Leaf area index (LAI) estimation based on vehicle-based laser scanning

This paper proposes a novel approach for leaf area index (LAI) estimation based on vehicle-based laser scanning (VLS), which occurs as a state-of-the-art mapping technique. The method is advanced from the traditional terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), which has been primarily validated capable of predicting LAI. The associated schematic is to explore the correlations between VLS and TLS collections of the same trees. If positive, LAI can be retrieved with the related TLS data as reference. In this study, the consistency between the multi-echoes per pulse received by VLS and the single-echo per pulse recorded by TLS is further tackled, and LAI, thus, can be derived more accurately. The experiments based on the real-measured VLS and TLS data have validated the applicability of VLS for estimating LAI.