Automatic processing of aerial LiDAR data to detect vegetation continuity in the surroundings of roads

Abstract

The optimization of forest management in the surroundings of roads is a necessary task in term of wildfire prevention and the mitigation of their effects. One of the reasons why a forest fire spreads is the presence of contiguous flammable material, both horizontally and vertically and, thus, vegetation management becomes essential in preventive actions. This work presents a methodology to detect the continuity of vegetation based on aerial Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) point clouds, in combination with point cloud processing techniques. Horizontal continuity is determined by calculating Cover Canopy Fraction (CCF). The results obtained show 50% of shrubs presence and 33% of trees presence in the selected case of study, with an error of 5.71%. Regarding vertical continuity, a forest structure composed of a single stratum represents 81% of the zone. In addition, the vegetation located in areas around the roads were mapped, taking into consideration the distances established in the applicable law. Analyses show that risky areas range from a total of 0.12 ha in a 2 m buffer and 0.48 ha in a 10 m buffer, representing a 2.4% and 9.5% of the total study area, respectively.