Canopy and surface fuels measurement using terrestrial lidar single-scan approach in the Mogollon highlands of Arizona

Fuel monitoring data are essential to evaluate wildfire risk, plan management activities and evaluate fuel treatment effects. Terrestrial light detection and ranging (lidar) is a field-based 3D scanning technology with great potential to reduce labor-intensive field measurements and provide new depths of vegetation structure data.

To facilitate the integration of terrestrial lidar into fuel monitoring programs, we developed a model, training process, and Python program that produces canopy fuel, surface fuel and terrain metrics commonly used in fire behavior and fire risk modeling.

We estimated canopy and surface fuel metrics from terrestrial lidar using a semi-empirical model incorporating physically based modeling of leaf area density and occlusion and a non-destructive model calibration process leveraging Bayesian regression. We compared lidar-derived fuel estimates with conventional fuel estimates across diverse conditions in semi-arid shrubland, woodland and forest in Arizona. We also compared estimates using single- and multiple-scan modes.

In single-scan mode, our lidar-derived fuel estimates were significantly related to conventional estimates of total canopy fuel load, maximum canopy bulk density, downed surface fuel load and standing surface fuel load.

Our methods provide opportunities to increase the scalability of fuel monitoring to better understand wildfire risk and treatment effectiveness.