The overall goal of this study was to develop a framework for using airborne
lidar to derive inputs for the SPB infestation growth model TAMBEETLE. The specific
objectives were (1) to estimate individual tree characteristics of XY location, individual
bole height (IBH), diameter at breast height (DBH), length of crown (CrHT), and age for
use in TAMBEETLE; (2) to estimate individual tree age using lidar-estimated height and
site index provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO);
and (3) to compare TAMBEETLE simulation results using field measurements and lidarderived
measurements as inputs. Diameter at breast height, individual bole height, and
crown length were estimated using lidar with an error for mean measurements at plot
level of 0.16cm, 0.19m, and 1.07m, respectively. These errors were within root mean
square error (RMSE) for other studies at the study site. Age was estimated using the site
index provided by SSURGO and the site index curves created for the study area with an
RMSE of 4.8 years for mean plot age. Underestimation of tree height by lidar and error
in the site index curve explained 91% of the error in mean plot age. TAMBEETLE was used to compare spot growth between a lidar-derived forest map and a forest map
generated by TAMBEETLE, based on sample plot characteristics. The lidar-derived
forest performed comparably to the TAMBEETLE generated forest. Using lidar to map
forests can provide the large spatial extents of the TAMBEETLE generated forest while
maintaining the spatially explicit forest characteristics, which were previously only
available through field measurements.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2009-12-7632 |
| Date | 2009 December 1900 |
| Creators | Stukey, Jared D. |
| Contributors | Popescu, Sorin C. |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Thesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
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