Terrestrial Lidar Point Clouds of Caatinga Canopy Structure, 2017-2019

3D Lidar scans cover three 0.5-hectare permanent sample plots and 10 individual trees in Brazil's Caatinga vegetation. Data collection occurred between July 2017 and May 2019 across two locations, Serra das Almas Reserve and Petrolina. The dataset includes registered point clouds and raw scans for analyzing canopy architecture at both plot and tree levels.

Use Cases

• Model 3D canopy structure and leaf area distribution from point cloud data within the 0.5-hectare plots.
• Compare individual tree architecture metrics, such as crown volume, between scans taken inside and outside of tree canopies.
• Analyze spatial heterogeneity of vegetation structure across the two distinct geographic locations, Serra das Almas Reserve and Petrolina.
• Derive plot-level biomass estimates by correlating point cloud metrics with field measurements from the permanent sample plots.

Strengths

• Data covers three distinct 0.5-hectare permanent sample plots, providing a basis for spatial comparison.
• Includes scans for 10 individual trees with both interior and exterior perspectives.
• Temporal coverage spans nearly two years, from July 2017 to May 2019.

Limitations

• Limited geographic scope to only two sites within the Caatinga biome, reducing generalizability.
• Sample size of 10 individual trees and three plots is small for training broad machine learning models.
• Unknown point density, registration accuracy, and completeness of the raw scan data.

Provenance

Source

Environmental Information Data Centre

Collection Method

Terrestrial Lidar scanning.

Time Range

July 2017 to May 2019

Freshness

null

Geography

Caatinga vegetation in Brazil; plots in Serra das Almas Reserve and Petrolina.