Description
The main challenge of territory managers is the implementation of sustainable management of forest ecosystems that allows for a combined production and conservation of forest resources, while maintaining and protecting biodiversity and combating climate change. In response to these challenges it is necessary to incorporate technologies for acquiring and processing extensive 3D spatial data. This project will develop a methodology to generate algorithms of forest inventory in large areas using LiDAR information and generate a system of visualization, geo-processing and unloading forest inventory using LiDAR data servers and geo-services online.The environmental agencies of government, forest companies and forest owners are foreseen as the main end user of the project.
Summary of project results
The project sought to develop a forest inventory methodology for large areas using LIDAR (Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging) information and existing forest inventory databases and to generate visualization, geo-processing and information download systems using data servers and online geo-services. The project result is an application that, through free data (IFN - National Forest Inventory, and LIDAR), obtains a characterization of forest masses by crossing this information with that of the plots obtained through the official register of real state. This service is capable of characterizing the forest mass of a given property in Spain. At the moment the service is available for Basque Country, La Rioja, Murcia and several areas of the Communities, Autonomous communities of Castilla y León and Madrid fundamentally, and for 3 species of pine. With the IFN completed, in theory, every 10 years, the company can revise the methodology for the characterization of forest masses between two consecutive IFNs that incorporate LIDAR data information to improve accuracy and to model the growth of the forest mass depending on the species.
Summary of bilateral results
The project involved collaboration with the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NBIO). NBIO was established July 1st 2015 as a merger between the Norwegian Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Research, the Norwegian Agricultural Economics Research Institute and Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute. The work of NBIO was to analyze the implementation of the project in the Nordic countries. The wild pine species was selected, one of the 3 studied in the project and with a wide geographic distribution throughout Europe, from Spain to Norway. From the data provided by the NBIO, we were able to analyze the validity of the generated models for wild pine in Spain to estimate stocks of wild pine in Finland. The results of this validation study show that the models generated for wild pine forest in Spain can not be used for estimations of Finnish pine forests. Therefore, in order to replicate this work in the Nordic countries, it is necessary to develop separate models based on in-situ field data.