Comparative Analysis of Ultra-Wideband and Mobile Laser Scanning Systems for Mapping Forest Trees under A Forest Canopy
In this paper, we present an ultra-wideband (UWB)-based method for mapping forest trees under a forest canopy and compare its precision with that of three commercial mobile laser scanning systems (MLS): Zeb Horizon (GeoSLAM, UK), Hovermap (Emesent, Australia), and Deep Forestry (Deep Forestry, Swede...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2025-07-01
|
| Series: | ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences |
| Online Access: | https://isprs-annals.copernicus.org/articles/X-G-2025/551/2025/isprs-annals-X-G-2025-551-2025.pdf |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849704521606889472 |
|---|---|
| author | Z. Liu H. Kaartinen T. Hakala H. Hyyti A. Kukko A. Kukko J. Hyyppa J. Hyyppa R. Chen |
| author_facet | Z. Liu H. Kaartinen T. Hakala H. Hyyti A. Kukko A. Kukko J. Hyyppa J. Hyyppa R. Chen |
| author_sort | Z. Liu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this paper, we present an ultra-wideband (UWB)-based method for mapping forest trees under a forest canopy and compare its precision with that of three commercial mobile laser scanning systems (MLS): Zeb Horizon (GeoSLAM, UK), Hovermap (Emesent, Australia), and Deep Forestry (Deep Forestry, Sweden). The proposed method is simple to implement in forest environments, requiring reduced human efforts. The comparison was based on real-world datasets collected in a boreal forest in Finland, covering an area of approximately 50 m × 110 m, with tree locations obtained from a high-density airborne laser scanning (ALS) system as a reference. To our best knowledge, this is the first study to compare UWB and MLS for mapping forest trees in the literature. The experimental results show that the proposed method can accurately measure tree stem locations under the forest canopy with a root-mean-square-error (RMSE) of 14.44 cm and a mean-absolute-error (MAE) of 12.39 cm, providing accuracy comparable to that of the three tested MLSs. Therefore, the proposed method is sufficient for forest surveying and management. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ea45e9fccde848dcb5f02fce5c5243fc |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2194-9042 2194-9050 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-ea45e9fccde848dcb5f02fce5c5243fc2025-08-20T03:16:43ZengCopernicus PublicationsISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences2194-90422194-90502025-07-01X-G-202555155710.5194/isprs-annals-X-G-2025-551-2025Comparative Analysis of Ultra-Wideband and Mobile Laser Scanning Systems for Mapping Forest Trees under A Forest CanopyZ. Liu0H. Kaartinen1T. Hakala2H. Hyyti3A. Kukko4A. Kukko5J. Hyyppa6J. Hyyppa7R. Chen8Department of Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry, Finnish Geospatial Research Institute, Vuorimiehentie 5, 02150, Espoo, FinlandDepartment of Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry, Finnish Geospatial Research Institute, Vuorimiehentie 5, 02150, Espoo, FinlandDepartment of Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry, Finnish Geospatial Research Institute, Vuorimiehentie 5, 02150, Espoo, FinlandDepartment of Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry, Finnish Geospatial Research Institute, Vuorimiehentie 5, 02150, Espoo, FinlandDepartment of Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry, Finnish Geospatial Research Institute, Vuorimiehentie 5, 02150, Espoo, FinlandDepartment of Built Environment, School of Engineering, Aalto University, P.O. Box 11000, FI-00076, Aalto, FinlandDepartment of Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry, Finnish Geospatial Research Institute, Vuorimiehentie 5, 02150, Espoo, FinlandDepartment of Built Environment, School of Engineering, Aalto University, P.O. Box 11000, FI-00076, Aalto, FinlandSchool of Data Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, ChinaIn this paper, we present an ultra-wideband (UWB)-based method for mapping forest trees under a forest canopy and compare its precision with that of three commercial mobile laser scanning systems (MLS): Zeb Horizon (GeoSLAM, UK), Hovermap (Emesent, Australia), and Deep Forestry (Deep Forestry, Sweden). The proposed method is simple to implement in forest environments, requiring reduced human efforts. The comparison was based on real-world datasets collected in a boreal forest in Finland, covering an area of approximately 50 m × 110 m, with tree locations obtained from a high-density airborne laser scanning (ALS) system as a reference. To our best knowledge, this is the first study to compare UWB and MLS for mapping forest trees in the literature. The experimental results show that the proposed method can accurately measure tree stem locations under the forest canopy with a root-mean-square-error (RMSE) of 14.44 cm and a mean-absolute-error (MAE) of 12.39 cm, providing accuracy comparable to that of the three tested MLSs. Therefore, the proposed method is sufficient for forest surveying and management.https://isprs-annals.copernicus.org/articles/X-G-2025/551/2025/isprs-annals-X-G-2025-551-2025.pdf |
| spellingShingle | Z. Liu H. Kaartinen T. Hakala H. Hyyti A. Kukko A. Kukko J. Hyyppa J. Hyyppa R. Chen Comparative Analysis of Ultra-Wideband and Mobile Laser Scanning Systems for Mapping Forest Trees under A Forest Canopy ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences |
| title | Comparative Analysis of Ultra-Wideband and Mobile Laser Scanning Systems for Mapping Forest Trees under A Forest Canopy |
| title_full | Comparative Analysis of Ultra-Wideband and Mobile Laser Scanning Systems for Mapping Forest Trees under A Forest Canopy |
| title_fullStr | Comparative Analysis of Ultra-Wideband and Mobile Laser Scanning Systems for Mapping Forest Trees under A Forest Canopy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Comparative Analysis of Ultra-Wideband and Mobile Laser Scanning Systems for Mapping Forest Trees under A Forest Canopy |
| title_short | Comparative Analysis of Ultra-Wideband and Mobile Laser Scanning Systems for Mapping Forest Trees under A Forest Canopy |
| title_sort | comparative analysis of ultra wideband and mobile laser scanning systems for mapping forest trees under a forest canopy |
| url | https://isprs-annals.copernicus.org/articles/X-G-2025/551/2025/isprs-annals-X-G-2025-551-2025.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT zliu comparativeanalysisofultrawidebandandmobilelaserscanningsystemsformappingforesttreesunderaforestcanopy AT hkaartinen comparativeanalysisofultrawidebandandmobilelaserscanningsystemsformappingforesttreesunderaforestcanopy AT thakala comparativeanalysisofultrawidebandandmobilelaserscanningsystemsformappingforesttreesunderaforestcanopy AT hhyyti comparativeanalysisofultrawidebandandmobilelaserscanningsystemsformappingforesttreesunderaforestcanopy AT akukko comparativeanalysisofultrawidebandandmobilelaserscanningsystemsformappingforesttreesunderaforestcanopy AT akukko comparativeanalysisofultrawidebandandmobilelaserscanningsystemsformappingforesttreesunderaforestcanopy AT jhyyppa comparativeanalysisofultrawidebandandmobilelaserscanningsystemsformappingforesttreesunderaforestcanopy AT jhyyppa comparativeanalysisofultrawidebandandmobilelaserscanningsystemsformappingforesttreesunderaforestcanopy AT rchen comparativeanalysisofultrawidebandandmobilelaserscanningsystemsformappingforesttreesunderaforestcanopy |