The influence of scan mode and circle fitting on tree stem detection, stem diameter and volume extraction from terrestrial laser scans

Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) has been used to estimate a number of biophysical and structural vegetation parameters. Of these stem diameter is a primary input to traditional forest inventory. While many experimental studies have confirmed the potential for TLS to successfully extract stem diameter, the estimation accuracies differ strongly for these studies – due to differences in experimental design, data processing and test plot characteristics. In order to provide consistency and maximize estimation accuracy, a systematic study into the impact of these variables is required. To contribute to such an approach, 12 scans were acquired with a FARO photon 120 at two test plots (Beech, Douglas fir) to assess the effects of scan mode and circle fitting on the extraction of stem diameter and volume. An automated tree stem detection algorithm based on the range images of single scans was developed and applied to the data. Extraction of stem diameter was achieved by slicing the point cloud and fitting circles to the slices using three different algorithms (Lemen, Pratt and Taubin), resulting in diameter profiles for each detected tree. Diameter at breast height (DBH) was determined using both the single value for the diameter fitted at the nominal breast height and by a linear fit of the stem diameter vertical profile. The latter is intended to reduce the influence of outliers and errors in the ground level determination. TLS-extracted DBH was compared to tape-measured DBH. Results show that tree stems with an unobstructed view to the scanner can be successfully extracted automatically from range images of the TLS data with detection rates of 94% for Beech and 96% for Douglas fir. If occlusion of trees is accounted for stem detection rates decrease to 85% (Beech) and 84% (Douglas fir). As far as the DBH estimation is concerned, both DBH extraction methods yield estimates which agree with reference measurements, however, the linear fit based approach proved to be more robust for the single scan DBH extraction (RMSE range 1.39–1.74cm compared to 1.47–2.43cm). With regard to the different circle fit algorithms applied, the algorithm by Lemen showed the best overall performance (RMSE range 1.39–1.65cm compared to 1.49–2.43cm). The Lemen algorithm was also found to be more robust in case of noisy data. Compared to the single scans, the DBH extraction from the merged scan data proved to be superior with significant lower RMSE’s (0.66–1.21cm). The influence of scan