Benchmarking airborne laser scanning tree segmentation algorithms in broadleaf forests shows high accuracy only for canopy trees
- Author
- Yujie Cao, James G.C. Ball, David A. Coomes, Leon Steinmeier, Nikolai Knapp, Phil Wilkes, Mathias Disney, Kim Calders (UGent) , Andrew Burt, Yi Lin and Toby D. Jackson
- Organization
- Project
- Abstract
- Individual tree segmentation from airborne laser scanning data is a longstanding and important challenge in forest remote sensing. Tree segmentation algorithms are widely available, but robust intercomparison studies are rare due to the difficulty of obtaining reliable reference data. Here we provide a benchmark data set for temperate and tropical broadleaf forests generated from labelled terrestrial laser scanning data. We compared the performance of four widely used tree segmentation algorithms against this benchmark data set. All algorithms performed reasonably well on the canopy trees. The point cloud-based algorithm AMS3D (Adaptive Mean Shift 3D) had the highest overall accuracy, closely followed by the 2D raster based region growing algorithm Dalponte2016 +. However, all algorithms failed to accurately segment the understory trees. This result was consistent across both forest types. This study emphasises the need to assess tree segmentation algorithms directly using benchmark data, rather than comparing with forest indices such as biomass or the number and size distribution of trees. We provide the first openly available benchmark data set for tropical forests and we hope future studies will extend this work to other regions.
- Keywords
- Airborne Laser Scanning, Broadleaf Fores, Individual Tree Segmentation, Benchmark Data, Algorithm Inter-comparison, cavelab
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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-01HAPNQ9V6Q6G4PKNW4DT69H3R
- MLA
- Cao, Yujie, et al. “Benchmarking Airborne Laser Scanning Tree Segmentation Algorithms in Broadleaf Forests Shows High Accuracy Only for Canopy Trees.” INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATION AND GEOINFORMATION, vol. 123, 2023, doi:10.1016/j.jag.2023.103490.
- APA
- Cao, Y., Ball, J. G. C., Coomes, D. A., Steinmeier, L., Knapp, N., Wilkes, P., … Jackson, T. D. (2023). Benchmarking airborne laser scanning tree segmentation algorithms in broadleaf forests shows high accuracy only for canopy trees. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATION AND GEOINFORMATION, 123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2023.103490
- Chicago author-date
- Cao, Yujie, James G.C. Ball, David A. Coomes, Leon Steinmeier, Nikolai Knapp, Phil Wilkes, Mathias Disney, et al. 2023. “Benchmarking Airborne Laser Scanning Tree Segmentation Algorithms in Broadleaf Forests Shows High Accuracy Only for Canopy Trees.” INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATION AND GEOINFORMATION 123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2023.103490.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Cao, Yujie, James G.C. Ball, David A. Coomes, Leon Steinmeier, Nikolai Knapp, Phil Wilkes, Mathias Disney, Kim Calders, Andrew Burt, Yi Lin, and Toby D. Jackson. 2023. “Benchmarking Airborne Laser Scanning Tree Segmentation Algorithms in Broadleaf Forests Shows High Accuracy Only for Canopy Trees.” INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATION AND GEOINFORMATION 123. doi:10.1016/j.jag.2023.103490.
- Vancouver
- 1.Cao Y, Ball JGC, Coomes DA, Steinmeier L, Knapp N, Wilkes P, et al. Benchmarking airborne laser scanning tree segmentation algorithms in broadleaf forests shows high accuracy only for canopy trees. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATION AND GEOINFORMATION. 2023;123.
- IEEE
- [1]Y. Cao et al., “Benchmarking airborne laser scanning tree segmentation algorithms in broadleaf forests shows high accuracy only for canopy trees,” INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATION AND GEOINFORMATION, vol. 123, 2023.
@article{01HAPNQ9V6Q6G4PKNW4DT69H3R,
abstract = {{Individual tree segmentation from airborne laser scanning data is a longstanding and important challenge in forest remote sensing. Tree segmentation algorithms are widely available, but robust intercomparison studies are rare due to the difficulty of obtaining reliable reference data. Here we provide a benchmark data set for temperate and tropical broadleaf forests generated from labelled terrestrial laser scanning data. We compared the performance of four widely used tree segmentation algorithms against this benchmark data set. All algorithms performed reasonably well on the canopy trees. The point cloud-based algorithm AMS3D (Adaptive Mean Shift 3D) had the highest overall accuracy, closely followed by the 2D raster based region growing algorithm Dalponte2016 +. However, all algorithms failed to accurately segment the understory trees. This result was consistent across both forest types. This study emphasises the need to assess tree segmentation algorithms directly using benchmark data, rather than comparing with forest indices such as biomass or the number and size distribution of trees. We provide the first openly available benchmark data set for tropical forests and we hope future studies will extend this work to other regions.}},
articleno = {{103490}},
author = {{Cao, Yujie and Ball, James G.C. and Coomes, David A. and Steinmeier, Leon and Knapp, Nikolai and Wilkes, Phil and Disney, Mathias and Calders, Kim and Burt, Andrew and Lin, Yi and Jackson, Toby D.}},
issn = {{1569-8432}},
journal = {{INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATION AND GEOINFORMATION}},
keywords = {{Airborne Laser Scanning,Broadleaf Fores,Individual Tree Segmentation,Benchmark Data,Algorithm Inter-comparison,cavelab}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{14}},
title = {{Benchmarking airborne laser scanning tree segmentation algorithms in broadleaf forests shows high accuracy only for canopy trees}},
url = {{http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2023.103490}},
volume = {{123}},
year = {{2023}},
}
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