| Authors | Gunn |
| Country | Port Blakely, Scion, Interpine, Geraldine Forest (all NZ) |
| Paper (PDF) | View paper |
| Category | Planning & Inventory › Remote sensing & mapping |
Challenges in technology adoption. Archieved: Precise yield prediction, Simplicity of inventory management
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This case study documents the longitudinal application of airborne LiDAR scanning data across a managed plantation forest estate over a five-year monitoring period, undertaken with research and technical support from Scion — New Zealand's Crown Research Institute for forestry and wood products — and Interpine, a New Zealand-based specialist forestry remote sensing and data analytics consultancy. The collaboration represents one of the more rigorous multi-epoch LiDAR analyses applied to plantation management in the Australasian region, demonstrating that repeat LiDAR acquisitions at two to five year intervals can reliably detect and quantify stand-level changes in tree height, canopy cover, crown volume, and basal area — metrics that directly inform harvest scheduling, yield forecasting, and silvicultural intervention decisions. By comparing point cloud datasets acquired at the start and end of the study period, the research team was able to calibrate growth and yield models, validate the accuracy of predicted volume increments against ground-truth measurements, and identify areas of anomalous growth performance attributable to soil variation, drainage patterns, or previous silvicultural treatment. A key finding common to such multi-temporal LiDAR studies is that the per-hectare cost of inventory data decreases substantially when LiDAR is used as the primary sampling frame, with ground plots serving only as calibration and validation sites rather than the primary measurement method. Scion has published widely on the use of LiDAR-enhanced forest inventory methods for radiata pine plantations, while Interpine has operationalised many of these methods for commercial clients across New Zealand and Australia. The case study provides a practical demonstration of how the forestry sector can transition from periodic, plot-based inventory to continuous, spatially comprehensive monitoring using airborne remote sensing, supporting more responsive and precise operational decision-making.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Company | Gunn |
| Country | Port Blakely, Scion, Interpine, Geraldine Forest (all NZ) |
| Type | Paper |
| Year | 2021 |
| FWPA RD&E | 7.3 |