Airborne lidar in rainforest

A range of data is being collected to enable the short-term dynamics within the tropical rainforest canopy to be better understood and quantified. Airborne Lidar was used to obtain high spatial resolution data of the 3D canopy structure. The data has been utilized to build a canopy height model and provides valuable information about the foliage density. Airborne Lidar allows data of the forest structure to be captured at a level of detail that is not possible using other sensing systems which are often applied in the tropics, such as satellite remote sensing or radar. This enables 3D maps of the forest to be created, and further relevant metrics such as forest carbon to be calculated or estimated. This technology can be used within a range of different forestry areas, such as timber, conservation, management and fire risk management.