Evaluating Measurement and Detection of Standing Dead Trees (Snags) at Different Scales
Category: Research Poster
Author(s): Corin Hamrick
Presenter(s): Corin Hamrick
Mentors(s): Andrew Whelan, Nicholas Kotlinski
Standing Dead Trees (snags) are imperative for biodiversity and wildlife, as they create habitats, food sources, and shelter, but they also pose hazards to humans: they burn quickly, stoke wildfires, they fall, can block trails, and injure hikers. They can be difficult to map over large areas, posing a roadblock to forest management. We are using a tool to develop a method to detect snags at three different scales of interest (drone-derived LiDAR, state-wide aerial LiDAR, and nationwide FIA TreeMap Data), helping inform plans for fire and wildlife management. We gathered our data by drone over the Manitou Experimental Forest, yielding a point cloud from which we developed code to identify snags within. This tool labels points on the trees as snags, and by filtering for the trees that contain a certain number of snag points, we can map out the snags within the point cloud. RESULTS SECTION. The tool we developed can accurately identify snags from a point cloud, allowing the Forest Service to easily map and plot them. Further tinkering could be required on the code, depending on the scale of LiDAR data, but this tool will allow more accurate forest management measures for the Forest Service.