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Abstract
In this thesis a lightweight handheld terrestrial laser scanner was used to estimate tree diameters and heights for longleaf pine plantations. A method was developed to isolate the tree stem and estimate diameters despite significant occlusion of stem by branches and foliage. To further improve diameter estimation values, an ad-hoc bias correction function was fitted to the residual data. The bias function parameters were found using a cross validation method. Multiple diameters derived out of a terrestrial laser scanner were then further used to estimate height using an inverse taper model of a segmented polynomial form. It was found that upper stem diameters were less biased predictors of height than lower-stem diameters.