| Peng Gong, Greg. S. Biging, and Rick Standiford |
| Authors are Associate Professor, Professor, Center for Assessment and Monitoring of Forest and Environmental Resources (CAMFER), and Extension Specialist, Center for Forestry, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, 151 Hilgard Hall, University of California, Berkeley, Calif. 94720-3110, Email: gong@nature.berkele.edu |
Abstract |
| We built digital surface models (DSM) that contain 3D surface morphological information of the entire landscape using digital photogrammetry and aerial photographs. Changes in landscape components such as crown closure and tree height in hardwood rangeland were estimated using DSM. In comparison with manual interpretation results, errors of crown closure and tree height estimation using DSM were less than 0.7% and 1.5 m, respectively. This technique can be used for rangeland management, monitoring and ecological studies. |
| Key Words: Digital photogrammetry, photo-ecometrics, tree heights, crown closure |