Factors influencing individual tree crowns detection based on airborne laser scanning data

Airborne laser scanning (ALS) technology allows accurate information about the forest environment to be obtained. The high precision of ALS allows the detection of individual trees. An individual tree is composed of many elements and requires relatively complex algorithms. Factors that determine and affect the accuracy of calculating the number of trees can be split into the following groups: biological factors, technical factors related to the flight and data acquisition parameters, technical factors related to data processing, problems of results verification.
The article synthesises the main problems arising during the development of methods for detection of individual trees and acquisition of their characteristics in a managed forest in Central Europe.