Monitoring forest landscape restoration from unmanned aerial vehicles using Lidar and hyperspectral remote sensing

• Grant number: 18/21338-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: February 01, 2019
• End date: January 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Forestry Resources and Forestry Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Pedro Henrique Santin Brancalion
• Grantee: Danilo Roberti Alves de Almeida
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/50718-5 - Ecological restoration of riparian forests, native forest of economic production and of degraded forest fragments (in APP and RL) based on restoration ecology of reference ecosystems in order to scientifically test the precepts of the New Brazilian Forest Code, AP.BTA.TEM
• Associated scholarship(s): 19/14697-0 - Monitoring the demography and diversity of forests undergoing restoration using a drone-lidar-hyperspectral system, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

Several countries have submitted ambitious international pledges to restore by 2030 over 350 million hectares of degraded and deforested landscapes into multi-functional landscapes. Planning and monitoring forest and landscape restoration programs requires more comprehensive information at large scale using cost-effective methodologies to distinguish forest typologies and assess the recovery of forest structure and functions. This proposal will advance our understanding of restoration of tropical forests and their functions using several crucial variables derived by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) using 3-D Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) and HSI (hyperspectral imaging). The information offered by these remote sensors in such low cost platforms will revolutionize measurement and understanding of tropical forests restoration success, bringing detailed information from broad areas such as restoration, management and conservation, to significantly improve decision making in forestry. More specifically, we will investigate the potential of a UAV-based Lidar-HIS fusion approach to (i) distinguish forest types, tree diversity, above-ground biomass, (ii) identify tree species and predict (iii) microclimate, light and water environments and (iv) tree demography. These contributions may be key to advance monitoring of restoration programs implemented in the contexts of the Native Vegetation Protection Law (which replaced the Forest Code), the Brazilian commitments to the Paris Climate Agreement and Bonn Challenge, and national coalitions as such the Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact.

Scientific publications

(33)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

AMAZONAS, NINO TAVARES; FORRESTER, DAVID I.; SILVA, CARINA CAMARGO; DE ALMEIDA, DANILO ROBERTI ALVES; OLIVEIRA, RAFAEL SILVA; RODRIGUES, RICARDO RIBEIRO; BRANCALION, PEDRO H. S.. Light- and nutrient-related relationships in mixed plantations of Eucalyptus and a high diversity of native tree species. NEW FORESTS, JAN 2021. (14/02070-9, 13/50718-5, 16/07498-2, 18/21338-3)

LEITE, RODRIGO VIEIRA; SILVA, CARLOS ALBERTO; MOHAN, MIDHUN; CARDIL, ADRIAN; ALVES DE ALMEIDA, DANILO ROBERTI; CHAVES E CARVALHO, SAMUEL DE PADUA; JAAFAR, WAN SHAFRINA WAN MOHD; GUERRA-HERNANDEZ, JUAN; WEISKITTEL, AARON; HUDAK, ANDREW T.; et al. Individual Tree Attribute Estimation and Uniformity Assessment in Fast-Growing Eucalyptus spp. Forest Plantations Using Lidar and Linear Mixed-Effects Models. REMOTE SENSING, v. 12, n. 21, NOV 2020. (18/21338-3, 19/14697-0)

GORGENS, ERIC B.; NUNES, MATHEUS H.; JACKSON, TOBIAS; COOMES, DAVID; KELLER, MICHAEL; REIS, CRISTIANO R.; VALBUENA, RUBEN; ROSETTE, JACQUELINE; DE ALMEIDA, DANILO R. A.; GIMENEZ, BRUNO; et al. Resource availability and disturbance shape maximum tree height across the Amazon. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, v. 27, n. 1, NOV 2020. (19/14697-0, 18/21338-3)

VALBUENA, RUBEN; HERNANDO, ANA; MANZANERA, JOSE ANTONIO; GORGENS, ERIC B.; ALMEIDA, DANILO R. A.; SILVA, CARLOS A.; GARCIA-ABRIL, ANTONIO. Evaluating observed versus predicted forest biomass: R-squared, index of agreement or maximal information coefficient?. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF REMOTE SENSING, v. 52, n. 1, p. 345-358, 2019. (18/21338-3)

ALMEIDA, D. R. A.; BROADBENT, E. N.; ZAMBRANO, A. M. A.; WILKINSON, B. E.; FERREIRA, M. E.; CHAZDON, R.; MELI, P.; GORGENS, E. B.; SILVA, C. A.; STARK, S. C.; et al. Monitoring the structure of forest restoration plantations with a drone-lidar system. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, v. 79, p. 192-198, JUL 2019. (18/21338-3, 16/05219-9)

DE ALMEIDA, DANILO R. A.; STARK, SCOTT C.; VALBUENA, RUBEN; BROADBENT, EBEN N.; SILVA, THIAGO S. F.; DE RESENDE, ANGELICA F.; FERREIRA, MATHEUS P.; CARDIL, ADRIAN; SILVA, CARLOS A.; AMAZONAS, NINO; et al. A new era in forest restoration monitoring. RESTORATION ECOLOGY, v. 28, n. 1, NOV 2019. (18/21338-3, 18/18416-2, 19/14697-0)

PAPA, DANIEL DE ALMEIDA; ALVES DE ALMEIDA, DANILO ROBERTI; SILVA, CARLOS ALBERTO; FIGUEIREDO, EVANDRO ORFANO; STARK, SCOTT C.; VALBUENA, RUBEN; ESTRAVIZ RODRIGUEZ, LUIZ CARLOS; NEVES D'OLIVEIRA, MARCUS VINICIO. Evaluating tropical forest classification and field sampling stratification from lidar to reduce effort and enable landscape monitoring. FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, v. 457, FEB 1 2020. (18/21338-3, 19/14697-0)

DE ALMEIDA, DANILO ROBERTI ALVES; BROADBENT, EBEN NORTH; FERREIRA, MATHEUS PINHEIRO; MELI, PAULA; ZAMBRANO, ANGELICA MARIA ALMEYDA; GORGENS, ERIC BASTOS; RESENDE, ANGELICA FARIA; DE ALMEIDA, CATHERINE TORRES; DO AMARAL, CIBELE HUMMEL; CORTE, ANA PAULA DALLA; et al. Monitoring restored tropical forest diversity and structure through UAV-borne hyperspectral and lidar fusion. REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT, v. 264, OCT 2021. (19/24049-5, 19/08533-4, 18/21338-3, 18/18416-2, 19/14697-0)

STARK, SCOTT C.; BRESHEARS, DAVID D.; ARAGON, SUSAN; VILLEGAS, JUAN CAMILO; LAW, DARIN J.; SMITH, MARIELLE N.; MINOR, DAVID M.; DE ASSIS, RAFAEL LEANDRO; DE ALMEIDA, DANILO ROBERTI ALVES; DE OLIVEIRA, GABRIEL; et al. Reframing tropical savannization: linking changes in canopy structure to energy balance alterations that impact climate. ECOSPHERE, v. 11, n. 9, p. 25-pg., 2020-09-01. (18/15001-6, 18/21338-3)

DALLA CORTE, ANA PAULA; DE VASCONCELLOS, BRUNA NASCIMENTO; REX, FRANCIEL EDUARDO; SANQUETTA, CARLOS ROBERTO; MOHAN, MIDHUN; SILVA, CARLOS ALBERTO; KLAUBERG, CARINE; ALVES DE ALMEIDA, DANILO ROBERTI; ALMEYDA ZAMBRANO, ANGELICA MARIA; TRAUTENMULLER, JONATHAN WILLIAM; et al. Applying High-Resolution UAV-LiDAR and Quantitative Structure Modelling for Estimating Tree Attributes in a Crop-Livestock-Forest System. LAND, v. 11, n. 4, p. 15-pg., 2022-04-01. (18/21338-3, 19/14697-0)

ROMANELLI, JO AO PAULO; SILVA, LUIZ G. M.; GONCALVES, MARIA CAROLINA P.; NAVES, RAFAELA P.; DE ALMEIDA, DANILO ROBERTI ALVES; DE RESENDE, ANGELICA FARIA; RODRIGUES, RICARDO RIBEIRO. Repeatability of the searching process in reviews of restoration outcomes. RESTORATION ECOLOGY, v. 29, n. 8, AUG 2021. (19/23908-4, 19/24049-5, 18/18416-2, 18/21338-3, 13/50718-5, 19/08533-4)

BADARI, CAROLINA GIUDICE; BERNARDINI, LUIS EDUARDO; DE ALMEIDA, DANILO R. A.; BRANCALION, PEDRO H. S.; CESAR, RICARDO G.; GUTIERREZ, VICTORIA; CHAZDON, ROBIN L.; GOMES, HAROLDO B.; VIANI, RICARDO A. G.. Ecological outcomes of agroforests and restoration 15 years after planting. RESTORATION ECOLOGY, v. 28, n. 5, JUL 2020. (18/21338-3, 19/14697-0)

LEITE, RODRIGO VIEIRA; SILVA, CARLOS ALBERTO; BROADBENT, EBEN NORTH; DO AMARAL, CIBELE HUMMEL; LIESENBERG, VERALDO; ALVES DE ALMEIDA, DANILO ROBERTI; MOHAN, MIDHUN; GODINHO, SERGIO; CARDIL, ADRIAN; HAMAMURA, CAIO; et al. Large scale multi-layer fuel load characterization in tropical savanna using GEDI spaceborne lidar data. REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT, v. 268, JAN 2022. (18/21338-3)

TEIXEIRA DA COSTA, MAIRA BEATRIZ; SILVA, CARLOS ALBERTO; BROADBENT, EBEN NORTH; LEITE, RODRIGO VIEIRA; MOHAN, MIDHUN; LIESENBERG, VERALDO; STODDART, JAZ; DO AMARAL, CIBELE HUMMEL; ALVES DE ALMEIDA, DANILO ROBERTI; DA SILVA, ANNE LAURA; et al. Beyond trees: Mapping total aboveground biomass density in the Brazilian savanna using high-density UAV-lidar data. FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, v. 491, JUL 1 2021. (18/21338-3)

GORGENS, ERIC BASTOS; KELLER, MICHAEL; JACKSON, TOBY; MARRA, DANIEL MAGNABOSCO; REIS, CRISTIANO RODRIGUES; DE ALMEIDA, DANILO ROBERTI ALVES; COOMES, DAVID; OMETTO, JEAN PIERRE. Out of steady state: Tracking canopy gap dynamics across Brazilian Amazon. Biotropica, v. 55, n. 4, p. 12-pg., 2023-05-02. (18/21338-3, 19/14697-0)

ALVES DE ALMEIDA, DANILO ROBERTI; ALMEYDA ZAMBRANO, ANGELICA MARIA; BROADBENT, EBEN NORTH; WENDT, AMANDA L.; FOSTER, PAUL; WILKINSON, BENJAMIN E.; SALK, CARL; PAPA, DANIEL DE ALMEIDA; STARK, SCOTT CHRISTOPHER; VALBUENA, RUBEN; et al. Detecting successional changes in tropical forest structure using GatorEye drone-borne lidar. Biotropica, v. 52, n. 6, JUL 2020. (19/14697-0, 18/21338-3)

SMITH, MARIELLE N.; STARK, SCOTT C.; TAYLOR, TYEEN C.; SCHIETTI, JULIANA; DE ALMEIDA, DANILO ROBERTI ALVES; ARAGON, SUSAN; TORRALVO, KELLY; LIMA, ALBERTINA P.; DE OLIVEIRA, GABRIEL; DE ASSIS, RAFAEL LEANDRO; et al. Diverse anthropogenic disturbances shift Amazon forests along a structural spectrum. FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, v. 21, n. 1, p. 9-pg., 2023-02-01. (16/21043-8, 18/21338-3, 19/24049-5)

SCHEERES, JANNEKE; DE JONG, JOHAN; BREDE, BENJAMIN; BRANCALION, PEDRO H. S.; BROADBENT, EBEN NOTH; ZAMBRANO, ANGELICA MARIA ALMEYDA; GORGENS, ERIC BASTOS; SILVA, CARLOS ALBERTO; VALBUENA, RUBEN; MOLIN, PAULO; et al. Distinguishing forest types in restored tropical landscapes with UAV-borne LIDAR. REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT, v. 290, p. 14-pg., 2023-03-15. (20/06734-0, 18/21338-3, 19/24049-5, 18/18416-2, 20/15792-3)

PRATA, GABRIEL ATTICCIATI; BROADBENT, EBEN NORTH; ALVES DE ALMEIDA, DANILO ROBERTI; ST PETER, JOSEPH; DRAKE, JASON; MEDLEY, PAUL; DALLA CORTE, ANA PAULA; VOGEL, JASON; SHARMA, AJAY; SILVA, CARLOS ALBERTO; et al. Single-Pass UAV-Borne GatorEye LiDAR Sampling as a Rapid Assessment Method for Surveying Forest Structure. REMOTE SENSING, v. 12, n. 24, DEC 2020. (18/21338-3, 19/14697-0)

DALLA CORTE, ANA PAULA; REX, FRANCIEL EDUARDO; ALVES DE ALMEIDA, DANILO ROBERTI; SANQUETTA, CARLOS ROBERTO; SILVA, CARLOS A.; MOURA, MARKS M.; WILKINSON, BEN; ALMEYDA ZAMBRANO, ANGELICA MARIA; DA CUNHA NETO, ERNANDES M.; VERAS, HUDSON F. P.; et al. Measuring Individual Tree Diameter and Height Using GatorEye High-Density UAV-Lidar in an Integrated Crop-Livestock-Forest System. REMOTE SENSING, v. 12, n. 5, MAR 2020. (18/21338-3, 19/14697-0)

AMAZONAS, NINO TAVARES; FORRESTER, DAVID I.; SILVA, CARINA CAMARGO; DE ALMEIDA, DANILO ROBERTI ALVES; OLIVEIRA, RAFAEL SILVA; RODRIGUES, RICARDO RIBEIRO; BRANCALION, PEDRO H. S.. Light- and nutrient-related relationships in mixed plantations of Eucalyptus and a high diversity of native tree species. NEW FORESTS, v. 52, n. 5, p. 807-828, SEP 2021. (14/02070-9, 16/07498-2, 18/21338-3, 13/50718-5)

SILVA, CARLOS A.; VALBUENA, RUBEN; PINAGE, EKENA R.; MOHAN, MIDHUN; DE ALMEIDA, DANILO R. A.; NORTH, EBEN; JAAFAR, WAN SHAFRINA WAN MOHD; PAPA, DANIEL DE A. MEIDA; CARDIL, ADRIAN; KLAUBERG, CARINE. ForestGapR: An r Package for forest gap analysis from canopy height models. METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION, v. 10, n. 8, p. 1347-1356, AUG 2019. (18/21338-3, 16/05219-9)

NEVES D'OLIVEIRA, MARCUS VINICIO; FIGUEIREDO, EVANDRO ORFANO; ALVES DE ALMEIDA, DANILO ROBERTI; OLIVEIRA, LUIS CLAUDIO; SILVA, CARLOS ALBERTO; NELSON, BRUCE WALKER; DA CUNHA, RENATO MESQUITA; PAPA, DANIEL DE ALMEIDA; STARK, SCOTT C.; VALBUENA, RUBEN. Impacts of selective logging on Amazon forest canopy structure and biomass with a LiDAR and photogrammetric survey sequence. FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, v. 500, NOV 15 2021. (18/21338-3)

REX, FRANCIEL EDUARDO; SILVA, CARLOS ALBERTO; DALLA CORTE, ANA PAULA; KLAUBERG, CARINE; MOHAN, MIDHUN; CARDIL, ADRIAN; DA SILVA, VANESSA SOUSA; ALVES DE ALMEIDA, DANILO ROBERTI; GARCIA, MARIANO; BROADBENT, EBEN NORTH; et al. Comparison of Statistical Modelling Approaches for Estimating Tropical Forest Aboveground Biomass Stock and Reporting Their Changes in Low-Intensity Logging Areas Using Multi-Temporal LiDAR Data. REMOTE SENSING, v. 12, n. 9, MAY 2020. (19/14697-0, 18/21338-3)

HANEDA, LEO EITI; BRANCALION, PEDRO H. S.; MOLIN, PAULO G.; FERREIRA, MATHEUS PINHEIRO; SILVA, CARLOS ALBERTO; DE ALMEIDA, CATHERINE TORRES; RESENDE, ANGELICA FARIA; SANTORO, GIULIO BROSSI; ROSA, MARCOS; GUILLEMOT, JOANNES; et al. Forest landscape restoration: Spectral behavior and diversity of tropical tree cover classes. REMOTE SENSING APPLICATIONS-SOCIETY AND ENVIRONMENT, v. 29, p. 15-pg., 2023-01-01. (21/11940-0, 20/15792-3, 18/18416-2, 18/21338-3, 20/06734-0, 19/24049-5)

ALMEIDA, DANILO R. A.; STARK, SCOTT C.; SCHIETTI, JULIANA; CAMARGO, JOSE L. C.; AMAZONAS, NINO T.; GORGENS, ERIC B.; ROSA, DIOGO M.; SMITH, MARIELLE N.; VALBUENA, RUBEN; SALESKA, SCOTT; et al. Persistent effects of fragmentation on tropical rainforest canopy structure after 20 yr of isolation. Ecological Applications, v. 29, n. 6, JULY 2019. (18/21338-3, 16/05219-9)

FERREIRA, MATHEUS PINHEIRO; ALVES DE ALMEIDA, DANILO ROBERTI; PAPA, DANIEL DE ALMEIDA; SILVA MINERVINO, JULIANO BALDEZ; PESSOA VERAS, HUDSON FRANKLIN; FORMIGHIERI, ARTHUR; NASCIMENTO SANTOS, CAIO ALEXANDRE; DANTAS FERREIRA, MARCIO AURELIO; FIGUEIREDO, EVANDRO ORFANO; LINHARES FERREIRA, EVANDRO JOSE. Individual tree detection and species classification of Amazonian palms using UAV images and deep learning. FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, v. 475, NOV 1 2020. (18/21338-3, 19/14697-0)

ROMANELLI, JOAO PAULO; MELI, PAULA; BISPO SANTOS, JOAO PAULO; JACOB, IGOR NOGUEIRA; SOUZA, LUKAS RODRIGUES; RODRIGUES, ANDRE VIEIRA; TREVISAN, DIEGO PERUCHI; HUANG, CHUNBO; ALMEIDA, DANILO R. A.; SILVA, LUIZ G. M.; et al. Biodiversity responses to restoration across the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Science of The Total Environment, v. 821, p. 10-pg., 2022-05-15. (21/07958-1, 18/18416-2, 20/08081-3, 19/08533-4, 18/21338-3, 13/50718-5)

D'OLIVEIRA, MARCUS V. N.; BROADBENT, EBEN N.; OLIVEIRA, LUIS C.; ALMEIDA, DANILO R. A.; PAPA, DANIEL A.; FERREIRA, MANUEL E.; ZAMBRANO, ANGELICA M. ALMEYDA; SILVA, CARLOS A.; AVINO, FELIPE S.; PRATA, GABRIEL A.; et al. Aboveground Biomass Estimation in Amazonian Tropical Forests: a Comparison of Aircraft- and GatorEye UAV-borne LiDAR Data in the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve in Acre, Brazil. REMOTE SENSING, v. 12, n. 11, JUN 2020. (19/14697-0, 18/21338-3)

VALBUENA, R.; O'CONNOR, B.; ZELLWEGER, F.; SIMONSON, W.; VIHERVAARA, P.; MALTAMO, M.; SILVA, C. A.; ALMEIDA, D. R. A.; DANKS, F.; MORSDORF, F.; et al. Standardizing Ecosystem Morphological Traits from 3D Information Sources. TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION, v. 35, n. 8, p. 656-667, AUG 2020. (18/21338-3, 19/14697-0)

DALLA CORTE, ANA PAULA; SOUZA, DEIVISON VENICIO; REX, FRANCIEL EDUARDO; SANQUETTA, CARLOS ROBERTO; MOHAN, MIDHUN; SILVA, CARLOS ALBERTO; ZAMBRANO, ANGELICA MARIA ALMEYDA; PRATA, GABRIEL; DE ALMEIDA, DANILO ROBERTI ALVES; TRAUTENMUELLER, JONATHAN WILLIAM; et al. Forest inventory with high-density UAV-Lidar: Machine learning approaches for predicting individual tree attributes. COMPUTERS AND ELECTRONICS IN AGRICULTURE, v. 179, DEC 2020. (18/21338-3, 19/14697-0)

DALLA CORTE, ANA PAULA; DA CUNHA NETO, ERNANDES M.; REX, FRANCIEL EDUARDO; SOUZA, DEIVISON; BEHLING, ALEXANDRE; MOHAN, MIDHUN; SANQUETTA, MATEUS NIROH INOUE; SILVA, CARLOS ALBERTO; KLAUBERG, CARINE; SANQUETTA, CARLOS ROBERTO; et al. igh-Density UAV-LiDAR in an Integrated Crop-Livestock-Forest System: Sampling Forest Inventory or Forest Inventory Based on Individual Tree Detection (ITD. RONE, v. 6, n. 2, FEB 2022. (18/21338-3)

ROSENFIELD, MILENA F. F.; JAKOVAC, CATARINA C. C.; VIEIRA, DANIEL L. M.; POORTER, LOURENS; BRANCALION, PEDRO H. S.; VIEIRA, IMA C. G.; DE ALMEIDA, DANILO R. A.; MASSOCA, PAULO; SCHIETTI, JULIANA; ALBERNAZ, ANA LUISA M.; et al. Ecological integrity of tropical secondary forests: concepts and indicators. BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS, v. N/A, p. 15-pg., 2022-12-01. (18/18416-2, 18/21338-3)