RT Journal Article
T1 Using high resolution UAV imagery to estimate tree variables in Pinus pinea plantation in Portugal
A1 Guerra Hernández, Juan
A1 González Ferreiro, Eduardo
A1 Sarmento, Alexandre
A1 Silva, João
A1 Nunes, Alexandra
A1 Correia, Alexandra C.
A1 Fontes, Luis
A1 Tomé, Margarida
A1 Díaz Varela, Ramón Alberto
K1 Unmanned aerial systems
K1 Forest inventory
K1 Tree crown variables
K1 3D image modelling
K1 Canopy height model
K1 Object‑based image analysis
K1 Structure-from-Motion
AB Aim of study: The study aims to analyse the potential use of lowcost unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery for the estimation of Pinus pinea L. variables at the individual tree level (position, tree height and crown diameter).Area of study: This study was conducted under the PINEA project focused on 16 ha of umbrella pine afforestation (Portugal) subjected to different treatments.Material and methods: The workflow involved: a) image acquisition with consumer-grade cameras on board an UAV; b) orthomosaic and digital surface model (DSM) generation using structure-from-motion (SfM) image reconstruction; and c) automatic individual tree segmentation by using a mixed pixel‑and region‑based algorithm.Main results: The results of individual tree segmentation (position, height and crown diameter) were validated using field measurements from 3 inventory plots in the study area. All the trees of the plots were correctly detected. The RMSE values for the predicted heights and crown widths were 0.45 m and 0.63 m, respectively.Research highlights: The results demonstrate that tree variables can be automatically extracted from high resolution imagery. We highlight the use of UAV as a fast, reliable and cost-effective technique for small scale applications.
PB Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA)
YR 2016
FD 2016
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/15882
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/15882
LA eng
NO Guerra-Hernández, J., González-Ferreiro, E., Sarmento, A., Silva, J., Nunes, A., Correia, A.C., Fontes, L., Tomé, M., Díaz-Varela, R. (2016). Using high resolution UAV imagery to estimate tree variables in Pinus pinea plantation in Portugal. Forest Systems, Volume 25, Issue 2, eSC09
NO (I) Pinea project (PIRSES-GA-2010-269257) (II) Research project EM2014-003 (Plan Galego de Investigación, Innovación e Crecemento 2011-2015; Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria. Xunta de Galicia) (III) Portuguese Science Foundation (SFRH/BD/52408/2013) for funding the research activities of Juan Guerra. (IV) Galician Government and European Social Fund (Official Journal of Galicia – DOG nº 52, 17/03/2014 p. 11343, exp: POS-A/2013/049) for funding the postdoc stays of Eduardo González-Ferreiro
DS Minerva
RD 28 abr 2026