Work

Urban Tree Species Identification Based on Crown RGB Point Clouds Using Random Forest and PointNet

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The management and identification of forest species in a city are essential tasks for current administrations, particularly in planning urban green spaces. However, the cost and time required are typically high. This study evaluates the potential of RGB point clouds captured by unnamed aerial vehicles (UAVs) for automating tree species classification. A dataset of 809 trees (crowns) for eight species was analyzed using a random forest classifier and deep learning with PointNet and PointNet++. In the first case, eleven variables such as the normalized red–blue difference index (NRBDI), intensity, brightness (BI), Green Leaf Index (GLI), points density (normalized), and height (maximum and percentiles 10, 50, and 90), produced the highest reliability values, with an overall accuracy of 0.70 and a Kappa index of 0.65. In the second case, the PointNet model had an overall accuracy of 0.62, and 0.64 with PointNet++; using the features Z, red, green, blue, NRBDI, intensity, and BI. Likewise, there was a high accuracy in the identification of the species Populus alba L., and Melaleuca armillaris (Sol. ex Gaertn.) Sm. This work contributes to a cost-effective workflow for urban tree monitoring using UAV data, comparing classical machine learning with deep learning approaches and analyzing the trade-offs.

Source: Remote Sensing

DOI: 10.3390/rs17111863

Authors: Diego Pacheco-Prado, Esteban Bravo-López, Emanuel Martínez, Luis Á. Ruiz

Institutions: Universidad del Azuay, Universitat Politècnica de València, Universidad de Jaén

Language: English

Topic: Remote Sensing and LiDAR Applications

Subfield: Environmental Engineering

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Life on land, Sustainable cities and communities

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,258