Home            Contact us            FAQs
    
      Journal Home      |      Aim & Scope     |     Author(s) Information      |      Editorial Board      |      MSP Download Statistics

     Research Journal of Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology

    Abstract
2013(Vol.5, Issue:11)
Article Information:

A New Method for Forest Volume Measurement with an Electronic Angle Gauge

Bin Dong, Liping Liu, Li Sun, Changqin Zhang, Yuan Hong and Guoying Qian
Corresponding Author:  Li Sun,College of Science 
Submitted: October 12, 2012
Accepted: December 03, 2012
Published: April 05, 2013
Abstract:
To realise precise, real-time measurement of forest volume, this study discusses the principles and method of forest volume measurement when utilizing an electronic gauge. Use of the electronic gauge, to count trees within five concentric circles, resulted in a decrease in the variation of estimated forest volume, as the number of circles increased. This estimate became reliable upon reaching the fourth concentric circle. In contrast, the use of a conventional angle gauge revealed no obvious regularity and no significant trend using multiple observation points. As well, for forest inventory plots with uneven spatial distribution, there was relatively low precision when using multiple observation points with a conventional angle gauge: the relative errors of forest volume measurement reached almost 40% in the first plot using multiple observation points. The electronic angle gauge is comprised of a telescope and Charge Coupled Device (CCD) system, which reduced the probability of a misreading and achieved accurate real-time measurement of forest volume. Observers can choose an arbitrary location to position the electronic angle gauge. The survey time with the new method was half that of using a conventional angle gauge at five different observation locations. The forest volume measurement was automated using a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) with newly-designed software capable of identifying, registering and then counting the trees in a plot. This method improves accuracy of forest volume measurement and reduces the time and effort required previously.

Key words:  Conventional angle gauge, concentric circles technology, electronic angle gauge, forest volume measurement, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), ,
Abstract PDF HTML
Cite this Reference:
Bin Dong, Liping Liu, Li Sun, Changqin Zhang, Yuan Hong and Guoying Qian, . A New Method for Forest Volume Measurement with an Electronic Angle Gauge. Research Journal of Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology, (11): 3191-3197.
ISSN (Online):  2040-7467
ISSN (Print):   2040-7459
Submit Manuscript
   Information
   Sales & Services
Home   |  Contact us   |  About us   |  Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2024. MAXWELL Scientific Publication Corp., All rights reserved