Estimation of growing stock of broadleaved forests by airborne laser scanning

Abstract

Airborne laser scanning (ALS) is increasingly being proposed for surveying forest attributes. The objective of this paper is to present a new approach for the estimation of growing stock based on ALS data. The approach is distinctively developed for broadleaved stands where conventional methods for growing stock estimation based on ALS measurements of single tree heights frequently provide poor results. Theoretical background and model-based statistical estimators are reported.