Passive Measurement Method of Tree Height and Crown Diameter Using a Smartphone

The tree height and crown diameter are important measurement attributes in forest resource survey and management. Hence, we propose a passive measurement method of tree height and crown diameter based on monocular camera of a smartphone. First, we use an feature-adaptive Mean-Shift algorithm to segment the image and extract tree’s contour. Furthermore, an adaptive feature coordinate system is established to help study the conversion relationship of the coordinate systems. It has been proved that for the image points with the same abscissa pixels, their ordinate pixels have a linear relationship with its actual imaging angles. A depth extraction model is built according to this principle. Then, we obtain the rotation and translation matrix and established tree height and crown diameter models according to the mapping transformation relationship of coordinates. Experimental results reveal significant correlation between calculated and truth values. The RMSE is 0.267 m (rRMS=2.482%) for tree height and 0.209 m (rRMS=5.631%) for crown diameter. The relative errors of tree heights are less than 5.76% (MRE=2.159%); for crown diameter, the relative errors are less than 9.73% (MRE=4.95%). Overall, the accuracy of this method falls within the requirements of the continuous inventory of Chinese national forest resources.