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Data

Terrestrial Laser Scans - Riegl VZ400, Raw Instrument Files and Ancillary Data, Australian Field Sites 

Ver: 1.0
Status of Data: onGoing
Update Frequency: asNeeded
Security Classification: unclassified
Record Last Modified: 2025-12-02
Viewed 784 times
Accessed 95 times
Dataset Created: 2013-09-13
Dataset Published: 2022-02-03
Data can be accessed from the following links:
HTTPPoint-of-truth metadata URLHTTPJRSRP Field Data PortalHTTPro-crate-metadata.json
How to cite this collection:
Department of the Environment, T. (2022). Terrestrial Laser Scans - Riegl VZ400, Raw Instrument Files and Ancillary Data, Australian Field Sites. Version 1.0. Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network. Dataset. https://portal.tern.org.au/metadata/2db20e1a-2ef0-4adc-a11b-59134962a50a 
Ground lidar, also known as Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS), is a ranging instrument that provides detailed 3D measurements directly related to the quantity and distribution of plant materials in the canopy. This dataset contains raw instrument data and ancillary data for numerous sites across northern and eastern Australia from 2012 onwards. Scans have been collected using two Riegl VZ400 waveform recording TLS instruments. One is co-owned and operated by the Remote Sensing Centre, Queensland Department of Environment and Science (DES) and the TERN Auscover Brisbane Node, University of Queensland. The second is owned and operated by Wageningen University, Netherlands. Data can be accessed from https://field.jrsrp.com/ by selecting the combinations Field, Ground Lidar. Raw data are accessible by selecting individual locations on the map and then clicking on the TLS scan directory link on the right hand site of the screen.  
Credit
We at TERN acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians throughout Australia, New Zealand and all nations. We honour their profound connections to land, water, biodiversity and culture and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. The following organisations contributed to the data collection: Joint Remote Sensing Research Program, University of Wageningen, University of Adelaide (Ausplots) and CSIRO. This work was funded by the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN), an Australian Government National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) project. We at TERN acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians throughout Australia, New Zealand and all nations. We honour their profound connections to land, water, biodiversity and culture and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. 
Purpose
TLS measurements can be used for applications requiring quantification of vegetation structure parameters, tree and stand reconstruction, and terrain analysis. 
Lineage
Data not provided. 
Method DocumentationData not provided.
Procedure Steps

1. 

Processing: An automated TLS processing system has been developed by the Remote Sensing Centre, Queensland Department of Environment and Science (DES) using the Riegl RiVLib and RiWaveLib C++ libraries and the Sorted Pulse Data Library (SPDLib; Bunting et al., 2013a). Data is made available in published open standards including compress LAS format (LAZ; ASPRS, 2010) and the HDF-5 Sorted Pulse Data format (SPD; Bunting et al., 2013b). 

2. 

Sampling Protocol: See the Terrestrial Laser Scans Protocol for information on sampling protocols and file-naming conventions 

3. 

Field Data Overview: See the Wiki page for the Field Data Overview 

Australia
Temporal Coverage
From 2012-04-30 to on going 
Spatial Resolution

Data not provided.

Vertical Extent

Data not provided.

Data Quality Assessment Scope
There has been no absolute validation of biophysical products produced from the Riegl VZ400 in Australian Ecosystems. An update will be provided in 2022. 
Data Quality Report
Data not provided. 
Data Quality Assessment Outcome
Further comparisons of ground lidar instrumentation and algorithms are being undertaken through the Terrestrial Laser Scanning International Interest Group (TLSIIG; ). See Armston et al. (2013) for further information. 
ANZSRC - FOR
Climate change impacts and adaptation
GCMD Sciences
BIOSPHERE - VEGETATION COVER
Horizontal Resolution
1 meter - < 30 meters
Instruments
Riegl VZ-400 laser scanner
Parameters
returned light energy
x coordinate
y coordinate
z coordinate
Temporal Resolution
irregular
Topic
environment
Author
Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation, Queensland Government
Contact Point
Data Enquiries, Earth Observation and Social Sciences (EOSS)
Publisher
Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
Calders, K., Armston, J., Newnham, G. Herold, M., Goodwin, N. 2014, Implications of sensor configuration and topography on vertical plant profiles derived from terrestrial LiDAR. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology.
Bunting, P., Armston, J., Clewley, D., Lucas, R., 2013b. Sorted pulse data (SPD) library. Part II: A processing framework for lidar data from pulsed laser systems in terrestrial environments. Computers & Geosciences, 56: 207-215.
Bunting, P., Armston, J., Lucas, R., Clewley, D., 2013a. Sorted pulse data (SPD) library. Part I: A generic file format for lidar data from pulsed laser systems in terrestrial environments. Computers & Geosciences, 56: 197-206.
Newnham, G., Armston, J., Muir, J., Goodwin, N., Culvenor, D., Pusche, P., Nystrom, M., Johansen, K., 2012. Evaluation of terrestrial laser scanners for measuring vegetation structure. CSIRO Sustainable Agriculture Flagship
Armston, J., et al., 2013. Intercomparison of terrestrial laser scanning instruments for assessing forested ecosystems: a Brisbane field experiment. American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2013, abstract id. B11G-0443
Supplemental Information
Download csv / shapefile for instrument file location and ancillary site information. 
Resource Specific Usage
Data not provided. 
Environment Description
Data not provided. 
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