Tree Height and Crown Extraction From UAV-Based Multispectral Imagery

Abstract

Conventional methods in measuring tree height and crown diameter are time consuming compared to the advanced technology of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) multispectral imagery. UAV multispectral imagery is widely used in vegetation analysis such as crop analysis, vegetation monitoring, precise farming and vegetation health assessment. Thus, the purpose of this research is to extract the individual tree height and crown diameter from UAV- based multispectral imagery using the integration of geospatial techniques. Altogether, the total of 395 individual trees were extracted from the study area of Section U11, Shah Alam using the Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier. Tree height values were extracted from normalized digital surface model (nDSM) using the zonal statistics tool with the tree height range between 1.568m to 27.850m. The range for derived crown diameters is between 0.919m to 24.506m. The final map shows the distribution of tree height and tree crown extraction from the UAV-based multispectral imagery. The spatial distribution data of tree height and crown diameter are beneficial especially in landscaping and identifying the potential of tree hazard in the urban area.