Optimizing remotely acquired, dense point cloud data for plantation inventory. M Watt, C Stone ( eds )

This collaborative "Trans-Tasman" research project evaluated a series of novel, advanced remote sensing systems that capture accurate, 3D dense point cloud data in order to assess their potential for delivering operational plantation resource assessment tools. The project brought together internationally recognised expertise in remote sensing, Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) and UAV technologies and robotics located within the TerraLuma group at the University of Tasmania, the New Zealand forest research agency Scion, the Australian Centre for Field Robotics, University of Sydney and NSW Department of Primary Industries. An important aspect of this project was also the collaborative engagement with the participating companies including Interpine and Indufor Asia Pacific. The emerging diversity of platforms, sensors, algorithms and efficient processing workflows presents multiple opportunities across the forestry sector for more accurate and reliable resource information. This project represents the most recent FWPA and grower investment in a series of RD i) 3D visualisation for interactive assessment of individual tree stems; ii) UAS LiDAR for dense point cloud acquisition and iii) Individual tree detection, 3D tree reconstruction, and automated extraction of improved point cloud metrics for forest inventory (e.g. use of voxelised metrics). These Work Packages represented the structure of the specific sub-projects that were undertaken, either individually or in combination to address the objectives and deliverables identified for this project.