ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences
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Articles | Volume II-5/W2
https://doi.org/10.5194/isprsannals-II-5-W2-49-2013
https://doi.org/10.5194/isprsannals-II-5-W2-49-2013
16 Oct 2013
 | 16 Oct 2013

Range image segmentation for tree detection in forest scans

A. Bienert and D. Schneider

Keywords: Terrestrial Laser Scanning, Range Image, Segmentation, Tree Detection, Forest

Abstract. To make a tree-wise analysis inside a forest stand, the trees have to be identified. An interactive segmentation is often labourintensive and time-consuming. Therefore, an automatic detection process will aspired using a range image. This paper presents a method for the segmentation of range images extracted from terrestrial laser scanner point clouds of forest stands. After range image generation the segmentation is carried out with a connectivity analysis using the differences of the range values as homogeneity criterion. Subsequently, the tree detection is performed interactively by analysing one horizontal image line. When passing objects with a specific width, the object indicates a potential tree. By using the edge points of a segmented pixel group the tree position and diameter is calculated. Results from one test site are presented to show the performance of the method.