Evaluation and Validation of Canopy Laser Radar (LIDAR) Systems for Native and Plantation Forest Inventory

The opportunity for new technologies based on laser radar (or Lidar) to significantly improve forest measurement and contribute to improved forestry operations at similar or lower costs than current methods has been addressed by developing field assessments of current airborne Lidar and a novel CSIRO developed ground based Lidar system. The CSIRO groundbased system is called the ECHIDNA® and it is currently being tested using a prototype called the ECHIDNA® Validation Instrument or “EVI”. The idea of the ECHIDNA® has attracted great interest among forest measuring groups and it has been shown that in its planned ongoing development and commercialisation, the ECHIDNA® instrument has the capability to undertake many if not all of the in-forest measurement tasks necessary for standard inventory. It has also been shown how the airborne and ground based data can be linked and matched through consistent models of canopy/Lidar interactions. The potential for new methods of forest assessment and the development of efficient allometry from both ground and airborne Lidar systems provides a pathway to future accurate and cost effective methods of forest assessment. The findings provide a strong case for making these systems available to the industry through commercialisation and product development. Cover Picture: The cover picture shows the ECHIDNA® Validation Instrument (EVI) in the snow in Tasmania during its first deployment in the Project in July 2004.