Estimation of canopy base height using airborne laser scanning data (LiDAR)

Lately, data acquisition using Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) with LiDAR technology (Light Detection andRanging) is becoming promising in the forest field, especially for estimation of dendrometric variables and toevaluate vertical and horizontal structure of the forest. Topographic and forest coverage information are extremelyimportant to forest and natural resources managers. Accurate information on trees height and density arefundamental for planning, but also hard to obtain by conventional methods. The use of modeling associated withLIDAR data allows the researcher to obtain estimates of several other forest variables, such as basal area,diameter, volume, biomass and combustible material. The estimation of the trees base heights with plots of differentsizes (10, 15 and 20 meters) showed an standard error of 1.42, 0.95 and 0.82 m, which correspond to 23.62, 15.70and 13.84%, respectively.