Topic Review
GNSS Time-Based Clustering Of Mobile Laser Scanning Data From Forest
Mobile laser scanning (MLS) is a progressive technology that has already demonstrated its ability to provide highly accurate measurements of road networks. Mobile innovation of the laser scanning has also found its use in forest mapping over the last decade. In most cases, existing methods for forest data acquisition using MLS result in misaligned scenes of the forest, scanned from different views appearing in one point cloud. These difficulties are caused mainly by forest canopy blocking the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signal and limited access to the forest. We propose an approach to the processing of MLS data of forest scanned from different views with two mobile laser scanners under heavy canopy. Misaligned scenes of the forest acquired from different views were successfully extracted from the raw MLS point cloud using GNSS time-based point clustering. In order to align extracted MLS data acquired from different views under heavy forest canopy, the iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm was used. An average misalignment of 7.2 mm was achieved for the point clouds aligned using ICP algorithm. DBH was estimated from the aligned MLS data using a simple circle-fitting method with a root-mean-square error of 3.06 cm.
  • 1.0K
  • 30 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Fire-Fighting Adapter
The presented article presents an innovative solution of a fire-fighting adapter based on the basic hypothesis: to provide sufficient technical support in difficult terrain conditions for water transport logistics in order to quickly prevent the spread and destruction of forest fire. At present, when forest fires begin, it is often quite complicated to provide sufficient technical support for the quick prevention and elimination of fires. This fact is largely eliminated by the designed fire-fighting adapter. The mentioned fire-fighting adapter can be used as a fire-fighting mobile device with a base machine of a forest wheeled skidder (LKT), part of the long-distance transport of water in difficult terrain (lake system), a water tank in difficult terrain with the possibility of filling the Bambi bag with a helicopter, part of the long-distance transport of water in the case of a difficult water source without a forest access road network, and a mobile device for emergency transportation of materials in difficult terrain. In addition to the use for fighting forest fires, the fire adapter can also be used to provide for transport of water for forest nurseries (irrigation), freshly planted areas in the event of prolonged drought, the filling of watering-places for forest animals and filling puddles in the dry season. When designing the supporting frame, we used and imitated the evolutionary approach of nature in the form of generative design. The presented paper deals with the use of modern composite materials in the design of superstructures for base machines, which gradually acquire meaning. The main reason for the increasing use of fiberglass is to achieve higher strength and safer weight reduction. This adapter is designed for forest wheel tractors that reach 40% slope availability, areable to work on the stand area, overcome obstacles and are available in sufficient quantities in all Slovak forest areas.
  • 934
  • 18 Aug 2020
Topic Review
Epigenetics for Forest Trees
Epigenetics refers to a scientific domain studying all the processes affecting the expression of genes and/or the activity of transposable elements (TEs) without altering the DNA sequence that may be heritable by mitosis (during development) and/or meiosis (across generations). Forest trees are sessile, perennial, and modular organisms with complex life cycles that are often challenged by environmental variations such as actual climate changes during their long-lifespan. Surviving tree populations can respond to these environmental changes through complex and interacting mechanisms and notably using epigenetics. 
  • 932
  • 21 Sep 2020
Topic Review
Biomass Increment of Melia dubia
Farmland tree cultivation is considered an important option for enhancing wood production. In South India, the native leaf-deciduous tree species Melia dubia is popular for short-rotation plantations. Exploration of key controls of biomass accumulation in tree is very much essential to guide farmers and update agricultural landscape carbon budget. Further, resource conservation and allocation for components of agroforestry. M. dubia growths depends on water availability and how water it requires for its aggressive carbon consumption strategy has yet to be explored.
  • 917
  • 16 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Agroforestry
Agroforestry is recognized as a sustainable land use practice that creates more integrated, diverse, productive, profitable, healthy, sustainable land-use systems. However, the uptake of such a promising land use practice is slow. Through this research, carried out in a Terai district of Nepal, we thoroughly examine what influences farmers’ choice of agroforestry adoption and what discourages the adoption. For this, a total of 288 households were surveyed using a structured questionnaire. Two agroforestry practices were compared with conventional agriculture with the help of the Multinomial Logistic Regression (MNL) model. The likelihood of adoption was found to be influenced by gender: the male-headed households were more likely to adopt the tree-based farming practice. Having a source of off-farm income was positively associated with the adoption decision of farmers. Area of farmland was found as the major constraint to agroforestry adoption for smallholder farmers. Some other variables that affected positively included livestock herd size, provision of extension service, home-to-forest distance, farmers’ group membership and awareness of farmers about environmental benefits of agroforestry. Irrigation was another adoption constraint that the study area farmers were faced with. The households with a means of transport and with a larger family (household) size were found to be reluctant regarding agroforestry adoption. A collective farming practice could be a strategy to engage the smallholder farmers in agroforestry.
  • 905
  • 16 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Organosolv Lignin-Based Polyurethane
Polyurethanes (PUs) present an important class of polymers due to outstanding mechanical, chemical and physical properties. Thus, they find application in many industrial sectors in the form of flexible or rigid foams, coatings, adhesives, elastomers, thermoplasts or thermosets. Modern PU coating applications include self-healing coating films that can also be applied to rather rough surfaces, such as wood.
  • 862
  • 22 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Conifer Biotechnology
Conifers are a group of plants that encompasses the oldest living trees and shrubs on our planet. They have existed for more than 300 million years, starting from a common ancestor of gymnosperms and angiosperms. Conifers comprise two-thirds of gymnosperms and include species of high forest interest, such as pines, spruces, cypresses, or sequoias. Conifers constitute the largest and most diverse group of gymnosperms. Conifers and other gymnosperms were the dominant trees during the Mesozoic Era, which is also known as the Age of the Conifers, although they posteriorly declined and were replaced by angiosperms as the dominant group.
  • 855
  • 22 Jul 2022
Topic Review
GPR in Wood Structures
Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is a nondestructive inspection tool based upon the electromagnetic (EM) theory that radio wave propagation is governed by the EM properties of a dielectric material. GPR has many characteristics that make it attractive as an inspection tool for wood: it is faster than many acoustic and stress wave techniques; it does not require the use of a couplant; while it can also detect the presence of moisture. Moisture detection is of prime concern, and several researchers have labored to measure internal moisture using GPR.
  • 850
  • 27 May 2021
Topic Review
Impact of Gliricidia sepium on Crop Performance
Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Walp is a well-known agroforestry leguminous tree that provides multiple benefits in different agroecological zones. Its apparent versatility is seen in improving animal feed, cleaning environmental wastes, and healing inflammations. It was also found to have significant benefits in agroforestry due to its ability to enhance soil fertility through nitrogen fixation and green manure. 
  • 817
  • 26 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Forest Fire Protection
The entry presents some significant issues related to the fire protection infrastructure in forests. In every forest complex a sufficiently dense network of fire roads is an extremely important element of the fire protection system. The requirements to identify roads as fire roads within the forest communication network and to maintain their condition up to a certain technical standard has been briefly explained.
  • 791
  • 09 Nov 2020
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