Title
Three-dimensional Forest growth simulation in virtual geographic environments
Abstract
Virtual geographic environments related to dynamic processes contribute to a human understanding of the real world. The results of growth simulations provide good estimations of the future status of forests, but they are typically expressed in plain text summaries, tables or static displays, making it difficult to analyse, understand and further apply the forecast data. The objectives of this study were to propose a strategy for integrating a three-dimensional (3D) geographic environment with growth models and to develop a 3D stand visualization software prototype. Forest growth increments were predicted using the growth models, whereas stand dynamics were simulated using detailed tree models to recognize the changes in the branch whorls and height of individual trees. The spatial structure of the stand was represented by linking each tree diameter class to a spatial distribution according to the features of a Voronoi diagram. The stand visualization system VisForest, which allows users to predict increments in the diameter and height of trees, was extended to estimate the number of trees in each diameter class and to visualize many aspects of a forest stand, e.g., individual tree structure, stem diameter at breast height (DBH, i.e., 1.3 m) distribution and height. The software system provides a specialized, intuitive tool for the visualization of a stand, thus facilitating the participation of various stakeholders in management and education.
Year
DOI
Venue
2019
10.1007/s12145-018-0356-4
Earth Science Informatics
Keywords
Field
DocType
Virtual geographic environment,Three-dimensional visualization,Forest,Growth simulation
Data mining,Visualization,Computer science,Software system,Plain text,Voronoi diagram,Tree structure,Diameter at breast height,Software visualization,Spatial distribution
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
12.0
1
1865-0481
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
0
0.34
10
Authors
5
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Liyu Tang1215.60
Xianmin Peng200.34
Chongcheng Chen310826.08
Huang Hongyu442.07
Ding Lin5133.74