Performance analysis of ultra-wideband positioning for measuring tree positions in boreal forest plots

Accurate individual tree locations enable efficient forest inventory management and automation, support precise forest surveys, management decisions and future individual-tree harvesting plans. In this paper, we compared and analyzed in detail the performance of an ultra-wideband (UWB) data-driven method for mapping individual tree locations in boreal forest sample plots of varying complexity. Twelve forest sample plots selected from varying forest-stand conditions representing different developing stages, stem densities and abundance of sub canopy growth in boreal forests were tested. These plots were classified into three categories (“Easy”, “Medium” and “Difficult”) according to these varying stand conditions. The experimental results show that UWB data-driven method is able to map individual tree locations accurately with total root-mean-squared-errors (RMSEs) of 0.17 m, 0.2 m, and 0.26 m for “Easy”, “Medium” and “Difficult” forest plots, respectively, providing a strong reference for forest surveys.