[Back]


Contributions to Books:

W. Mücke, M. Hollaus, N. Pfeifer, M. Kuttner, T. Wrbka, M. Prinz:
"Airborne Laser Scanning for Biodiversity Assessment of Ecological Networks";
in: "Transnational Ecological Networks in Central Europe - A Compilation of Results and Outputs from the EU Central Europe TransEcoNet Project", E. Csaplovics, A. Hahn, C. Marrs, S. Schöps (ed.); issued by: Technische Universität Dresden; Rhombos-Verlag, Berlin, 2017, ISBN: 9783941216860, 164 - 179.



English abstract:
The integration of the third dimension into the description of landscape elements is considered to be highly valuable for landscape ecology. Airborne laser scanning (ALS) is an active remote sensing technique providing 3D information of horizontal and vertical structure. Within the TransEcoNet project the aim was the investigation of the suitability of ALS as a tool for the conventional landscape functionality and biological diversity assessment process.
This paper describes point cloud and raster based methods for the derivation of biodiversity relevant quantities from 3D laser scanning point clouds. An approach for the determination of the outlines of buildings and elevated vegetation is presented, which is subsequently used for data reduction and performance enhancement. Exploiting the penetration capability of ALS, maps comprising the vertical and horizontal vegetation structure are created based on a high density point cloud. Additionally, a 3D shape metric that relates the surface of a vegetation element to its overall volume is introduced. In this way, information on the three-dimensional interconnection of adjacent landscape elements is obtained. The proposed methods provide knowledge on, if and how, the connection of landscape elements is composed regarding their structure.
It is shown that ALS has a great potential for applications in landscape ecology. Insensitivity to shadowy conditions and penetration of the foliage are the most significant advantages of ALS compared to a conventional orthophoto-based analysis. ALS is capable of delivering additional information for the assessment of landscape elements, which can further be used for their evaluation and the derivation of landscape functionality indices. A number of biodiversity relevant parameters are derivable by ALS with a high degree of automation and reliability, thus offering the chance of significantly reducing the effort needed for manual field work, time and importantly the cost.

Created from the Publication Database of the Vienna University of Technology.