Terrestrial LiDAR-derived non-destructive woody biomass estimates for 10 hardwood species in Virginia.

This article contains data related to the research article entitled "Assessing terrestrial laser scanning for developing non-destructive biomass allometry" (Stovall et al., 2018 [1]) and presents 258 terrestrial LiDAR-derived estimates of tree volume and biomass. The terrestrial LiDAR acquisitions were completed in the Center for Tropical Forest Science - Forest Global Earth Observatory (CTFS-ForestGEO) plot in Front Royal, Virginia, USA. The data includes tree diameter at breast height (DBH), total tree height, tree length (correcting for tree lean), average wood density, estimated wood volume, and dry weight or biomass for all trees. These data were used to develop aboveground biomass models [1] and the reader is referred to this study for additional information, interpretation, and reflection on applying this data.

Specifications Table

Value of the data

Volumetric data are useful for studies of wood allocation in 10 dominant species on the East Coast of the United States.

The data provide information useful for estimating forest carbon storage in hardwood forests in the United States.

The data can be used as-is or combined with regionally similar measurements to create high sample size allometry including large diameter and height trees.

Data

We present data on terrestrial LiDAR-based tree-level estimates of diameter at breast height (DBH), height, length, volume, and biomass (Table 1; Fig. 1). Average species-specific wood density is presented for each individual measurement and was used to convert volume estimates into biomass estimates.

Table 1

Terrestrial LiDAR-derived diameter, length, height, and estimated volume and biomass values for 259 trees. Average wood density values [2] were used to convert volume estimates to biomass and are given for reference.

Genus	Species	Wood Density (g/m3)	DBH (cm)	Length (m)	Height (m)	Volume (m3)	Biomass (kg)
Carya	Carya cordiformis	0.62	7.71	8.38	7.96	0.0221	13.7
Carya	Carya cordiformis	0.62	11.50	10.87	10.80	0.1175	72.8
Carya	Carya cordiformis	0.62	12.39	7.29	7.11	0.0508	31.5
Carya	Carya cordiformis	0.62	12.87	14.03	13.87	0.1219	75.6
Carya	Carya cordiformis	0.62	17.80	13.53	13.49	0.1028	63.7
Carya	Carya cordiformis	0.62	18.19	14.99	14.76	0.5184	321.4
Carya	Carya cordiformis	0.62	22.87	25.50	25.20	0.7234	448.5
Carya	Carya cordiformis	0.62	26.89	14.45	14.37	0.7975	494.4
Carya	Carya cordiformis	0.62	29.23	26.85	26.68	1.3765	853.4
Carya	Carya cordiformis	0.62	36.19	29.70	29.51	1.9152	1187.4
Carya	Carya cordiformis	0.62	39.61	24.42	24.20	1.6606	1029.6
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	3.85	7.97	7.90	0.0175	10.8
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	5.03	7.98	7.94	0.0356	22.1
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	5.10	7.77	7.66	0.0128	7.9
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	5.87	8.45	8.16	0.0198	12.3
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	6.00	8.35	8.30	0.0283	17.5
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	6.00	8.52	8.34	0.0160	9.9
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	6.05	9.31	9.22	0.0171	10.6
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	6.12	9.45	9.25	0.0192	11.9
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	6.57	10.01	9.91	0.0272	16.9
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	6.68	7.69	7.63	0.0171	10.6
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	7.03	7.81	7.69	0.0237	14.7
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	7.34	8.63	7.61	0.0269	16.7
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	7.35	7.12	7.08	0.0271	16.8
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	8.11	9.68	9.45	0.0292	18.1
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	8.30	9.38	9.32	0.0294	18.2
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	8.32	7.78	7.72	0.0128	7.9
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	8.40	11.22	11.09	0.0891	55.2
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	8.47	9.58	9.14	0.0303	18.8
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	9.30	9.69	9.46	0.0523	32.4
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	9.32	8.03	7.87	0.0353	21.9
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	9.93	11.59	11.53	0.0962	59.6
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	10.95	9.02	8.11	0.1580	98.0
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	11.24	12.05	12.01	0.1309	81.2
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	12.15	8.95	8.73	0.0681	42.2
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	12.53	13.83	13.61	0.1687	104.6
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	12.70	12.14	11.85	0.1788	110.8
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	12.91	12.79	12.75	0.1348	83.6
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	13.28	15.21	15.18	0.1433	88.8
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	16.12	11.90	11.39	0.1546	95.9
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	16.35	13.40	13.38	0.1653	102.5
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	16.47	11.64	11.21	0.1582	98.1
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	16.50	19.32	19.24	0.2124	131.7
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	17.90	17.58	17.45	0.3598	223.1
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	18.21	20.92	20.43	0.3606	223.6
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	18.73	16.15	16.02	0.2903	180.0
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	20.00	19.53	19.44	0.4231	262.3
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	20.70	17.89	17.81	0.3278	203.2
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	20.97	21.43	20.78	0.4328	268.4
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	21.60	22.37	22.36	0.4932	305.8
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	22.05	16.47	16.31	0.6298	390.5
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	22.05	19.04	18.75	0.5651	350.3
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	22.15	21.15	21.06	0.5966	369.9
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	23.00	24.29	24.27	0.8904	552.0
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	23.52	18.40	18.14	0.4994	309.6
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	23.68	16.37	15.77	0.3855	239.0
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	24.85	18.34	18.26	0.6733	417.4
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	25.10	23.79	23.47	0.9752	604.6
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	25.28	23.66	23.45	0.8346	517.5
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	26.35	20.96	20.78	0.7954	493.1
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	26.84	22.19	21.86	0.7858	487.2
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	27.02	24.77	24.75	1.0007	620.4
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	29.40	25.31	25.15	0.9404	583.0
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	30.78	23.19	22.77	1.1520	714.2
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	32.99	26.56	26.08	1.3835	857.8
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	34.91	20.37	20.33	1.1856	735.1
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	35.46	26.74	26.34	1.1094	687.8
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	35.89	30.10	29.87	2.0202	1252.5
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	36.90	32.10	31.71	2.0937	1298.1
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	38.00	28.67	28.55	2.3327	1446.3
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	39.24	30.34	30.14	1.9271	1194.8
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	42.10	27.02	26.95	2.7890	1729.1
Carya	Carya glabra	0.62	46.51	29.64	28.88	3.3860	2099.3
Carya	Carya ovalis	0.62	6.50	7.48	7.31	0.0141	8.8
Carya	Carya ovalis	0.62	9.51	12.65	12.39	0.0561	34.8
Carya	Carya ovalis	0.62	11.27	11.77	11.74	0.1032	64.0
Carya	Carya ovalis	0.62	14.35	17.30	17.17	0.1927	119.5
Carya	Carya ovalis	0.62	18.50	20.40	20.25	0.3452	214.0
Carya	Carya ovalis	0.62	18.72	17.91	17.72	0.4297	266.4
Carya	Carya ovalis	0.62	22.59	20.47	20.31	0.8479	525.7
Carya	Carya ovalis	0.62	22.71	22.16	21.91	0.5496	340.7
Carya	Carya ovalis	0.62	27.19	26.26	26.14	1.1507	713.4
Carya	Carya ovalis	0.62	27.42	22.25	22.12	0.8586	532.3
Carya	Carya ovalis	0.62	27.89	27.63	27.59	0.9710	602.0
Carya	Carya ovalis	0.62	28.89	21.27	21.02	0.6063	375.9
Carya	Carya ovalis	0.62	37.35	28.12	27.94	2.6495	1642.7
Carya	Carya ovalis	0.62	38.39	24.11	23.52	2.1089	1307.5
Carya	Carya ovalis	0.62	45.50	28.29	27.96	2.3852	1478.8
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	5.21	7.67	7.36	0.0126	7.8
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	5.48	9.97	9.95	0.0255	15.8
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	5.72	13.38	13.26	0.0460	28.5
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	6.09	8.01	7.87	0.0155	9.6
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	6.68	9.20	8.71	0.0253	15.7
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	6.80	9.82	9.79	0.0248	15.4
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	6.80	7.59	7.58	0.0172	10.7
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	7.31	10.97	10.48	0.0282	17.5
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	7.66	8.37	8.21	0.0131	8.1
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	7.91	9.08	8.89	0.0285	17.7
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	9.60	11.77	11.60	0.0710	44.0
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	10.05	10.76	10.50	0.0872	54.1
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	10.40	13.52	13.27	0.0743	46.0
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	10.45	12.19	12.09	0.0599	37.2
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	10.61	9.18	9.03	0.0295	18.3
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	10.77	12.35	11.85	0.0781	48.4
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	12.05	15.72	15.54	0.1109	68.7
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	12.58	13.70	13.45	0.1119	69.4
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	12.79	12.99	12.21	0.1235	76.6
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	16.90	10.58	10.43	0.1860	115.3
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	18.40	28.85	28.82	0.6269	388.7
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	19.36	19.68	18.69	0.3544	219.8
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	20.04	19.84	19.81	0.4635	287.4
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	20.16	16.07	16.01	0.2499	154.9
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	20.20	19.86	19.51	0.4128	255.9
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	21.23	20.10	20.01	0.4712	292.1
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	22.61	17.69	17.53	0.5398	334.7
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	23.40	18.02	17.97	0.6152	381.4
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	24.02	23.81	23.63	0.5427	336.5
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	26.24	24.06	23.60	0.9872	612.1
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	30.39	28.94	28.38	1.8986	1177.1
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	31.62	28.39	28.02	1.0139	628.6
Carya	Carya tomentosa	0.62	41.07	29.26	29.11	2.6463	1640.7
Fagus	Fagus grandifolia	0.56	6.26	8.31	8.12	0.0210	11.8
Fagus	Fagus grandifolia	0.56	6.75	11.33	11.16	0.1120	62.7
Fagus	Fagus grandifolia	0.56	7.15	9.53	9.37	0.0360	20.2
Fagus	Fagus grandifolia	0.56	8.09	8.73	8.70	0.0338	18.9
Fagus	Fagus grandifolia	0.56	9.33	8.89	8.84	0.0391	21.9
Fagus	Fagus grandifolia	0.56	9.97	11.27	11.06	0.0696	39.0
Fagus	Fagus grandifolia	0.56	12.62	9.88	9.52	0.0673	37.7
Fagus	Fagus grandifolia	0.56	15.13	15.46	15.40	0.2102	117.7
Fagus	Fagus grandifolia	0.56	16.65	17.57	17.56	0.2597	145.4
Fagus	Fagus grandifolia	0.56	16.99	19.03	18.92	0.2874	160.9
Fagus	Fagus grandifolia	0.56	19.42	18.21	18.15	0.4179	234.0
Fagus	Fagus grandifolia	0.56	20.04	20.06	20.02	0.3798	212.7
Fagus	Fagus grandifolia	0.56	20.95	18.77	18.46	0.6326	354.2
Fagus	Fagus grandifolia	0.56	22.20	18.65	18.58	0.7128	399.2
Fagus	Fagus grandifolia	0.56	25.60	14.38	14.35	0.4182	234.2
Fagus	Fagus grandifolia	0.56	26.95	20.74	20.68	0.9607	538.0
Fagus	Fagus grandifolia	0.56	28.18	21.70	21.67	1.1058	619.2
Fagus	Fagus grandifolia	0.56	30.63	27.46	27.19	1.2568	703.8
Fagus	Fagus grandifolia	0.56	36.50	28.20	27.86	2.8419	1591.4
Fagus	Fagus grandifolia	0.56	104.68	33.95	33.66	19.9617	11,178.6
Fraxinus	Fraxinus americana	0.55	7.75	10.52	9.85	0.0424	23.3
Fraxinus	Fraxinus americana	0.55	9.65	9.60	9.57	0.0382	21.0
Fraxinus	Fraxinus americana	0.55	11.25	9.88	9.68	0.0563	30.9
Fraxinus	Fraxinus americana	0.55	11.30	10.24	10.26	0.0881	48.5
Fraxinus	Fraxinus americana	0.55	11.95	11.73	11.70	0.0883	48.6
Fraxinus	Fraxinus americana	0.55	12.89	13.56	13.47	0.1638	90.1
Fraxinus	Fraxinus americana	0.55	13.58	11.80	11.58	0.0845	46.5
Fraxinus	Fraxinus americana	0.55	14.55	13.93	13.87	0.1211	66.6
Fraxinus	Fraxinus americana	0.55	15.60	12.30	12.16	0.1917	105.5
Fraxinus	Fraxinus americana	0.55	18.24	13.83	12.13	0.2706	148.9
Fraxinus	Fraxinus americana	0.55	26.49	22.55	22.01	0.7270	399.8
Fraxinus	Fraxinus americana	0.55	26.65	21.21	21.04	0.8340	458.7
Fraxinus	Fraxinus americana	0.55	45.36	31.77	31.66	3.2010	1760.5
Fraxinus	Fraxinus americana	0.55	45.98	26.38	25.20	2.7579	1516.9
Fraxinus	Fraxinus americana	0.55	52.31	31.83	31.68	4.9595	2727.7
Fraxinus	Fraxinus americana	0.55	54.98	28.59	28.33	4.7316	2602.4
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	9.91	10.34	10.21	0.0928	37.1
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	13.12	13.76	9.83	0.1365	54.6
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	16.19	14.63	14.57	0.2860	114.4
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	16.49	14.67	14.36	0.2452	98.1
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	17.79	17.25	17.25	0.2826	113.0
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	17.95	17.87	17.42	0.4249	169.9
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	18.43	19.07	18.87	0.3040	121.6
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	18.65	14.81	14.78	0.3165	126.6
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	19.14	19.87	19.78	0.3695	147.8
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	20.78	14.78	14.75	0.3411	136.5
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	22.55	19.01	18.44	0.4812	192.5
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	26.21	22.28	22.10	0.7653	306.1
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	26.27	27.50	27.50	1.1147	445.9
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	28.00	28.84	28.74	1.0793	431.7
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	28.63	21.79	21.48	0.8903	356.1
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	31.75	27.49	26.61	1.1447	457.9
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	32.48	28.73	28.43	1.1913	476.5
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	34.82	29.33	29.28	1.5505	620.2
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	36.60	29.87	29.72	1.7776	711.0
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	39.97	28.23	28.21	2.4107	964.3
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	40.45	31.17	31.15	2.9096	1163.8
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	44.18	27.98	27.95	2.4287	971.5
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	46.40	31.71	31.64	3.1674	1267.0
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	46.70	32.38	32.02	3.5239	1409.6
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	49.23	31.93	31.67	4.3199	1728.0
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	49.27	35.08	34.97	4.1313	1652.5
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	49.42	35.52	35.53	3.2531	1301.2
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	50.18	30.20	30.00	4.6933	1877.3
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	51.34	32.78	32.58	4.4997	1799.9
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	51.39	32.70	32.24	4.0959	1638.4
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	51.55	32.00	31.97	3.8751	1550.0
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	52.05	31.36	31.35	4.4293	1771.7
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	53.68	31.59	31.50	4.6408	1856.3
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	54.32	32.21	32.06	4.0605	1624.2
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	54.62	31.48	31.42	5.4405	2176.2
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	57.21	34.59	34.30	5.1119	2044.7
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	59.34	33.65	33.53	6.1902	2476.1
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	59.73	32.22	31.59	6.6975	2679.0
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	60.23	37.39	36.72	5.1696	2067.8
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	63.87	37.19	36.72	6.3242	2529.7
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	65.25	36.70	36.67	6.8760	2750.4
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	71.69	33.35	32.62	5.7211	2288.4
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	71.72	33.14	33.09	9.8612	3944.5
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	72.65	36.64	36.43	8.0814	3232.6
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	74.00	32.96	32.91	7.0123	2804.9
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	82.11	32.57	32.52	9.9237	3969.5
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	103.61	34.52	33.88	16.7140	6685.6
Liriodendron	Liriodendron tulipifera	0.4	120.09	34.12	33.95	25.1986	10,079.4
Quercus	Quercus alba	0.6	20.75	15.72	15.44	0.3391	203.4
Quercus	Quercus alba	0.6	24.29	20.93	20.92	0.7266	435.9
Quercus	Quercus alba	0.6	27.55	25.64	24.78	1.1062	663.7
Quercus	Quercus alba	0.6	28.92	25.11	24.94	1.3091	785.4
Quercus	Quercus alba	0.6	30.24	23.52	23.25	1.0483	629.0
Quercus	Quercus alba	0.6	33.64	26.18	21.72	1.0952	657.1
Quercus	Quercus alba	0.6	37.90	27.52	27.48	1.3259	795.5
Quercus	Quercus alba	0.6	39.32	25.25	24.92	2.2275	1336.5
Quercus	Quercus alba	0.6	46.43	27.68	27.04	3.4182	2050.9
Quercus	Quercus alba	0.6	48.52	28.22	27.99	4.1909	2514.6
Quercus	Quercus alba	0.6	48.77	29.91	28.77	2.6920	1615.2
Quercus	Quercus alba	0.6	48.80	27.32	26.63	4.2608	2556.5
Quercus	Quercus alba	0.6	49.35	28.11	27.77	2.4510	1470.6
Quercus	Quercus alba	0.6	51.40	30.16	29.73	5.9124	3547.4
Quercus	Quercus alba	0.6	54.48	31.23	30.84	3.9714	2382.9
Quercus	Quercus alba	0.6	58.39	31.63	31.54	5.2404	3144.2
Quercus	Quercus alba	0.6	59.24	31.01	30.21	7.7732	4663.9
Quercus	Quercus alba	0.6	61.78	27.38	27.29	6.2910	3774.6
Quercus	Quercus alba	0.6	65.55	31.57	30.92	8.9610	5376.6
Quercus	Quercus alba	0.6	65.58	28.24	27.71	5.5006	3300.4
Quercus	Quercus alba	0.6	67.25	29.84	29.74	6.1302	3678.1
Quercus	Quercus alba	0.6	68.38	28.22	28.18	4.8958	2937.5
Quercus	Quercus alba	0.6	69.00	24.61	24.36	4.6297	2777.8
Quercus	Quercus alba	0.6	72.57	29.56	29.43	8.2607	4956.4
Quercus	Quercus alba	0.6	76.25	32.12	31.57	7.7188	4631.3
Quercus	Quercus prinus	0.57	11.09	8.74	8.45	0.0529	30.2
Quercus	Quercus prinus	0.57	20.52	20.12	19.27	0.3394	193.5
Quercus	Quercus prinus	0.57	27.30	24.98	23.81	1.1316	645.0
Quercus	Quercus prinus	0.57	27.60	22.56	22.02	0.7023	400.3
Quercus	Quercus prinus	0.57	34.49	28.69	28.40	1.3449	766.6
Quercus	Quercus prinus	0.57	34.50	23.67	22.27	1.4853	846.6
Quercus	Quercus prinus	0.57	34.89	25.96	25.87	1.6700	951.9
Quercus	Quercus prinus	0.57	45.77	27.90	27.67	3.1537	1797.6
Quercus	Quercus prinus	0.57	45.92	29.04	28.55	2.4434	1392.7
Quercus	Quercus prinus	0.57	49.25	29.33	29.26	4.3448	2476.5
Quercus	Quercus prinus	0.57	49.61	28.21	27.66	3.4979	1993.8
Quercus	Quercus rubra	0.56	12.95	17.00	16.91	0.1681	94.1
Quercus	Quercus rubra	0.56	14.60	17.50	17.16	0.2639	147.8
Quercus	Quercus rubra	0.56	22.82	19.80	19.42	0.5074	284.1
Quercus	Quercus rubra	0.56	26.42	21.84	21.66	0.7446	417.0
Quercus	Quercus rubra	0.56	33.70	30.86	30.73	1.6514	924.8
Quercus	Quercus rubra	0.56	38.72	30.01	29.51	2.2446	1257.0
Quercus	Quercus rubra	0.56	39.20	29.03	28.95	2.1682	1214.2
Quercus	Quercus rubra	0.56	46.68	28.68	28.09	3.7137	2079.7
Quercus	Quercus rubra	0.56	50.10	28.13	27.75	3.6146	2024.2
Quercus	Quercus rubra	0.56	52.93	28.68	28.27	3.2259	1806.5
Quercus	Quercus rubra	0.56	54.29	26.31	26.05	3.2712	1831.9
Quercus	Quercus rubra	0.56	60.00	31.05	30.62	5.2432	2936.2
Quercus	Quercus rubra	0.56	65.09	31.91	31.81	7.1455	4001.5
Quercus	Quercus rubra	0.56	68.56	31.17	31.16	4.8611	2722.2
Quercus	Quercus rubra	0.56	70.50	30.59	29.38	8.8624	4962.9
Quercus	Quercus rubra	0.56	91.20	30.67	30.58	12.7166	7121.3
Quercus	Quercus rubra	0.56	92.60	30.73	29.99	9.9249	5557.9

Fig. 1

Log10-scaled summary distributions of tree-level [A] diameter, [B] height, [C] volume, and [D] biomass for use in allometric equation development.

Experimental design, materials, and methods

We detail the terrestrial LiDAR sampling and post-processing method thoroughly in Refs. [1], [3]. A summary of the steps required to derive volume and biomass estimates from raw TLS data are outlined below.

Field-based measurements of DBH were collected during the same sampling season as the TLS acquisitions and used to validate the TLS-derived estimates. The presented tree measurements were collected across 14 1/10th ha circular plots. At each plot, we collected 5–6 TLS scans with a resolution totaling 28.2 pulses per scan, positioned approximately at the center and the four cardinal directions. Scans were registered using multiple registration points with an average error of less than 1 cm.

Registered point cloud data were imported into Computree software [4] and SimpleTree [5] to estimate tree dimensions and create the volumetric tree models (Fig. 2). Tree diameter is estimated by fitting a cylinder at DBH height (1.3 m above ground). Tree height is defined as the distance from the lowest point to the highest point in the tree point cloud. Tree length is calculated similar to height, but, instead, measures the length of the approximate axis of the tree, from tree trunk to crown top. The volumetric tree models are derived from a series of three-dimensional cylinder objects fit to the LiDAR point cloud for estimates of trunk and branch diameter across the tree or interest. Total tree volume was derived by summing all cylinder fits on a per-tree basis. Average species specific wood density was used to convert estimates of wood volume into biomass. While average wood density is given in these data, regionally-derived species-specific wood density can easily be substituted for alternative biomass estimates.

Fig. 2

Example terrestrial LiDAR [A] point cloud and associated [B] three dimensional model. The modelling procedure allows for estimates of tree level diameter, height, volume, and biomass for use in allometric equation development.

Subject area	Ecology
More specific subject area	Forestry
Type of data	Table
How data was acquired	Multi-position terrestrial laser scanning and 3D modeling with Computree and SimpleTree software.
Data format	Raw and processed
Experimental factors	Volume was estimated with 3D modeling using Computree and SimpleTree software. Volume estimates are approximately 5–15% accurate and nearly unbiased compared to destructive measurements. Average species-specific wood densities derived from[2]were applied to volume estimates for estimates of biomass. Independent validation of wood density shows error to be approximately 5%.
Experimental features	Data were collected focusing on the 10 dominant species at the site.
Data source location	Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute near Front Royal, VA, USA (38°53׳36.6" N, 78°8׳43.4" W)
Data accessibility	Included with article
Related research article	Stovall, Atticus E. L., Texiera-Anderson, Kristina, Shugart, Herman H., Assessing terrestrial laser scanning for developing non-destructive biomass allometry. Forest Ecology and Management (2018) 427, 217-229.