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TV081: Forest metrics derived from the 2008 Lidar point clouds, includes canopy closure, percentile height, and stem mapping for the Andrews Experimental Forest.

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Status: notPlanned
Period: 2008-08-10 to 2008-08-11
Version: 4
Published: 2014-09-12
EDI Package ID: knb-lter-and.5316.4
Source XML: TV081_4.xml

Notice

"As Is" Basis: All content, including maps and forecasts, is provided without warranties. Users are advised to independently verify critical information.

Citation

2014. Forest metrics derived from the 2008 Lidar point clouds, includes canopy closure, percentile height, and stem mapping for the Andrews Experimental Forest. Long-Term Ecological Research Andrews Forest LTER Site. [Database]. Available: https://andrewsforest-stage.forestry.oregonstate.edu/data/fsdb-data-catalog/TV081 Accessed 2026-05-10.

Abstract

There are three types of forest metrics within this database. They all are derived from the raw Lidar point clouds using the FUSION software. The three types are canopy closure, height metric, and stem mapping. The canopy closure and height metric grids cover a variety of canopy heights and grid cell sizes. 1. Canopy closure: This metric measures the canopy closure of a given horizontal cell above a given vertical threshold (height break). Canopy closure can inform many landscape models and provide insight on how much light will reach the forest floor. 2. Height Metric: This metric measures the height at which a given percent of the first return points are below. This analysis is done in a given grid cell size. Height metrics give various statistics of the elevation above ground for a given set of Lidar points. In forested landscapes, first return height metrics describe the forest canopy. 3.This stem map locates the approximate center of all trees in the HJ Andrews Research Forest greater than 10 meters. In addition to the stem location, a canopy radius is also provided. FUSION and TreeVaWA software programs were used to develop this data. Watershed Sciences, Inc. (WS) collected Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data from HJ Andrews and the Willamette National Forest (NF) on August 10th and 11th 2008. Total area for this AOI is 17,705 acres. The total area of delivered LiDAR including 100 m buffer is 19,493 acres.

Coverage

Temporal coverage: 2008-08-10 to 2008-08-11

Geographic coverage: Andrews Experimental Forest within the Willamette National Forest, western Cascades, Oregon, USA.

Spatial coverage:

Bounds: W -122.27747300, E -122.09949100, N 44.28304200, S 44.19676000

Purpose
  • can inform many landscape models and provide insight on how much light will reach the forest floor, describe the forest canopy, and provide information on individual trees (heights, locations, canopy size).
Project

Title: Long-Term Ecological Research

Personnel
  • Sherri L. Johnson - Principal Investigator
    US Forest Service ;Pacific NW Research Station ;3200 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA
    Phone: 541-758-7771
    Email: sherri.johnson2@usda.gov, sherri.johnson@oregonstate.edu
  • Julia A. Jones - Principal Investigator
    Oregon State University;Department of Geosciences; Wilkinson Hall 104, Corvallis, OR, 97331-5506, USA
    Phone: (541) 737-1224
    Email: Julia.Jones@oregonstate.edu, geojulia@comcast.net
    ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9429-8925
  • Matthew G Betts - Principal Investigator
    Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society; 201E Richardson Hall; College of Forestry; Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331
    Phone: (541) 737-3841
    Email: matt.betts@oregonstate.edu
  • Michael P. Nelson - Principal Investigator
    Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society; 201K Richarson Hall; College of Forestry; Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331
    Phone: 541-737-9221
    Email: mpnelson@oregonstate.edu
    ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6917-4752
  • David Bell - Principal Investigator
    Email: david.bell@usda.gov, david.bell@oregonstate.edu
Abstract
  • The H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest is a living laboratory that provides unparalleled opportunities for the study of forest and stream ecosystems in the central Cascade Range of Oregon. Since 1980, as a part of the National Science Foundation Long Term Ecological Research (NSF-LTER) program, the Andrews Experimental Forest has become a leader in the analysis of forest and stream ecosystem dynamics.
  • Long-term field experiments and measurement programs have focused on climate dynamics, streamflow, water quality, and vegetation succession. Currently researchers are working to develop concepts and tools needed to predict effects of natural disturbance, land use, and climate change on ecosystem structure, function, and species composition.
  • The Andrews Experimental Forest is administered cooperatively by the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, Oregon State University and the Willamette National Forest. Funding for the research program comes from the National Science Foundation (NSF), US Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, Oregon State University, and other sources.
Funding

Data were provided by the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest research program, funded by the National Science Foundation's Long-Term Ecological Research Program (DEB 2025755), US Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, and Oregon State University. National Science Foundation: DEB1440409

Study Area Description
  • Long-Term Ecological Research
    The Andrews Forest is situated in the western Cascade Range of Oregon, and covers the entire 15,800-acre (6400-ha) drainage basin of Lookout Creek. Elevation ranges from 1350 to 5340 feet (410 to 1630 m). Broadly representative of the rugged mountainous landscape of the Pacific Northwest, the Andrews Forest contains excellent examples of the region's conifer forests and associated wildlife and stream ecosystems. These forests are among the tallest and most productive in the world, with tree heights of often greater than 250 ft (75 m). Streams are steep, cold and clean, providing habitat for numerous aquatic organisms.
Associated Party
  • Thomas A. Spies
    Role: Principal Investigator
    USDA Forest Service;Pacific NW Research Station;3200 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA
    Phone: (541) 750-7354
    Email: tom.spies@oregonstate.edu, tspies@fs.fed.us
  • Keith A. Olsen
    Role: Method Contact
Contact
  • Information Manager
    Andrews Forest LTER Program, US Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, 3200 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis, OR, 97331
    Email: hjaweb@fsl.orst.edu
  • Keith A. Olsen
Publisher
  • Andrews Forest LTER Site
    Role: Publisher
    Forest Ecosystems and Society Department in Forestry, Oregon State University, 201K Richardson Hall, Corvallis, OR, 97331-5752
    Phone: (541) 737-8480
    Email: lterweb@fsl.orst.edu
Study Description

There are three types of forest metrics within this database. They all are derived from the raw Lidar point clouds using the FUSION software. The three types are canopy closure, height metric, and stem mapping. The canopy closure and height metric grids cover a variety of canopy heights and grid cell sizes. 1. Canopy closure: This metric measures the canopy closure of a given horizontal cell above a given vertical threshold (height break). Canopy closure can inform many landscape models and provide insight on how much light will reach the forest floor. 2. Height Metric: This metric measures the height at which a given percent of the first return points are below. This analysis is done in a given grid cell size. Height metrics give various statistics of the elevation above ground for a given set of Lidar points. In forested landscapes, first return height metrics describe the forest canopy. 3.This stem map locates the approximate center of all trees in the HJ Andrews Research Forest greater than 10 meters. In addition to the stem location, a canopy radius is also provided. FUSION and TreeVaWA software programs were used to develop this data. Watershed Sciences, Inc. (WS) collected Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data from HJ Andrews and the Willamette National Forest (NF) on August 10th and 11th 2008. Total area for this AOI is 17,705 acres. The total area of delivered LiDAR including 100 m buffer is 19,493 acres. can inform many landscape models and provide insight on how much light will reach the forest floor, describe the forest canopy, and provide information on individual trees (heights, locations, canopy size). Processing Procedures - TV081

Purpose: can inform many landscape models and provide insight on how much light will reach the forest floor, describe the forest canopy, and provide information on individual trees (heights, locations, canopy size).

Methods

Method Steps

Processing Procedures - TV081
  • Canopy closure was computed with the FUSION software. See below for an example of the COVER command in FUSION. Projection info was copied from the Lidar dataset. Also, a bare earth DTM was created from the Watershed Sciences 1m Bare Earth raster. This is used to normalize the Lidar points to height above ground so the height thresholds can be assessed.
Processing Procedures - TV081 (1)
  • Percentile height was computed with the FUSION software. See below for an example of the GRIDMETRICS command in FUSION. Projection info was copied from the Lidar dataset. Also, a bare earth DTM was created from the Watershed Sciences 1m Bare Earth raster. This is used to normalize the Lidar points to height above ground so the height thresholds can be assessed. The GRIDMETRICS command was run with a python script (runFusion_height3.py). The Lidar data were tiled into pieces small enough to process and then clipped back to remove erronious edges. gridmetrics /minht:2 /gridxy:" + str(llx_current) + "," + str(lly_current) + "," + str(llx_current + windowSize) + "," + str(lly_current + windowSize) + " " + lidarRoot + beDTMfile + " 2 " + str(cellSize) + " " + lidarRoot + runName + " " + lidarRoot + tileNameFile)
Processing Procedures - TV081 (2)
  • Using the 0.5m canopy model, some window thresholds between 3 and 23 meters, and a tree height to crown radii relationship the TreeVaW software was used to generate the stem maps. The height to crown radii relationship for 10-60m trees was created from equations in the literature. The 60m and taller trees were not found in the literature so I ran the TreeVaW software to create tree stem greater than 60m. I then used these points to create a relationship which I fed back info TreeVaW for trees greater than 60m. Eq 2 for 10-60m trees: y = 0.0000310796916048496 * x3 -0.00267405906767456 * x2 + 0.195530509685481 * x + 1.61296048520958 Eq 3 for 60m and greater trees: y = -0.0001257013x3 + 0.0320289985x2 - 2.4045426313x + 65.1344974471

Sampling

Software

No software entries listed in this EML file.

Keywords
  • LTER controlled vocabulary: communities (theme), stand structure (theme), ecology (theme), community composition (theme), diversity (theme), plant species composition (theme), trophic structure (theme), LiDAR (theme), modeling (theme), landscape change (theme), canopies (theme), forests (theme), trees (theme), vegetation (theme), stems (theme)
  • Andrews Experimental Forest site thesaurus: landscape dynamics (theme)
Taxonomic Hierarchy

No taxonomic hierarchy listed in this EML file.

Data Entities

No data tables listed in this EML file.

Metadata

No data tables listed in this EML file.

Units

No units listed in this EML file.

Related Datasets

No related dataset codes found in the EML text fields.

Related Publications

No publication citations found in this EML file.

Related Files

No related files listed in this EML file.

Intellectual Rights

Data Use Agreement:

The re-use of scientific data has the potential to greatly increase communication, collaboration and synthesis within and among disciplines, and thus is fostered, supported and encouraged. This Data Set is released under the Creative Commons license CC BY "Attribution" (see: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Creative Commons license CC BY - Attribution is a license that allows others to distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work (even commercially), as long as you are credited for the original creation. This license accommodates maximum dissemination and use of licensed materials.

It is considered professional conduct and an ethical obligation to acknowledge the work of other scientists. The Data User is asked to provide attribution of the original work if this data package is shared in whole or by individual parts or used in the derivation of other products. A recommended citation is provided for each Data Set in the Andrews LTER data catalog (see: http://andlter.forestry.oregonstate.edu/data/catalog/datacatalog.aspx). A generic citation is also provided for this Data Set on the website https://portal.edirepository.org in the summary metadata page. Data Users are thus strongly encouraged to consider consultation, collaboration and/or co-authorship with the Data Set Creator.

While substantial efforts are made to ensure the accuracy of data and associated documentation, complete accuracy of data sets cannot be guaranteed and all data are made available "as is." The Data User should be aware, however, that data are updated periodically and it is the responsibility of the Data User to check for new versions of the data. The data authors and the repository where these data were obtained shall not be liable for damages resulting from any use or misinterpretation of the data.

General acknowledgement: Data were provided by the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest research program, funded by the National Science Foundation's Long-Term Ecological Research Program (DEB 2025755), US Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, and Oregon State University.

Licensed

License: N/A

Maintenance

Maintenance update frequency: notPlanned

Description

  • An update history is logged and maintained with each new version of every dataset.

Change History

  • Version1 (2014-02-05)
    Study code and preliminary metadata established
  • Version3 (2014-02-21)
    listing on-line
  • Version4 (2014-09-12)
    change personnel to better match PASTA.