Project Focus
The objective of this project is to explore the quantification of forest spatial heterogeneity using terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), as well as potential applications with 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) fire modeling.
Procedures/Data Collection
Data was collected using a Riegl VZ-400i terrestrial laser scanner in 2020 and 2021 at both Latour Demonstration State Forest (LDSF) in Shasta County, CA, and Saddle Mountain Open Space Preserve (SM) in Sonoma County, CA. Between data collection years, LDSF was mechanically thinned for timber harvest, and SM had a natural wildfire.
3D data was voxelized to extract a metric called lacunarity, which is a measure of “gappiness” within a dataset, and was used in this project as a descriptor of spatial heterogeneity. The voxelized data was also integrated into the Wildland Urban Interface Fire Dynamics Simulator (WFDS) to explore the possibility of a relationship between lacunarity and fire behavior/effects.
Preliminary Results
Initial results demonstrate that lacunarity is not dependent on a voxel scale, but is sensitive to changes in forest structure as a result of both logging and fire.
The results from WFDS are less definitive, however the capability to integrate spatially explicit data with a CFD fire model and process output is now further developed and usable for future projects.
