote sensing to quantify gap and these methods have limitations and accuracy problems. However, the development in Light Detecting and Ranging (LiDAR) technology has been effective in overcoming limitations and challenges associated with conventional remote sensing. The ability of LiDAR to represent the three-dimensional structure of the canopies and the sub-canopy resulting in high-resolution topographic maps, highly accurate estimated of vegetation height, cover and canopy structure makes it suitable technology for gap studies. LiDAR-based digital surface model (DSM) and digital elevation model (DEM) were used to quantify the canopy gaps over 5124ha of University of Tokyo Chichibu Forests (UTCF) consisting of three forest-types; primary, secondary and plantation forest. Disturbance driven canopy gaps might have spatial and characteristic variation due to differences in disturbance history, nature, frequency and intensity in different forest and land-types. Quantifying gap characteristics and studying variation and size distribution in different forest types and topography help to understand the different gap dynamics and their ecological perspectives. In this study, a gap was defined as an opening with a maximum height of 2m and minimum area threshold of 10m2. The minimum area threshold, which represents the gap area created by the death of at least a single tree, was determined through a random sampling of 100 tree crowns at UTCF using high resolution aerial photographs. Gap size distribution was analyzed in different forest types and land types. Spatial autocorrelation of gap occurrence was studied using semivariance analysis and distance to the nearest gap (DNG), which is the distance to the nearest gap for an individual gap. Canopy gap size frequency distribution in different forest-types was investigated using power-law. The negative exponent (α), which is also the scaling component of the power-law distribution, was compared between forest-types. Altogether, 6179 gaps with area 10-11603 m2 were found. Gap size distribution in UTCF showed skewness with a high frequency of smaller gaps and a few large gaps. Half of the gaps were smaller than 19 m2 and less than one percent of gaps (0.73 %) were larger than 400 m2. Primary forest contained high gap density (1.85 gaps per ha), shortest mean-DNG (22m) and second-largest gap-area fraction (0.72 %) after plantation forest area (0.76 %). Secondary forest had the lowest gap density (1.03 gaps per hectare) but had the larger mean gap-area (43 m2) than in primary forest (39 m2). The Kolmogorov–Smirnov test showed differences (p<0.05) in gap size distribution between primary and secondary forest. However, the gap size distribution in primary forest show similarity (p=0.59) with plantation forest area. In primary and plantation forest there was a high frequency of small gaps and few very large gaps (2000-10500 m2), whereas very large gaps (>2400 m2) were absent in the secondary forest. Gap size frequency distribution followed a power-law distribution only in plantation forest area (p>0.1, α =2.27). The scaling parameter in the primary and secondary forest was 2.56 (p=0.01) and 2.20 (p=0.02), respectively. Gap distribution showed some spatial autocorrelation in primary and secondary forest at least with distance up to 1300m. Most of the gaps in the primary forest were concentrated in the valley and middle slope, whereas the upper and middle slope had fewest gaps.

Open access airborne laser scanning (ALS) data have been available in Finland for over a decade and have been actively applied by the Finnish archaeologists in that time. The low resolution of this laser scanning 2008-2019 dataset (0.5 points/m(2)), however, has hindered its usability for archaeological prospection. In the summer of 2020, the situation changed markedly, when the Finnish National Land Survey started a new countrywide ALS survey with a higher resolution of 5 points/m(2). In this paper we present the first results of applying this newly available ALS material for archaeological studies. Finnish LIDARK consortium has initiated the development of semi-automated approaches for visualizing, detecting, and analyzing archaeological features with this new dataset. Our first case studies are situated in the Alpine tundra environment of Sapmi in northern Finland, and the assessed archaeological features range from prehistoric sites to indigenous Sami reindeer herding features and Second Word War-era German military structures. Already the initial analyses of the new ALS-5p data show their huge potential for locating, mapping, and assessing archaeological material. These results also suggest an imminent burst in the number of known archaeological sites, especially in the poorly accessible and little studied northern wilderness areas, when more data become available.

The reflectance factor is a quantity describing the efficiency of a surface to reflect light and affecting the observed brightness of reflected light. It is a complex property that varies with the view and illumination geometries as well as the wavelength and polarization of the light. The reflectance factor response is a peculiar property of each target surface. In optical remote sensing, the observed reflectance properties of natural surfaces are used directly for, e.g., classifying targets. Also, it is possible to extract target physical properties from observations, but generally this requires an understanding and modeling of the reflectance properties of the target. The most direct way to expand our understanding of the reflectance properties of natural surfaces is through empirical measurements. This thesis presents three original measurement setups for obtaining the reflectance properties of natural surfaces and some of the results acquired using them. The first instrument is the Finnish Geodetic Institute Field Goniospectrometer (FIGIFIGO); an instrument for measuring the view angle dependency of polarized hyperspectral reflectance factor on small targets. The second instrument is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) setup with a consumer camera used for taking measurements. The procedure allows 2D-mapping of the reflectance factor view angle dependency over larger areas. The third instrument is a virtual hyperspectral LiDAR, i.e. a setup for acquiring laser scanner point clouds with 3D-referenced reflectance spectra ([x,y,z,R(λ)]). During the research period 2005 2011, the FIGIFIGO was used to measure the angular reflectance properties of nearly 400 remote sensing targets, making the acquired reflectance library one of the largest of its kind in the world. These data have been exploited in a number of studies, including studies dealing with the vicarious calibration of airborne remote sensing sensors and satellite imagery and the development and characterization of reflectance reference targets for airborne remote sensing sensors, and the reflectance measurements have been published as a means of increasing the general understanding of the scattering of selected targets. The two latter instrument prototypes demonstrate emerging technologies that are being used in a novel way in remote sensing. Both measurement concepts have shown promising results, indicating that, in some cases, it can be beneficial to use such a methodology in place of the traditional remote sensing methods. Thus, the author believes that such measurement concepts will be used more widely in the near future. Heijastuskerroin on kullekin kohteelle yksilöllinen ominaisuus joka kuvaa kohteesta heijastuneen valon määrää. Heijastuskertoimen arvo riippuu havainto- ja valaistusgeometriasta sekä valon aallonpituudesta ja polarisaatiosta. Useimmissa optisen kaukokartoituksen menetelmissä mitataan kohteiden heijastuskerrointa. Näitä heijastuskerroinhavaintoja käytetään suoraan esim. kohteiden luokittelussa. Kehittyneemmissä menetelmissä havainnoista on myös mahdollista irrottaa joitain kohteen fysikaalisia ominaisuuksia, mutta yleensä tämä edellyttää kohteen ymmärtämistä sekä valonsironnan mallintamista. Suorin tapa laajentaa ymmärrystä luonnon pintojen valonsironnasta on tehdä empiirisiä mittauksia. Tässä väitöskirjassa esitellään kolme mittalaitetta luonnon pintojen valonsironnan mittaamiseksi sekä näillä laitteilla kerättyjä tuloksia. Ensimmäinen esiteltävä mittalaite on Finnish Geodetic Institute Field Goniospectrometer (FIGIFIGO), jolla voidaan mitata kohteen sirottaman valon suuntariippuvuutta valon aallonpituuden sekä polarisaation funktiona. Toinen mittalaite on automaattinen miehittämätön helikopteri. Kopteriin asennetun kameran sekä kuvien yhdistämismenetelmän avulla maaston valonsironnan suuntariippuvuutta voidaan kartoittaa laajemmilla alueilla kuin FIGIFIGO:a käyttäen. Kolmas mittalaite on virtuaalinen valkean valon LiDAR, jolla voidaan mitata laboratoriokohteen 3D rakenne yhdessä heijastusspektrien kanssa ([x,y,z,R(λ)]). Tutkimusjakson (2005 2011) aikana FIGIFIGO:a on käytetty lähes 400 kaukokartoituskohteen sironnan suuntariippuvuuden mittaamiseen. Näillä mittauksilla kerätty datakirjasto on yksi maailman suurimmista ja kattavimmistaan lajissaan. FIGIFIGO-mittauksia on hyödynnetty useissa tutkimuksissa esim. satelliitti havaintojen ja kaukokartoitus sensoreiden lennonaikaisessa kalibroinnissa ja validoinnissa, sekä ilmakuvauksen heijastuskerroinreferenssikohteiden kehittämisessä. Mittaustulokset on myös julkaistu tieteellisissä julkaisuissa laajentaen yleistä ymmärrystä kaukokartoituskohteiden valonsironnasta. Kaksi jälkimmäistä mittalaitetta ovat prototyyppejä joilla on testattu ja demonstroitu uutta tekniikkaa jota ei ole aiemmin hyödynnetty kaukokartoituksessa tällä tavoin. Molemmat mittauskonseptit tuottivat lupaavia tuloksia mahdollistaen uudentyyppisten mittausten tekemisen. Saadut tulokset antavat ymmärtää että mittauskonseptien kehittämistä kannattaa jatkaa ja on todennäköistä että tämän kaltaiset mittausmenetelmät tulevat jo lähitulevaisuudessa leviämään laajempaan käyttöön kaukokartoituksessa.

Interest in measuring forest biomass and carbon stock has increased as a result of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and sustainable planning of forest resources is therefore essential. Biomass and carbon stock estimates are based on the large area estimates of growing stock volume provided by national forest inventories (NFIs). The estimates for growing stock volume based on the NFIs depend on stem volume estimates of individual trees. Data collection for formulating stem volume and biomass models is challenging, because the amount of data required is considerable, and the fact that the detailed destructive measurements required to provide these data are laborious. Due to natural diversity, sample size for developing allometric models should be rather large. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) has proved to be an efficient tool for collecting information on tree stems. Therefore, we investigated how TLS data for deriving stem volume information from single trees should be collected. The broader context of the study was to determine the feasibility of replacing destructive and laborious field measurements, which have been needed for development of empirical stem volume models, with TLS. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of the TLS data captured at various distance (i.e. corresponding 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of tree height) on the accuracy of the stem volume derived. In addition, we examined how multiple TLS point cloud data acquired at various distances improved the results. Analysis was carried out with two ways when multiple point clouds were used: individual tree attributes were derived from separate point clouds and the volume was estimated based on these separate values (multiple scan A), and point clouds were georeferenced as a combined point cloud from which the stem volume was estimated (multiple-scan B). This permitted us to deal with the practical aspects of TLS data collection and data processing for development of stem volume equations in boreal forests. The results indicated that a scanning distance of approximately 25% of tree height would be optimal for stem volume estimation with TLS if a single scan was utilized in boreal forest conditions studied here and scanning resolution employed. Larger distances increased the uncertainty, especially when the scanning distance was greater than approximately 50% of tree height, because the number of successfully measured diameters from the TLS point cloud was not sufficient for estimating the stem volume. When two TLS point clouds were utilized, the accuracy of stem volume estimates was improved: RMSE decreased from 12.4% to 6.8%. When two point clouds were processed separately (i.e. tree attributes were derived from separate point clouds and then combined) more accurate results were obtained; smaller RMSE and relative error were achieved compared to processing point clouds together (i.e. tree attributes were derived from a combined point cloud). TLS data collection and processing for the optimal setup in this study required only one sixth of time that was necessary to obtain the field reference. These results helped to further our knowledge on TLS in estimating stem volume in boreal forests studied here and brought us one step closer in providing best practices how a phase-shift TLS can be utilized in collecting data when developing stem volume models. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Inc. (ISPRS).

As a result of urbanization and climate change, cities are facing various ecological and social challenges. For instance, flooding, pollution, urban heat island, decreased biodiversity, and mental stress of city dwellers are well recognized challenges of urban spaces. Urban green spaces are increasingly important in mitigating the adverse effects of climate change, such as flooding due to precipitation extremes, and also providing various other ecosystem services. In order to ensure sustainable land use and provision of ecosystem services, it is essential to develop methods for effective urban green space mapping. As a result, there is a growing demand for micro-scale land cover maps for urban areas. Emerging technologies, such as Object Based Image Analysis, OBIA, and light detection and ranging, LiDAR, offer promising possibilities for efficient mapping of green spaces in the urban environment. The aim of this thesis was to develop a semi-automatic method for urban green space mapping and classification. The other major task was to study the added benefits of light detection and ranging technology. Three research sites of varying degree of urbanization from the city of Helsinki were chosen for the study; from the city core in Itä-Pasila to appartment area with blocks of flats in Pihlajamäki and small-house residential area in Veräjämäki. The classification process was executed with an image analysis program called Definiens Developer. Main input data for classification was LiDAR data and VHR (very high resolution) aerial images. In the classification process, normalized vegetation index (NDVI) was used to detect live vegetation; assignation to different classes was based on height information derived from LIDAR data. Finally, an accuracy assessment was performed on the classified images to determine how well the classification process accomplished the task. The accuracy was assessed by comparing the classification images to the reference images of each catchment. Results demonstrate well the potential of OBIA for extracting urban green spaces. The downtown area of high land use intensity (Itä-Pasila) had the smallest green space coverage (31%), consisting mostly of urban parks and planted trees along the streets. The small-house area of low land use intensity (Veräjämäki) had the highest proportion (65%) of green spaces, consisting of forests and gardens. In the intermediate land use intensity with block of flats (Pihlajamäki)ts, a little under half of the coverage is green spaces. The highest accuracy of detecting green spaces was reached in low land use intensity area (92%), followed by the high and intermediate land use areas with 82% and 78%, respectively. The most common problem for classification was shaded areas, which reflect only limited spectral information and therefore the calculating of NDVI index becomes impossible. I found the object-based image analysis together with LiDAR data fusion to provide good means for urban green space mapping and classification. The presented method allowed a quick data acquisition with good overall accuracy, while avoiding the problems previously related to more traditional pixel-based methods. The addition of LiDAR data created the possibility of extracting vegetation height and using it in the classification process in order to divide vegetation into four different classes.

Forests are dynamic ecosystems that are constantly changing. The most common natural reasons for change in forests are the growth and death of trees, as well as the damage occurring to them. Tree growth appears as an increment of its structural dimensions, such as stem diameter, height, and crown volume, which all affect the structure of a tree. Repeated measurements of tree characteristics enable observations of the respective increments indicating tree growth. According to current knowledge, the tree growth process follows the priority theory, where trees aim to achieve sufficient lightning conditions for the tree crown through primary growth, whereas increment in diameter results from the secondary growth. Tree growth is known to have an effect on the carbon sequestration potential of trees as well as on the quality of timber. To improve the understanding of the underlying cause–effect relations driving tree growth, methods to quantify structural changes in trees and forests are needed. The use of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) has emerged during the recent decade as an effective tool to determine attributes of individual trees. However, the capacity of TLS point cloud-based methods to measure tree growth remains unexplored. This thesis aimed at developing new methods to measure tree growth in boreal forest conditions by utilizing two-date TLS point clouds. The point clouds were also used to investigate how trees allocate their growth and how the stem form of trees develops, to deepen the understanding of tree growth processes under different conditions and over the life cycle of a tree. The capability of the developed methods was examined during a five- to nine-year monitoring period with two separate datasets consisting of 1315 trees in total. Study I demonstrated the feasibility of TLS point clouds for measuring tree growth in boreal forests. In studies II and III, an automated point cloud-based method was further developed and tested for measuring tree growth. The used method could detect trees from two-date point clouds, with the detected trees representing 84.5% of total basal area. In general, statistically significant changes in the examined attributes, such as diameter at breast height, tree height, stem volume, and logwood volume, were detected during the monitoring periods. Tree growth and stem volume allocation seemed to be more similar for trees growing in similar structural conditions. The findings obtained in this thesis demonstrate the capabilities of repeatedly acquired TLS point clouds to be used for measuring the growth of trees and for characterizing the structural changes in forests. This thesis showed that TLS point cloud-based methods can be used for enhancing the knowledge of how trees allocate their growth, and thus help discover the underlying reasons for processes driving changes in forests, which could generate benefits for ecological or silvicultural applications where information on tree growth and forest structural changes is needed.