Aarne Nyyssönen , Simo Poso, Christian Keil

The use of aerial photographs in the estimation of some forest characteristics

Nyyssönen A., Poso S., Keil C. (1968). The use of aerial photographs in the estimation of some forest characteristics. Acta Forestalia Fennica vol. 82 no. 4 article id 7177. https://doi.org/10.14214/aff.7177

Abstract

The aim of this investigation is to study, for north European conditions, some overall standards of accuracy attainable in the estimation in a number of forest characteristics from aerial photographs. Field data was acquired in three areas, comprising whole stands, fixed and variable size sample plots and sections of survey strips.  

The results show that land use classes could be estimated to a rather high degree of precision from aerial photographs. The accuracy of determination of the main tree species (Scots pine, Norway spruce and deciduous trees) was more moderate; three quarters of all stands were interpreted correctly from the present photographs. The estimate of pure stands was noticeable better than those for mixed stands. In general, the agreement between treatment class stratification in the field and from aerial photographs was poor, as only one-third of all cases the class was same. The dominant height was estimated with relative lack of bias for small stands, but systematic underestimation of nearly 2 m existed for high stands.  

The emphasis in this investigation was laid on determination of the volume of growing stock. Stand volumes in the small and medium volume classes were overestimated, against clear under-estimate for high volume stands. The standard error of difference, including bias, was ±43 both in m3 and as a percentage. 

The variance data available provide a basis for the conclusion that under some conditions photo stratification within the forest land seems to improve the efficiency of volume estimation, whereas in some other cases the stratification is hardly an economic proposition. Alternative computations made from the data of an experimental survey indicated the likelihood that no gain was deprived from the use of aerial photographs for volume class estimation. 

The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.

Keywords
forest inventory; accuracy; forest mensuration; methods; aerial photograps; volume of growing stock

Published in 1968

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Available at https://doi.org/10.14214/aff.7177 | Download PDF