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Using high-resolution digital elevation model for computer-aided forest road design

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The current forest road design systems are not capable of making computer-aided design judgments such as automated generation of alternative grade lines, best fitting vertical alignment for minimizing the total road costs, or consider environmental impact. A three dimensional (3D) forest road design model was developed as a decision support tool that provides a designer with a quick evaluation of alternative road paths. In the model, initial trial routes are generated by "tracing" the possible paths using computer cursor on a 3D image of the terrain. The model integrates two optimization techniques (linear programming and a heuristic approach) for selection of a vertical alignment with the lowest total costs, while conforming to environmental requirements. Improved 3D OpenGL accelerator is used to display and render 3D images of the terrain in real-time, based on high-resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data. LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), one of the fastest growing systems in the field, can provide a high-resolution and accurate DEM of forested areas. It is expected to provide even better accuracy in the near future. The development of the road design model incorporating modern graphics capability, advanced remote sensing technologies, improved software languages, modern optimization techniques, and environmental considerations will improve the design process for forest roads. AUSZUG: Gegenwärtige Waldweg-Konstruktionssysteme eignen sich nicht zur computergestützten Designkontrolle, wie z.B. automatisiertes Erzeugung alternativer Gradlinien, optimaler vertikaler Ausrichtung zur Minderung der Gesamtkosten von Straßen oder Berücksichtigung von Umwelteinflüssen. Ein dreidimensionales (3D) Waldweg-Designmodell wurde entwickelt als ein Werkzeug, das den Entwickler durch schnelle Auswertung alternativer Straßenverläufe bei seinen Planungsentscheidungen unterstützt. Im Modell werden Ausgangsprobewege erzeugt, indem man mögliche Wege mit dem Computer-Cursor auf einem 3D-Bild des Geländes "verfolgt". Das Modell integriert zwei Optimierungstechniken (lineare Programmierung und heuristische Annäherung) zur Auswahl einer vertikalen Ausrichtung mit den niedrigsten Gesamtkosten in Übereinstimmung mit den Umgebungsbedingungen. Ein verbesserter 3D-OpenGL-Beschleuniger wird benutzt, um die 3D-Bilder des Geländes in Realzeit anzuzeigen und zu übertragen auf Basis hochauflösender Daten des Digital-Aufzug-Modells (DEM). LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), eines der sich am schnellsten entwickelnden Systeme auf diesem Gebiet, kann ein hochauflösendes und genaues DEM der bewaldeten Bereiche zur Verfügung stellen. Es wird erwartet, noch größere Genauigkeit in naher Zukunft zu erreichen. Die Entwicklung des Straßendesignsystems, das Leistungsfähigkeit moderner Graphikprogramme mit fortgeschrittenen Fernabfragetechnologien, verbesserten Software-Sprachen, modernen Optimierungstechniken und Berücksichtigung von Umweltbedingungen miteinander verbindet, wird eine Verbesserung des Designprozesses für Waldwege darstellen.
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USING HIGH-RESOLUTION DIGITAL ELEVATION MODEL
FOR COMPUTER-AIDED FOREST ROAD DESIGN
A. E. Akay
a,
*, I. R. Karas
b
, J. Sessions
c
, A. Yuksel
a
, N. Bozali
a
, R. Gundogan
d
a
Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University (KSU), Faculty of Forestry, Department of Forest Engineering, 46060
Kahramanmaras, Turkey - (akay, ayuksel, nbozali)@ksu.edu.tr
b
Gebze Institute of Technology (GIT) Department of Geodetic and Photogrammetric Engineering, 41400 Gebze,
Kocaeli, Turkey - ragib@penta.gyte.edu.tr
c
Oregon State University, College of Forestry, Department of Forest Engineering, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA -
john.sessions@cof.orst.edu
d
Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University (KSU), Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Soil Science, 46060
Kahramanmaras, Turkey - rgundogan@ksu.edu.tr
KEYWORDS: High resolution, DEM, Real-time, LIDAR, Three-dimensional, Forestry, Design, Cost
ABSTRACT:
The current forest road design systems are not capable of making computer-aided design judgments such as automated generation of
alternative grade lines, best fitting vertical alignment for minimizing the total road costs, or consider environmental impact. A three
dimensional (3D) forest road design model was developed as a decision support tool that provides a designer with a quick evaluation
of alternative road paths. In the model, initial trial routes are generated by “tracing” the possible paths using computer cursor on a
3D image of the terrain. The model integrates two optimization techniques (linear programming and a heuristic approach) for
selection of a vertical alignment with the lowest total costs, while conforming to environmental requirements. Improved 3D OpenGL
accelerator is used to display and render 3D images of the terrain in real-time, based on high-resolution Digital Elevation Model
(DEM) data. LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), one of the fastest growing systems in the field, can provide a high-resolution
and accurate DEM of forested areas. It is expected to provide even better accuracy in the near future. The development of the road
design model incorporating modern graphics capability, advanced remote sensing technologies, improved software languages,
modern optimization techniques, and environmental considerations will improve the design process for forest roads.
AUSZUG:
Gegenwärtige Waldweg-Konstruktionssysteme eignen sich nicht zur computergestützten Designkontrolle, wie z.B. automatisiertes
Erzeugung alternativer Gradlinien, optimaler vertikaler Ausrichtung zur Minderung der Gesamtkosten von Straßen oder
Berücksichtigung von Umwelteinflüssen. Ein dreidimensionales (3D) Waldweg-Designmodell wurde entwickelt als ein Werkzeug,
das den Entwickler durch schnelle Auswertung alternativer Straßenverläufe bei seinen Planungsentscheidungen unterstützt. Im
Modell werden Ausgangsprobewege erzeugt, indem man mögliche Wege mit dem Computer-Cursor auf einem 3D-Bild des
Geländes "verfolgt". Das Modell integriert zwei Optimierungstechniken (lineare Programmierung und heuristische Annäherung) zur
Auswahl einer vertikalen Ausrichtung mit den niedrigsten Gesamtkosten in Übereinstimmung mit den Umgebungsbedingungen. Ein
verbesserter 3D-OpenGL-Beschleuniger wird benutzt, um die 3D-Bilder des Geländes in Realzeit anzuzeigen und zu übertragen auf
Basis hochauflösender Daten des Digital-Aufzug-Modells (DEM). LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), eines der sich am
schnellsten entwickelnden Systeme auf diesem Gebiet, kann ein hochauflösendes und genaues DEM der bewaldeten Bereiche zur
Verfügung stellen. Es wird erwartet, noch größere Genauigkeit in naher Zukunft zu erreichen. Die Entwicklung des
Straßendesignsystems, das Leistungsfähigkeit moderner Graphikprogramme mit fortgeschrittenen Fernabfragetechnologien,
verbesserten Software-Sprachen, modernen Optimierungstechniken und Berücksichtigung von Umweltbedingungen miteinander
verbindet, wird eine Verbesserung des Designprozesses für Waldwege darstellen.
* Corresponding author.
1. INTRODUCTION
Forest road design is a complicated problem relating economic
and environmental considerations. Designers should evaluate
sufficient number of alternative routes to locate a final route
with the lowest total cost, while conforming to design
specifications and environmental requirements. The current
forest road design systems are not developed to provide a
designer with large number of alternative paths. They are
generally used to make the mathematical calculations required
in manual road design. Besides, they are not capable of
minimizing total cost of construction, maintenance, and
transportation costs, or aiming for least environmental impacts.
With the growing availability of high-resolution DEM data and
advanced features of high performance microcomputers,
designing alternative road paths in the office has become a more
realistic and practical exercise. It is difficult to generate DEM of
a forested area that represents the actual ground condition with
high accuracy. Airborne laser scanner technology generates a
high-resolution and accurate DEM of forested areas, using a
laser light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system (Reutebuch et
al., 2003). LIDAR has been used over twenty years in variety of
applications. Most recently, it has been used to provide DEMs
for large scale and high-accuracy mapping (Kraus and Pfeifer,
1998; Means et al., 2000).
LIDAR employs a powerful laser sensor positioned under an
aircraft. The laser sensor consists of a transmitter and receiver.
The distance from the sensor to points on the terrain below is
measured based on the location and altitude of the aircraft.
These two parameters are calculated using Global Positioning
System (GPS) and Inertial Navigation System (INS)
technologies. When a pulse hits the ground, the reflected light is
collected by a receiver. The first return may locate the top of a
tree, while the last return ideally locates the ground beneath the
tree canopy.
The spatial resolution of the DEM highly depends on the
ground cover. In a study conducted by Pereira and Janssen
(1999), it was found that the vertical accuracy of LIDAR in
open areas with hard surface is approximately 15 cm. However,
in areas with very tall and dense canopy, the photogrammetric
heights may have larger errors. Reutebuch et al. (2003)
indicated that over mature forested areas LIDAR provides
vertical accuracy of 25 cm, which is enough to generate an
accurate DEM. As one of the fastest growing remote sensing
technology, LIDAR is expected to provide even better accuracy
in the near future.
In order to assist designers in locating forest roads, various
computer-aided methods using DEMs have been introduced.
Reutebuch (1988) developed a computer program, ROUTES, to
estimate road gradient, length, and stationing along the possible
road alternatives using a DEM. In the program, the designer
could digitize the contours and use the digitizer puck to locate
the road on a large-scale contour map. Although the graphical
user interface (GUI) of ROUTES was primitive, the program
worked well and provided the designers with the ability of
quickly looking at alternative road locations at varying scales.
A computer program, PEGGER, was developed to automate
initial forest road design through the use of a Geographic
Information System (Rogers and Schiess, 2001). The
performance of the program relied on DEMs, which must
accurately represent the actual ground conditions. PEGGER
was a tool for quickly analyzing many road alternatives based
on a specified road gradient given by a user. It was not capable
of considering environmental and economic constraints such as
soil types, hydrology, property lines and slope classes.
However, forest road design using PEGGER with accurate
DEM data was expected to be more feasible and less time
consuming than the traditional road design methods.
Coulter et al. (2001) developed a method of forest road design
using high-resolution DEM data (1mx1m) from LIDAR. In the
method, road elevations were assigned to each pixel within the
road template to calculate earthwork from the difference
between road and surface elevations. This method was only
applicable to straight road segments and could not locate
horizontal or vertical curves. It also could not calculate total
road cost or consider environmental requirements. However, it
was probably the first method showing that using high-
resolution DEMs from LIDAR in forest road design may
significantly decrease design time and effort spent both in the
field and in the office.
A decision support system can be defined as an interactive
system that assists a user to conduct decision making tasks by
easily accessing decision models and data (Watson and Hill,
1983). Advances in the processing speed and real-time
rendering and viewing of three-dimensional (3D) graphics on
microcomputers permit locating a route interactively on a 3D
display of a ground surface generated by a high-resolution DEM
data. A 3-D forest road alignment optimization model,
TRACER, aided by an interactive computer system, was
developed as a decision support system. The model provides a
designer with a quick evaluation of alternative road paths to
locate the best path with minimum total road cost, while
considering design specifications and environmental
requirements. TRACER relies on a high-resolution DEM to
provide terrain data for supporting the analysis of road design
features such as ground slope, topographic aspect, and other
landform characteristics. In the model, two optimization
techniques are integrated: linear programming to minimize
earthwork allocation cost and Simulated Annealing to optimize
vertical alignment. In this paper, the features of the model were
described and an application was presented.
2. MATERIAL AND METHODS
2.1 Input Data
Input data include DEM and attribute data, road design
specifications, and environmental requirements. The DEM data
is a set of scattered metric data points (X and Y coordinates and
Z as elevation). In designing forest roads, the resolution of the
DEM should be in the range of 1.0 m to 3.0 m to represent the
actual terrain conditions (Akay, 2003). In this study, the DEM
data set of 2.0 m resolution is developed using LIDAR data set
collected from western Washington by Aerotec (1999). Bilinear
interpolarion method is used to extract ground elevations from
the DEM (Lemkow, 1977). First, the grid cell that contains the
horizontal position of the current point is determined based on
its coordinates, then elevation of this point is estimated by
interpolating between the elevations of four corners on this grid
cell. The attribute data, soil types and stream data, is
represented in the same format as the metric data points. It is
easy to incorporate other attribute data into the model if desired.
The road design specifications are geometric specifications,
local site specifications, and economic data. The geometric
specifications include road gradient, horizontal curves radius,
vertical curve length, distance between curves, and safe
stopping distance for driver safety. Road template
specifications, turnout dimensions, distance between road
sections, design speed, vehicle specifications, and traffic
volume are also included in the geometric specifications. Local
site specifications consist of swell and shrinkage factors of soils,
vegetation cover, geological data, stand data, and distance to
local resources of road construction materials. Economic data
include the unit costs for road construction, maintenance, and
transport activities. The environmental requirements considered
in this study are minimum allowable road grade for proper
drainage, minimum distance from the riparian zones and
minimum stream-crossing angle for stream protection, and
maximum height of cuts and fills for soil protection.
2.2 Displaying Terrain Image
The model uses graphics routines from NewCyber3D (2002) to
display high-resolution image of the terrain in 3D, based on
DEM data (Figure 1). The real-time 3D stereo display and
stereo image composition is also supported by NewCyber3D.
Above-below stereo display format is used to generate stereo
scenes, which requires liquid-crystal glasses and an infrared
emitter. The graphic programming runs in full-screen mode to
be compatible with this format. At the standard sixty fields per
Figure 1. Displaying 3D image of the terrain
second, scanning each image takes half the duration of an entire
field. Using a monitor operating at 120 fields per second, each
eye sees 60 fields of image per second, while the other 60 fields
are prepared for the other eye. Therefore, when the left eye can
see an image, the right eye cannot (Lipton and Meyer, 1984).
2.3 Interactive Features
The alternative forest road paths are selected through real time
interaction with 3D image of the terrain. The interactive features
of the model are provided by NewCyber3D (2002), using an
improved 3D OpenGL accelerator. The initial trial road path is
“traced” by locating a series of intersection points on the
terrain, using computer cursor (Figure 2). The model provides
the designer with the road geometry information and attribute
data in real time to locate control points with respect to road
design specifications and environmental requirements. If a
candidate intersection point is not acceptable by one or more
constraints, the model warns the designer by changing the
colour of the line between the previously selected intersection
point and the candidate intersection point. The designer can
zoom, pan, rotate, and scale the area in order to search
intersection points around the terrain. The model has various
interactive display features such as navigation control, bird-
view, and real-time flythrough.
Figure 2. Selecting intersection points of a trial road path
2.4 Calculating Horizontal and Initial Vertical Alignment
After locating the trial path, the model automatically calculates
the horizontal and initial vertical alignment considering road
design specifications. Road gradient is restricted by the
maximum allowable road grade considering the truck
performance. The gradient is also limited by the minimum
acceptable road grade to provide proper drainage.
In order to determine whether any type of curve is necessary,
the model calculates the difference between two consecutive
road grades (A) and horizontal deflection angle () for each
intersection point along the roadway. In forest roads, it is not
necessary to locate a vertical curve if A is less than or equal to a
specified percentage of difference between grades (A
min
.), which
provides a log truck with a safe passage of the vertical curve. If
A is greater than A
min
and is zero, the model locates a vertical
curve. If A is less than or equal to A
min
and is greater than
zero, then the model locates a horizontal curve. Otherwise, a
straight segment (tangent) is located. If there is a case where A
is greater than A
min
and is greater than zero, the model warns
the designer to choose a different control point to avoid
overlapping of vertical and horizontal curves.
To ensure a safe roadway passage along the vertical curves, the
model is constrained to generate a minimum adequate curve
length, which allows a log truck to pass a curve without
bottoming out and provides safe stopping distance for driver
safety. To provide safe continuous operation along the
horizontal curve, the model is constrained minimum radius,
acceptable road grade on horizontal curve, and minimum safe
stopping distance.
2.5 Optimizing Vertical Alignment
After locating the horizontal alignment and initial vertical
alignment, the model computes the total cost of construction,
maintenance and transportation costs. The road construction
activities considered in this study are construction staking,
clearing and grubbing, earthwork allocation, drainage and
riprap, surfacing, water supply and watering, and seeding and
mulching. Road maintenance activities include replacing the
aggregate, grading, maintaining culverts, cleaning ditches, and
removing brush. Transportation cost varies with vehicle
performance, equipment costs, gradient, and curvature. The cost
of road design activities are estimated by multiplying their
average unit costs by the quantity of design parameters (e.g. m
3
,
m
2
, m).
The model searches for the optimum vertical alignment with
minimum total cost among the large number of alternative
alignments. Simulated Annealing (SA) algorithm, using a
neighbourhood search, is employed to guide the search for the
optimal vertical alignment. The model considers technically
feasible grades within the specified elevation ranges of the
intersection points. The SA algorithm was developed based on a
metallurgical technique of annealing, in which a solid material
is heated and cooled back slowly into an optimal state to
produce the best product (Beasley et al., 1993). In this study,
SA has been selected as an optimization technique because it
generally provides a near-optimal solution and it is easy to
implement into the model.
For each alternative vertical alignment, the model calculates
earthwork volumes using average end-area method, minimizes
Intersection
Points
Stream
Channel
Harvesting Unit
Boundary
Trial Road
Path
earthwork costs using linear programming (LP), and estimates
sediment production. The economic distribution of cut and fill
quantities is determined by implementing the LP method of
Mayer and Stark (1981). This method represents the earthwork
allocation better than the other methods due to considering
possible borrow and landfill locations and various soil
characteristics along the roadway. Besides, it provides the
optimal solution to the earthwork allocation problem. A linear
programming code, using the idea of simplex algorithm
(Bowman and Fetter, 1967), is developed to incorporate this
method into the model.
The average annual volume of sediment delivered to a stream
from the road segments is estimated by using the method of the
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) based erosion delivery
model, SEDMODL (Boise Cascade Corporation, 1999). Some
of the road erosion factors considered in this model include
geologic erosion rate, road surface type, traffic density, road
width and length, average road slope, average precipitation
factor, distance between road and stream, cut slope cover
density, and cut slope height. SEDMODL reasonably predicts
the sediment delivery and defines the road segments with high
sediment production.
To develop additional road alignment alternatives, various
feasible road paths can be traced out by the designer. For each
alternative, the model follows the same procedure to find the
optimal vertical alignment with minimum total cost. Therefore,
the designer can quickly generate many alignments and select
the optimal one among the alternatives in an efficient way.
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The model was applied to a study area of 55 hectares, located in
the Capitol State Forest, Washington, the USA. The high-
resolution DEM (1mx1m) of the study area was obtained from
LIDAR (Aerotec, 1999). The attribute data including soil,
hydrology, and geology data were provided by Washington
Department of Natural Resources. Road design specifications
(Table 1) and cost data in US dollars (Table 2) were obtained
from the local sources in Pacific North West (PNW) (Kramer,
200; USDA Forest Service, 1999).
Initial road path was generated by establishing six intersection
points on the 3D image of the terrain based on DEM data from
LIDAR, while considering road design specifications and
environmental requirements (Figure 2). The unit cost of this
initial path was $36.88/m. Then, using optimization techniques,
Table 1. The road specifications used in the example
Road Specifications Values
Road width
Cut slopes
Fill slopes
Minimum curve radius
Minimum length of a vertical curve
Minimum differences between grades
Minimum road grade
Maximum road grade
Minimum distance from road to streams
Maximum cut and fill height at centerline
Design speed
4 m
1:1
1.5:1
18 m
15 m
5 %
± 2 %
16 %
10 m
2 m
55 km/hr
Table 2. Local unit cost data for road construction in PNW
Cost Items Costs
Construction staking
Clearing and grubbing
Earthwork
Excavation
Haul
Embankment
Disposal
Borrow material
Excavation
Haul
Embankment
Surfacing
Base course
Traction surface
Drainage and riprap
Culvert
Riprap
Watering
Seeding and mulching
Material
Application
$ 778/km
$3700/ha
$1.6/m
3
$1.3/m
3
-km
$0.6/m
3
$0.1/m
3
$1.8/m
3
$1.3/m
3
-km
$0.6/m
3
$3.9/m
3
$11.8/m
3
$25 meter
$10/m
3
$3/kilo liter
$0.5/kg
$550 /ha
the model located the optimal vertical alignment with the
minimum unit cost of $27.74/m (Figure 3). Therefore, total road
cost was reduced about 25% by the optimization model. Total
amount of sediment delivered to streams from the road section
was estimated as 0.84 ton/km.
The results indicated that total construction cost was the largest
cost component, followed by maintenance and transportation
costs (Table 3). Within the construction cost components,
surfacing cost was the largest, followed by earthwork allocation
cost. Total cost of maintaining culverts and ditches and clearing
bushes was the largest cost component in the maintenance costs.
During the search process, the model calculated 147 feasible
solutions out of 1200 automatically generated vertical alignment
alternatives. The solution process took about 15 minutes. The
most of the computation time was spent on calculating
earthwork allocation using LP for each vertical alignment
alternative. The time spent on earthwork allocation increases as
the number intersection points along the roadway increase.
Table 3. Total cost summary table
Cost Components Costs ($)
Total Construction Cost
Earthwork Cost
Construction Staking Cost
Clearing Grabbing Cost
Drainage Cost
Seeding Mulching Cost
Surfacing Cost
Water Supply Watering Cost
Riprap Cost
Total Maintenance Cost
Rock Replacement Cost
Grading Cost
Culvert, Ditch, Brushing Costs
Total Transportation Cost
2109.09
177.29
737.05
406.85
369.99
3221.65
859.87
483.91
319.45
84.16
1060.62
1166.16
Figure 3. Optimal vertical alignment on 3D image of the terrain
Increasing the number of intersection points may also decrease
the driver safety and comfort due to frequent changes on the
roadway grade. However, using more intersection points would
reduce the earthwork volume that leads to significant reduction
in earthwork allocation cost and total construction cost since the
road profile becomes closer to the ground profile.
Profile and plan view of the road alignment was shown in
Figure 4 and Figure 5, respectively. The model required two
horizontal curves and one crest vertical curve along the
roadway. The radiuses of the horizontal curves (e.g. 62.9m and
50.9m) and the length of the vertical curve (66.23m) were
acceptable for safe traffic passage. The length of road section
was approximately 396 m with gradient of 2 to 12% (Figure 4).
4. CONCLUSIONS
Using high performance microcomputers, improved software
languages, advanced remote sensing technologies, modern
optimization techniques, and high-resolution DEM data has
significantly improved the designer efficiency in designing
preliminary forest roads in the office. In this study, a 3D forest
315
320
325
330
335
340
345
0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225 250 275 300 325 350 375 400
Road Length (m )
Elevation (m)
9%
12%
Vertical Curve
Length: 66.23 m
-2%
2%
5%
6%
Road
Profile
Ground
Profile
Figure 4. Profile view of the forest road
road alignment optimization model was developed as a decision
support system. Using this model, a designer can quickly
evaluate alternative paths and locate the best path with
minimum total road cost. In the model, an initial horizontal
alignment is located interactively on the 3D image of the terrain
generated based on a high-resolution DEM from LIDAR.
During the last couple of decades, LIDAR has been used in
variety of applications. Most recently, it has been used to
generate high-resolution DEMs of the forested areas with
sufficient accuracy. The model also relies on available GIS
layers of attribute data to represent topographic conditions.
Available GIS data collected from the forested areas currently
cannot represent the actual topographic condition with a high
accuracy; however, quality of GIS data is improving as remote
sensing technologies advance.
In the model, the optimal vertical alignment is determined
automatically, using the combination of two optimization
techniques: LP method for determining the economic
distribution of cut and fill quantities and SA algorithm for
locating the optimal vertical alignment. LP method guaranties
the global minimum cost for earthwork allocation problem,
while SA provides good/near-optimal solution for the optimal
vertical alignment selection problem.
The results from the brief example were instructive in
presenting how a decision support system equipped with
interactive features, advanced GIS and remote sensing
technologies, and environmental considerations can improve the
design process for forest roads. It provides a road designer with
a number of alternative alignments to evaluate quickly and
systematically. The model has several limitations for further
developments such as improving the graphic interface,
optimizing the horizontal alignment, and calculating earthwork
allocations where the unit costs vary with the quantity of the cut
and fill.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to thank USDA Forest Services researcher, Steve
Reutebuch, who provided us with LIDAR data of the study
area.
500
525
550
575
600
625
650
675
700
215 240 265 290 315 340 365 390 415 440 465 490 515
X-Axis (m )
Y-Axis (m)
Curve
Radius: 62.9 m
Curve
Radius: 50.9 m
Beginning
Point
Ending
Point
Figure 5. Plan view of the forest road
Road
Sections
Optimal
Vertical
Alignment
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... Forest road design is a complicated process that requires consideration of ecological and economic factors. During this process, the designer should determine the final route among an adequate number of alternative roads, which meets technical and ecological requirements and total cost of which is the lowest (Akay et al. 2004Akay et al. , 2014). Planning and developing forest road networks are difficult and time-consuming activities. ...
... Akay (2003) worked on minimizing total cost of construction, maintenance , and transportation cost with computer-aided forest road design but this study has not driving analysis results and vehicle maneuverability. Akay et al. (2004) used the high-resolution digital elevation model for computer-aided forest road design. Abdi et al. (2009), Altunel (2006) and Rogers (2005) studied the integration of geographic information system of forestry practices and forest road planning. ...
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Abstract. Forest road planning is a time-consuming and complicated process both because it requires environment-friendly road building, and due to the requirement to observe economic costs. This costs will be increase depending on maneuverability requirements of vehicle dimension. The main aim of this study is to analyze maneuverability of recreational vehicles on forest roads that primarily serve utilization of vehicles intended for production as well as geometrical characteristics of roads on computer environment. Both dynamic horizontal driving analysis and dynamic vertical driving analysis can be made with Autopath driving analysis module of Plateia 2013 software. Computer-aided horizontal driving analysis, which is used in examination of opportunities for utilization of available roads by different vehicle types, appears as an effective method for the decision maker in consideration of geometrical standards of vehicles during decision-making process. Graphical report is another output of driving analysis which visually presents vehicle maneuverability. In this context, Maneuverability of automobile, midibus and bus were analyzed on forest road with 4 m platform width. As a results of this study, it was concluded that computer-aided driving analysis is a beneficial tool in decision making process for re-planning of forest roads. As a consequence, it is considered that driver safety, as well as project costs, would increase by utilization of driving analysis during forest road planning and design.
... Many tasks that were difficult and time-consuming to perform by traditional techniques began to be dealt with faster, more reliable, and more easy ways in computer environment (Yılmaz 2002). Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques have been increasingly used in developing forest road networks to reduce time and road costs (Erdaş and Gümüş, 2000, Coulter et al. 2001, Akay 2003, Akay et al. 2004, Aruga et al. 2005and Altunel, 2006. GIS is a computer-based system that provides the following four sets of capabilities to handle georeferenced data (1) input, (2) data management (data storage and retrieval), (3) manipulation and analysis, and (4) output (Aronoff 1993). ...
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Roads are crucial to sustainable forest management. Forest roads are needed for implementing any kind of forest management practices, for acting as fire barriers during forest fires, to give way to higher pastures for grazing to provide access for recreational activities and also, in Turkey and many parts of the world to provide a link between forest dwellers, small villages, and towns settled inside, in the vicinity or around the forested regions and the rest of the country. On the other hand, they require, during planning and construction afterwards, a great deal of attention because they are proven to cause soil compaction due to heavy loads and traffic especially during harvesting. Soil compaction leads to soil erosion, which is the main reason for water pollution and the destruction of aquatic ecosystems. They also cause forest defragmentation and unforeseeable settlements. That is why a forest road network must be well planned and carefully developed to ensure the sustainable management of forest resources. In this study, watershed scale forest road analysis was conducted in Kayran creek watershed of Kuyucak district of Aydin province in western Turkey. Forest lands and existing forest roads in the watershed were specified and a digital data set was developed from the forest management plans and forest road maps using GIS techniques. General road density, real road density, relative road density, and exploitation ratio were determined as decision variables in forest road analysis. The results indicated that developing forest road networks in watershed scale by using GIS techniques will significantly reduce time and improve economic efficiency in planning forest roads.
... While lidar has been widely used in forest inventory analysis, utilization of these data in the context of forest operations has not been widely explored. In forest operations, research using lidar has focused primarily on developing high resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) for forest road layout (Akay et al. 2004(Akay et al. , 2009Aruga et al. 2005;Alam et al. 2013). In one of the few examples focused on equipment operability, Alam et al. (2013) incorporated lidar-derived slope data for a simulation model of a self-leveling feller-buncher. ...
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As innovative harvest systems are developed, the extent to which they can be utilized on the landscape based on machine capabilities is often unclear to forest managers. Spatial decision support models may aid contractors and forest planners in choosing appropriate logging systems based on topography and stand characteristics. Lidar and inventory data from 91 sample plots were used to model site characteristics for 2627 stands in the Slate Creek drainage on the Nez Perce Clearwater National Forest in north-central Idaho, USA, and were integrated into a decision support model to compare harvest system selection using five harvest systems and three scenarios. In two of the scenarios, shovel harvester-based logging systems, which are not common in the area, were included to determine potential sites where integration of these systems is possible based on landscape and stand conditions. Lidar-derived predictions for volume and trees per hectare were determined with model accuracies of 76.4% and 70.3%, and together with topographic characteristics it was determined that shovel harvester-based options were feasible across a significant portion of the study area (31% and 34% in the two scenarios). Additionally, increasing operable slope for ground-based systems by 10% increased the area in harvest-able classification by 21%. Harvest system classification using lidar-derived products and known system capabilities allows contractors and managers to better evaluate alternative harvest system options on landscape scales and may encourage the utilization of innovative machinery not currently integrated into most logging operations.
... In many other research works, optimizing earthwork volume was performed via employing a linear programming approach (Mayer and Stark 1981;Hare et al. 2011). Applying LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is one of the fastest growing systems in the field that can provide a high-resolution and accurate digital elevation model (DEM) of forested areas (Akay et al. 2004). Contreras et al. (2012 developed a computerized model to accurately estimate earthwork volumes for the proposed forest roads using DEM by applying it on three roads with different ground slopes. ...
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Earthwork operations accounted for great amount of forest road construction costs. Any optimization in planning road profile needs a reliable objective function that calculates earthwork volume in an appropriate time and accuracy. This study aimed at incorporating the shape of the ground cross sections in calculating cut/fill areas using three alternative methods including: Multiple Linear Regression (MLR), Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and heuristic programming in MATLAB environment. The accuracy of results was validated via AutoCAD as a manual method for area calculation of road’s cross section. Trapezoidal method applied to calculate the area of cut/fill in the heuristic method. Paired sample T-Test and statistical analysis (ANOVA) with confidence level of 0.95 indicated that the heuristic method not only reduced computing time but also provided accurate estimations as same as the manual AutoCAD based method. It can be concluded that although MLR and ANN estimations were as well as AutoCAD results within a reasonable time, they need to be retrained by adding, removing or changing entrance parameters.
... LiDAR can be used to generate high-resolution digital terrain models (DTMs) of the Earth's surface, regardless of the presence of forest vegetative cover. From LiDAR DTMs, a wide range of derivative products can be generated that support forest activities including road design and mapping (Akay et al., 2004;White et al., 2010), predictive hydrology (Mandlburger et al., 2009;Murphy et al., 2008), and wet areas mapping (White et al., 2012). In addition to the DTM, the LiDAR digital surface model (DSM) provides a detailed quantification of the top elevation of objects, usually trees or ground in a forested context. ...
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Parametric and nonparametric predictions of forest inventory attributes from airborne LiDAR data are compared for a forest management unit in boreal Ontario. For the parametric approach, seemingly unrelated regression models were calibrated by forest type (SUR) and for all forest types combined (SUR_All). For the nonparametric approach, randomForest (RF) and k-nearest neighbours (kNN) were implemented. Calibration data consisted of 442 circular 0.04 ha plots covering a range of development stages within eight forest types. Results were validated on 64 independent plots distributed across the same forest types. Predicted variables included top height, merchantable basal area, and gross merchantable volume. In general, RF and SUR predictions were the most accurate and precise, whereas kNN and SUR_All predictions were less reliable. Prediction accuracy and precision varied markedly with forest type, with no single method producing results that were consistently best. None of the methods extrapolated well, underscoring the need to capture the full range of population variation during calibration. Parametric predictions were improved by forest-type stratification, necessitating a population forest-type layer prior to application. In contrast, forest type was not an important predictor in the nonparametric solutions. RF can offer significant operational advantages over parametric regression without loss of accuracy or precision.
... Enhancing forest infrastructure has always been a topic of interest among specialists in their quest to provide sound approaches for improving forest accessibility in the context of sustainable forest management (SFM). Several studies have been published regarding automation of road locating (Akay et al. 2005;Aruga 2005;Rogers 2005;Stückelberger et al. 2007) or regarding the impact of forest roads on the environment (Coulter 2004;Akay 2004). However, most of these studies are based on assessments of only one objective function. ...
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Sound development of forest infrastructure represents the backbone for sustainable forest management. However, planning forest roads, which nowadays must fulfill multiple conflicting objectives, is not an easy task. A GIS based model was developed for supporting decision making in forest road engineering. The tool allowed assessment of forest infrastructure scenarios based on multiple criteria analyses, considering stakeholders’ interests, economic, ecological and social aspects. First, the decision problem was clearly structured and then criteria and sub-criteria were weighted. Then, forest road scenarios were defined and quantitative and qualitative assessments regarding infrastructure and harvesting systems were performed. In the end, utility analysis for each scenario was conducted, the forest road variant with the highest utility score being selected as the most suitable option for implementation. The model was tested and validated in a mountain forest area from Brasov County, Romania. Reduction of mean skidding distance from 864 m to 255–268 m was reported, leading to an increase in productivity of timber extraction from 7.5 m3/h to 11.7 m3/h and to an increased contribution margin from 21.2 €/m3 to 25.1 €/m3. Enhancement of forest infrastructure reduced CO emissions re timber harvesting and transport from 8.52 kg/m3 to 7.3 kg/m3. This study showed how multiple attribute utility theory could be used in assessing different forest road options based on a participatory approach.
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Ülkemizde son yıllarda gelişim gösteren en önemli sektörlerden biri de ulaşım sistemleri olmuştur. Diğerulaşım sistemlerine göre daha fazla olan yük ve yolcu kapasiteleri, demiryollarının önümüzdeki yüzyılda stratejikönemini artıracaktır. Tarihi İpek Yolu’nun (Pekin-Londra) tekrar hayata geçerek Bakü-Tiflis-Kars demiryolununaçılmış olması, bu ulaşım sınıfının ülkemizde ve uluslararası platformdaki jeopolitik önemini artırmıştır. Buçalışmada, demiryolu bağlantı yollarının kesiştiği sekiz farklı ilde (Erzincan, Elazığ, Erzurum, Eskişehir, Kocaeli,İstanbul, Ankara, Sivas) 515 yolcu anketi yapılmıştır. Bu anketler, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devlet Demiryollarını(TCDD) kullanan yolcuların demiryolu hizmetlerinden faydalanırken beklentilerinin ve memnuniyet derecelerinintespiti için yapılmıştır. Bunun tespit edilmesi amacıyla çok kriterli karar verme yöntemlerinden biri olanAnalitik Hiyerarşik Proses (AHP) yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Çalışmanın ikinci kısmında ise yolcuların tercih,tutum ve memnuniyet derecelerine göre demiryolu seyahat sıklığı talep modellemesi Yapay Sinir Ağları (YSA),Çok Değişkenli Regresyon (ÇDR) ve Bulanık Mantık (Fuzzy Logic-BM) yöntemleri yardımıyla modellenmiş,karşılaştırılmış ve yorumlanmıştır. AHP ile yapılan değerlendirmeler neticesinde, TCDD hizmetlerini kullananyolcular için hizmetlerin genellikle yeterli olduğu, hizmet düzeyinin iyileştirmeden ziyade stabil olarak kalmasınınuygun olacağı belirlenmiştir. YSA ve ÇDR ile modellemelere göre istatistiksel olarak YSA’nın daha başarılı biryöntem olduğu belirlenmiştir. BM ile yapılan modellemede ise yolcuların üç ayda bir seyahat ettikleri anlaşılmışolup, tercih, önem ve memnuniyet tutumları değiştikçe seyahat sıklığının değiştiği görülmüştür.
Conference Paper
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Ormanlarımızda yürütülmekte olan kesim, taşıma, ağaçlandırma, silvikültürel meşçere müdahaleleri, yangınla mücadele, böcek ve hastalık kontrolü, artım ve hasılat ölçümleri, orman sağlığının sürekli gözetimi, rekreasyon ve diğer etkinlikler için gerekli olan ulaşım, orman yolları aracılığı ile yapılmaktadır. Tüm bu ihtiyaçların yanında, farklı kullanım fonksiyonlarına sahip olan orman yolları, karayollarından farklı olarak kullanım amaçlarına göre farklı geometrik standartlara sahip olmalıdır. Bu amaç ve fonksiyonlara göre belirlenen orman yolu geometrik standartları, yolun yoğun ve/veya öncelikli olarak kullanacak araç tipine göre belirlenmektedir. Örneğin; salt odun hammaddesi üretim amaçlı kullanılacak orman yollarının inşaatı aşamasında büyük tonajlı, geniş ve uzun nakliyat araçlarına uygun, rekreasyonel amaçlı yollarda ise daha çok rekreasyonel kullanıcıların bireysel araçlarına (otomobil, pick-up ve 4x4) uygun geometik standartlarda yollar yapılması amaçlanmaktadır. Mevcut orman yollarında kullanılan sekonder nakliyat araçları, teknolojinin ilerlemesine paralel olarak gelişmekte, daha geniş, uzun ve ağır tonajlara sahip araçlar karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Bu araçların dingil açıklıkları ve aks mesafeleri gibi özellikleri eskiden yapılmış orman yollarının geometrik özellikleri nedeniyle gerekli manevra kabiliyetine sahip olamamaktadır. Bilindiği üzere, orman yolları maliyetler minimumda tutulmak kaydıyla büyük onarım çalışmaları ile geometrik standartları yükseltilmekte ve güzergahlarında değişiklik yapılmaktadır. Yapılan tüm çalışmalar belirli periyotlarda yapılan yol şebeke planlarında belirtilmektedir. Doğa ve iklim şartları, yoğun kullanım vb. nedenlerle trafiğe uygun olmayan duruma gelen orman yollarında büyük onarım çalışmaları yapılmaktadır. OGM’nin 2008 yılında yayınladığı “Orman Yolları Planlaması, Yapımı ve Bakımı” adlı 292 sayılı tebliğin 1.6.2. numaralı bölümünde, yol ağı planının düzenlenmesinden önce ormanda yapılmış olan yolların bu plan içinde kullanmaya, ormancılık hizmetlerinin yapılmasına elverişli olup olmadığı yer, güzergâh, eğim, genişlik, kurp ve laseler bakımından incelenmesi gerektiği, bu yolların yerleri, güzergâhları ve eğimleri bakımından tebliğde verilen ilkelere uygunluğunun araştırılarak, büyük onarımla dahi ıslahı mümkün olmayanlar tamamıyla terk edilerek yol ağı planı dışında bırakılacağı belirtilmektedir. Ayrıca 292 sayılı tebliğin 1.6.2.1 numaralı bölümde ekonomikliği göz önünde tutulmak koşuluyla, büyük onarımla standart hale getirilmesi uygun görülen orman yolları, büyük onarım olarak yol ağı planına alınırlar ifadesi bulunmaktadır. Bu çalışmada, İstanbul Üniversitesi Orman Fakültesi Eğitim Araştırma Ormanı Yol Şebeke Planı kapsamında, büyük onarım çalışması yapılması planlanan, 016 kod nolu orman yolunun geometrik standartları Plateia 2014 sürüş analizi modülüyle incelenerek büyük tonajlı, geniş ve uzun nakliyat araçlarına uygunluğu irdelenmeye çalışılmıştır. Söz konusu orman yolunun uzunluğu 4+622 m’dir. Pentax SMT 888-3G marka GNSS ve Pentax W825NX marka total station ile yapılan arazi çalışmalarında mevcut orman yolu üzerinde en küçüğü 5 m, en büyüğü 80 m olan toplamda 66 adet kurp tespit edilmiştir. Çalışma iki aşamada gerçekleştirilmişitr. İlk aşamada, 016 kod nolu yolun mevcut halinin Normal B-Tipi Tali Orman Yoluna (NBT-4m) dönüştürülmesi durumundaki; ikinci aşamasında ise Standartları Yükseltilmiş B-Tipi Tali Orman Yolu (SBT-5 m) haline dönüştürülmesi durumundaki iki farklı durum, Plateia 2014 sürüş analizi modülüyle incelenmiştir. Her iki yol standardına göre mevcut yol ana güzergahı değişmeden genişlemeler dahilinde büyük tonajlı, geniş ve uzun nakliyat araçlarına (kamyon ve treyler için ayrı ayrı) yatay sürüş analizi yapılmıştır. Sürüş analizi sonuçlarına göre Normal B tipi orman yolu standardında kamyon için 20 m’den küçük kurplarda, treyler için 50 m’den küçük kurplarda araç manevra kabiliyetinin kısıtlandığı ve ekstra kurp genişlemelerinin gerektiği görülmüştür. Kurplardaki alansal genişlemelere bakıldığında en küçük 5 m olarak belirlenen kurp yarıçapında tomruk yüklü kamyonun manevra sağlayabilmesi için 9,97 m2’lik bir genişleme gerekirken, treyler için 27,7 m2’lik bir kurp genişlemesi gerekmektedir. Çalışmada iki farklı araç tipi için NBT ve SBT orman yolu standartlarına göre kurp genişlemeleri analiz edilmiş olup, hazırlanan özet sözlü sunuma kabul edildiğinde elde edilen tüm sonuçların verilmesi planlanmaktadır.
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ZET: Son yıllarda gelişmekte olan çevreye duyarlı ormancılık anlayışı kapsamında orman yollarının fonksiyonel olarak planlamasının önemi artmıştır. Bu bağlamda, planlama aşamasında çeşitli fonksiyonlara hizmet eden orman yollarının, tasarım standartları ve kriterleri projenin amacına göre değişebilmekte ve projenin her bir aşaması için farklı ölçüt ve kısıtlamalara gereksinim duyulabilmektedir. Bu kısıtlamalar hem geometrik standartlar hem de çizim stilleri açısından farklılık gösterebilmektedir. Orman yollarının planlanması aşamasında farklı yazılımlar kullanılmaktadır. Bu tasarım ve planlama sürecinin daha başarılı ve etkin bir şekilde tamamlanması için farklı tasarım kriterlerine cevap verebilecek, tasarımın herhangi bir bölümünde veya aşamasında tasarımcının yapacağı değişikliklerin etkisinin eş zamanlı olarak projenin tamamı üzerinde güncellenmesini sağlayacak dinamik veri işleme yeteneğine sahip bir yazılıma ihtiyaç duyulmaktadır. Çalışmada karayollarının planlanmasında etkin bir şekilde kullanılan AutoCAD Civil 3D yazılımının orman yollarının planlanması aşamasındaki yeterliliği sınanmış ve farklı kullanım amaçlarına hizmet eden orman yolları için stiller ortaya konulmuştur. ABSTRACT: Functional planning of forest roads has increased in importance in the context of eco-friendly forestry consideration developing in recent years. Design standards and criteria of forest roads serving various functions in the planning stage, have been changing according to purpose of the project and different criteria and restrictions are in need of for each stage of project. These restrictions show differences both in term of drawing styles and geometric standards. Various software products are used in the stage of forest road planning. Finishing the design and planning stages more successfully and effectively a software support having the ability of dynamic data processing as auto-updating revisions on any part of the projects to whole of the project by designers, is needed. In the study, AutoCAD Civil 3D software that has been used effectively in highway planning, tested about sufficiency on forest road's planning stage. Finally styles were created for serving different purposes of forest roads.
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By evaluating alternative routes in the office using a pegging routine, days or even weeks can be saved of valuable field time and ultimately, a better design can emerge. Initial road design in forested landscapes often includes pegging roads on large-scale contour maps with dividers and an engineers scale. An automated GIS based road-pegging tool (PEGGER) was developed to assist in initial road planning by automating the road pegging process. PEGGER is an extension for the commonly available GIS software Arcview®. PEGGER imports topography as digital contours. The user identifies the origin of the new road, clicks in the direction they want to go and PEGGER automatically pegs in road at a specified grade. Through the use of PEGGER, many alternatives can be quickly analyzed for alignment, slope stability, grades and construction cost using standard GIS functionality. The resulting cuts and fills are then displayed in ROADVIEW, a road visualization package for Arcview®. This paper looks at the algorithm used, evaluates it's usefulness in an operations planning environment and suggests additional methods which might be incorporated into PEGGER to further assist the forest engineer.
Article
The mass diagram has long aided managers of highway construction who plan the movement of material. A newer method based on linear programming is presented. It not only provides results comparable to those of the mass diagram, but also may be skillfully applied to situations for which the mass diagram is not suitable. These include the following: situations when haul costs are not directly proportional to distance, and situations when soil characteristics vary along the highway. Some practicalities of implemention, with examples, are included.
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Currently, commercial forestry applications of airborne scanning lidar are limited to geo-technical applications such as creation of digital terrain models for layout of roads or logging systems. We investigated the feasibility of predicting characteristics of forest stands with lidar data in a university-industry partnership. Lidar lends itself well to such applications because it allows direct measurement of important structural characteristics of height and canopy closure. We found that lidar data can be used to predict the stand characteristics of height, basal area, and volume quite well. The potential for commercial applications appears bright. Lidar data can be used to estimate stand characteristics over large areas or entire forests. After the process is streamlined, it should be possible to provide maps of height, basal area, and volume in such areas within a few weeks of the lidar collection flight.
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This article describes the StereoDimensional™ stereoscopic video system which uses modified standard video equipment and electronic interfaces to produce a true three-dimensional image. The resultant video signal is compatible with existing broadcasting, editing, and recording protocols. A time-multiplexing technique produces alternate left and right subfields. The image is observed by using an individual selection device.
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Tom Naylor in the August 1982 issue of Interfaces asks the question: “Decision support systems or whatever happened to MIS?” In his article, Naylor makes several claims that are intended to discredit DSS as a separate area from MS/OR and MIS. This article addresses Naylor's claims with the purpose of showing that DSS is unique and deserves the attention it is receiving.
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Laser range data acquired from a helicopter are evaluated in terms of the information that can be derived from them and the accuracy. The objective is to study the suitability of laser data to generate a DSM for road planning and design in The Netherlands. The conclusion is that high-density laser measurements allow the reconstruction of the terrain relief with the required accuracy. Nonetheless, they do not allow the extraction of all the information required, particularly semantic information. Thus, the combination of laser data with existing information is a prerequisite. This process of combining laser data with existing geographic information is not trivial. The rate of success depends much on the quality of the individual datasets and the method used to combine them. This problem appears in a much broader context, that of spatial data fusion, and should be the object of future research.
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Large-scale terrain measurement in wooded areas was an unsolved problem up to now. Laser scanning solves this problem to a large extent. In this article, the characteristics of laser scanning will be compared to photogrammetry with reference to a big pilot project. Laser scanning supplies data with a skew distribution of errors because a portion of the supplied points is not on the terrain but on the treetops. Thus, the usual interpolation and filtering has to be adapted to this new data type. We will report on the implementation of this new method. The results are in accordance with the expectations. The geomorphologic quality of the contours, computed from a terrain model derived from laser scanning, needs to be improved. Solutions are still to be found.
Article
Airborne laser scanning systems (commonly referred to as light detection and ranging or lidar systems) can provide terrain elevation data for open areas with a vertical accuracy of 15 cm. Accuracy in heavily forested areas has not been thoroughly tested. In this study, a high-resolution digital terrain model (DTM) was produced from high-density lidar data. Vegetation in the 500-ha mountainous study area varied from bare ground to dense 70-year-old conifer forest. Conventional ground survey methods were used to collect coordinates and near-ground vegetation heights at 347 ground checkpoints distributed under a range of canopy covers. These points were used to check the DTM accuracy. The mean DTM error was 0.22 ± 0.24 m (mean ± SD). DTM elevation errors for four tree canopy cover classes were: clearcut 0.16 ± 0.23 m, heavily thinned 0.18 ± 0.14 m, lightly thinned 0.18 ± 0.18 m, and uncut 0.31 ± 0.29 m. These DTM errors show a slight increase with canopy density but the differences are strikingly small. In general, the lidar DTM was found to be extremely accurate and potentially very useful in forestry.
Article
Graduation date: 2003 The systems currently available for forest road design are not capable of making computer-aided design judgments such as: 1) automated generation of alternative grade lines, 2) optimizing vertical alignment, 3) minimizing total cost of construction, maintenance, and transportation costs, and 4) aiming for least environmental impacts. In recent years, advances in the processing speed and realtime rendering and viewing of high-resolution three dimensional (3D) graphics on microcomputers, combined with improved resolution in mapping technologies have made it possible to locate a route interactively between two given points on a 3D display of a ground surface. A 3D forest road alignment model, TRACER, aided by an interactive computer system, was developed to help a designer with rapid evaluation of alternatives. The road design objective is to design a path with the lowest total construction, maintenance, and transportation costs, while conforming to design specifications, environmental requirements, and driver safety. The model relies on a high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM) to provide terrain data for supporting the analysis of road design features such as ground slope, topographic aspect, and other landform characteristics. Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) system is one of the systems that provide high-resolution and accurate DEM data. The contributions of the TRACER program are: (1) data input is enhanced through a 3D graphic interface, (2) user efficiency is enhanced through automated horizontal and vertical curve fitting routines, cross section generation, and cost routines for construction, maintenance, and vehicle use, (3) road feasibility is ensured by considering terrain conditions, geometric specifications, and driver safety, (4) design time is reduced in the early stage of the forest road design by allowing the designer to quickly examine alternative routes, (5) economic efficiency is enhanced by combining modern optimization techniques to minimize earthwork allocation cost using linear programming and to optimize vertical alignment using a heuristic technique (Simulated Annealing), and (6) environmental impacts are considered by estimating the average annual volume of sediment delivered to a stream from the road section. It is anticipated that the computer-aided analysis of route selection will improve the efficiency of road designers in identifying road alignment alternatives that are best suited to local conditions considering costs, environmental impacts, and driver safety. CVista PdfCompressor 3.1 was used for pdf compression and textual OCR.
Forest road earthwork calculations for linear road segments using a high resolution digital terrain model generated from LIDAR data. Proc First Precision Forestry Symposium
  • E D Coulter
  • W Chung
  • A Akay
  • J Sessions
Coulter, E.D., Chung W., Akay, A., and Sessions J., 2001. Forest road earthwork calculations for linear road segments using a high resolution digital terrain model generated from LIDAR data. Proc First Precision Forestry Symposium, University of Washington, College of Forest Resources, Seattle, Washington. pp.125-129.