U.S. Department of Agriculture: Forest Service -- National Agroforestry Center
Date of this Version
2009
Citation
Remote Sens. 2009, 1, 776-794; doi:10.3390/rs1040776
Abstract
Recent years have seen the progression of light detection and ranging (lidar) from the realm of research to operational use in natural resource management. Numerous government agencies, private industries, and public/private stakeholder consortiums are planning or have recently acquired large-scale acquisitions, and a national U.S. lidar acquisition is likely before 2020. Before it is feasible for land managers to integrate lidar into decision making, resource assessment, or monitoring across the gambit of natural resource applications, consistent standards in project planning, data processing, and user-driven products are required. This paper introduces principal lidar acquisition parameters, and makes recommendations for project planning, processing, and product standards to better serve natural resource managers across multiple disciplines.