TY - JOUR TI - Exploration of FARO freestyle 3D laser scanners as a method for estimating surface fuel loading for wildland fire management DO - https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T36M3B1W PY - 2018 AB - To evaluate the effectiveness of the FARO 3D handheld LiDAR unit, I determined when ambient light affected the LiDAR’s detection capability. I then used standard destructive harvest methods combined with LiDAR data to examine the relationship between the number of pixels captured by the LiDAR unit with the log transformed dry biomass of the harvest fuels in both leaf-on and leaf-off conditions. Using a Bayesian regression model with a non-informative prior, the analysis showed a weak relationship between pixels and log biomass in leaf-on conditions with an R2 of 0.22 and a moderately strong relationship between pixels and log biomass in leaf-off conditions with an R2 of 0.67. The results suggest that handheld LiDAR units have the potential to replace destructive harvest methods under certain conditions, but may not serve as a tool for fire managers to utilize as a regular tool for estimate surface fuel loading. KW - Ecology and Evolution KW - Three-dimensional imaging KW - Forest fires--Prevention and control LA - eng ER -