Species-specific aboveground biomass estimation using semantic segmentation of UAV photogrammetric point clouds

[EN] Accurate, species-specific estimation of aboveground biomass (AGB) at the individual plant level is essential for characterizing forest structure, supporting ecological and wildfire modelling, and enabling fine-scale carbon accounting. This study presents a methodological framework for estimati...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Carbonell-Rivera, Juan Pedro|||0000-0002-6724-6780, Ruiz Fernández, Luis Ángel|||0000-0003-0073-7259, Estornell Cremades, Javier|||0000-0003-0854-5358, Torralba, Jesús|||0000-0001-8644-8604
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2026
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)
Repositorio:RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:dnet:riunet______::6c8a71e4643fc0ef462604e7f9e0c228
Acceso en línea:https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/235585
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)
Digital aerial photogrammetry (DAP)
Aboveground biomass (AGB)
Class3Dp
Species classification
Mediterranean forests
Point cloud classification
Point cloud segmentation
Descripción
Sumario:[EN] Accurate, species-specific estimation of aboveground biomass (AGB) at the individual plant level is essential for characterizing forest structure, supporting ecological and wildfire modelling, and enabling fine-scale carbon accounting. This study presents a methodological framework for estimating species-specific AGB at individual plant level in Mediterranean ecosystems using UAV-based digital aerial photogrammetry (UAV-DAP). High-resolution point clouds were processed through a multi-step workflow including object-based segmentation, thirteen species classification and AGB regression modeling. The overall accuracy of species classification across six study areas was 81.6%, with a maximum of 89.9%. The regression models for AGB estimation yielded an average R2 of 0.69 across all species, highlighting species such as Anthyllis cytisoides (R2 = 0.83, RMSE = 0.07 kg, n = 47), Juniperus oxycedrus (R2 = 0.83, RMSE = 3.17 kg, n = 32); or Pinus halepensis (R2 = 0.77, RMSE = 11.79 kg, n = 20). These findings demonstrate the potential of UAV-DAP for practical estimates of AGB. The study underscores UAV-DAP as a cost-effective tool for forest management, ecological monitoring, and biomass assessments, paving the way for broader applications in environmental science and resource management.