A photogrammetric system for dendrometric feature estimation of individual trees

Dendrometry refers to the study of the geometrical dimensions of a tree as an individual entity. This paper presents a dendrometric feature estimation pipeline to calculate the tree height, diameter at breast height (DBH) and the height to the base of the crown (trunk height), taking advantage of the abilities of photogrammetric systems that produce spatially accurate 3D models using a sets of overlapping digital images and in this way, provide a technological dendrometric measurement technique. Tests were carried out on 5 trees. The corresponding 3D models were obtained, then each model was rescaled to a real measure, the data set belonging to the trunk and the crown of the tree were identified and finally, the total tree height, the height at the base of the crown and the diameter at breast height were estimated.