Estimating timber volume of forest stands using airborne laser scanner data

The stand volumes of 36 Norway spruce (Pieea abies Karst.) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stands were derived from various tree canopy height metrics and canopy cover density measured by means of an airborne laser scanner. On average, the laser transmitted 1350–1910 pulses per stand and recorded 505–1070 canopy hits with corresponding estimates of canopy height. Ground truth stand volume was regressed against mean stand height, the mean height of all laser pulses within a stand, and canopy cover density as determined from the laser data. The coefficients of determination were in the range between 0.456 and 0.887. The coefficients of variation ranged from 17.2% to 43.3%.