UAV-derived estimates of forest structure to inform ponderosa pine forest restoration

Restoring forest ecosystems has become an increasingly high priority for land managers across the American West. Millions of hectares of forest are in need of drastic yet strategic reductions in density (e.g., basal area). Meeting the restoration and management goals requires quantifying metrics of vertical and horizontal forest structure, which has relied upon field‐based measurements, manned airborne or satellite remote sensing datasets. We used unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV ) image‐derived Structure‐from‐Motion (SfM) models and high‐resolution multispectral orthoimagery in this study to quantify vertical and horizontal forest structure at both the fine‐ (