Paul-

I downloaded and extracted the LiDar LAS Tiled files from the
http://gis1.oit.ohio.gov/geodatadownload/osip.aspx server from the seventh
column after county name(I'm focusing on Summit County right now); from
which column should I download the aerial photos from(second option
mentioned, same server as above)? I have downloaded and installed Fusion.
Thanks for our help---

Steve

On Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 9:39 PM, Paul Jost <[email protected]> wrote:

>  Steve,
>
> You need to download the 2m point cloud Lidar data for your part of
> northern Ohio at:
> http://lidar.cr.usgs.gov/LIDAR_Viewer/
> or the Lidar LAS files from here:
> http://gis1.oit.ohio.gov/geodatadownload/osip.aspx
>
> Then, you need to download the aerial photo of the corresponding area from
> one of these links:
> http://edcsns17.cr.usgs.gov/EarthExplorer/
> http://gis1.oit.ohio.gov/geodatadownload/osip.aspx
> You may need to modify the world files for either the Lidar or imagery
> files to get them into the same units (feet vs. meters) and coordinates
> (UTM, etc.)  Every state is slightly different with regards to imagery
> formats and coordinate systems used, so the process may be slightly
> different for each state.
>
> Finally, download the USFS Fusion software at:
> http://forsys.cfr.washington.edu/fusion/fusionlatest.html
> and the tutorials at:
> http://www.fs.fed.us/eng/rsac/fusion/
>
> Run through them until you are comfortable with the process, then apply
> them to your data.  The command line filters need to be tweaked to a larger
> grid to be used with the coarser public data, and some of the other
> parameters should be tweaked, too.  Create *.bat batch files like the old
> DOS days to run the scripts for the files all at once and to save settings,
> or perform the lines individually with a shortcut/link.
>
> You will need a reasonable fast computer with at least 2GB of memory,
> preferably more.  You may need to disable your virus scanner when doing this
> so that the processor doesn't get slowed down by trying to scan these large
> files.  Don't have email or other applications active while processing large
> files.
>
> When you are ready, I might be of help with setup and procedural issues.
>
> Paul
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Steve Galehouse <[email protected]>
> *To:* [email protected]
> *Sent:* Monday, January 11, 2010 7:38 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [ENTS] Re: Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest LiDAR
> ground-truthing expedition 1-2010
>
> Will-
>
> Great trees! I envy the forests in the Southern Appalachians--we have Mixed
> Mesophytic Lite here in N Ohio.  How accessible are the LiDAR data for other
> parts of the country?
>
> Steve
>
> On Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 8:16 PM, Will Blozan <[email protected]>wrote:
>
>> James,
>>
>> I too hope the tree is there and that tall! I'll include it in a
>> "potential
>> Rucker" when I get the final numbers from Jess. We can also do a historic
>> Rucker- the tallest hemlock is now stone dead.
>>
>> Will F. Blozan
>> President, Eastern Native Tree Society
>> President, Appalachian Arborists, Inc.
>>
>> "No sympathy for apathy"
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On
>> Behalf Of James Parton
>> Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 7:51 PM
>> To: ENTSTrees
>> Subject: [ENTS] Re: Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest LiDAR ground-truthing
>> expedition 1-2010
>>
>>  Will, ENTS.
>>
>> I have always planned on re-visiting and re-measuring that pine I
>> measured there almost two years ago. At the time I measured that pine
>> I was very new to height measuring and still needed much honing on my
>> skills. Still, that tree was really tall. An old scraggly fellow. I
>> don't think my measurements are off that much but still I agree with
>> Will in recommending a re-measure of it. Hopefully it has not fell. I
>> got an e-mail from Josh Kelly stating " There is a 161' LiDAR hit
>> quite near James' point.  I reckon there could be a tall tree there.
>> The point is at least 150' off the trail. ", So LiDAR may indeed show
>> a tall tree at or near that location. I gave Will an approximate
>> location but the tree cannot be missed from the trail, unless it is
>> gone!
>>
>> Another thing I have noted to Will. Joy and I came out barely before
>> dark. Measuring in twilight can be challenging and could intoduce
>> error. But I hope on a re-measure my figure comes out close, or better
>> yet dead-on!
>>
>> Another thing I would like to see. Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest excels
>> in large-girth trees. With my data, Jess's data etc shurely we can do
>> a Rucker Girth Index. That I would like to see!
>>
>>
>> James Parton
>>
>>
>> On Jan 11, 6:43 pm, "Will Blozan" <[email protected]> wrote:
>> > ENTS,
>> >
>> > Last week, I was invited to accompany Josh Kelly, Jess Riddle, and Hugh
>> > Irwin on a trip to Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest in Graham County, NC.
>> The
>> > purpose of the trip was spawned by some unusually high LiDAR canopy
>> height
>> > "hits" in fly-over data Josh had been reviewing. The data set included
>> > several hits in the mid to upper 170's and a few over 180'. Past ENTS
>> trips
>> > to JKMF have not located heights of the magnitude indicated by the data
>> > except for some white pines in the upper 160's and mid 170's. A pine
>> > measured by James Parton in 2008 at 176' is the tallest tree known from
>> this
>> > forest relic, and needs a re-visit to substantiate its current
>> condition.
>> > The current LiDAR data does not indicate a tree of such height in the
>> area;
>> > perhaps it has fallen.
>> >
>> > In general though, most prior trips focused on the "Poplar Loop" in the
>> > productive flats of the lower, heavily visited cove. Canopy heights of
>> > 140-165', though impressive, were not exceptional. Thus, the extreme
>> canopy
>> > hits caused quite a stir in us southern Appalachian tree hunters!
>> >
>> > The main target was a small cove to the south of the famous Poplar Loop
>> > Trail. The LiDAR data indicated a pocket of exceptionally tall and
>> tightly
>> > clustered trees. Josh had seen the area in the summer and was stunned to
>> see
>> > it was not in the old-growth section but an old clear cut near the
>> homestead
>> > of the prior owners of the tract. In the summertime clutter of leaves
>> Josh
>> > was able to substantiate that the trees were indeed tall but would need
>> to
>> > be visited when the leaves were off for best measurements.
>> >
>> > To get to the cove we proceeded off trail from the Poplar Loop and
>> headed
>> up
>> > a small ravine. At the base of the ravine Jess spotted a fine pignut
>> hickory
>> > 10'1" X 141.1' tall. As we progressed further up the ravine I spotted
>> > another pignut of similar size. This one scaled 10'10" X 142.7' tall.
>> The
>> > ravine offered more tall trees; one of the most impressive was another
>> > pignut with perfect form. I shot up in the crown from below and realized
>> it
>> > would exceed 150'- a height that is quite impressive for the species.
>> Jess
>> > zeroed the base as I went upslope to measure the height. WOW! This
>> slender
>> > tree turned out to be 9'10" X 157.5' tall!
>> >
>> > Jess located a huge snag of a tuliptree that had fallen and the immense
>> bulk
>> > had slid down the slope quite a distance. White ash reached 12'4" in
>> girth
>> > and up to 130.7' tall, and also in this cove were a 14'3" X 166.1'
>> tuliptree
>> > and a 8'6" X 130.1' sugar maple. But stealing the show in the upper
>> reaches
>> > of this cove rimmed with frozen cascades was a large bitternut, 9'2" X
>> > 150.3'. Second new species for the site over 150'!
>> >
>> > Having exhausted the tall tree resources of this small cove, we
>> slide-sloped
>> > with great difficulty over the frozen ground into another small cove. We
>> > found nothing of significance in this one and proceeded on to the "hot
>> > spot". We crested the ridge and WHAM! Shafts of arrow straight tuliptree
>> and
>> > other hardwoods dominated the deep but narrow ravine. There was so much
>> > potential in this dense pocket it was hard to know where to start. We
>> began
>> > by shooting up into the crowns to seek out the tall ones and then
>> consulted
>> > the GPS points for the "hits" of tall canopy we were after. Jess was
>> > exclaiming of straight up laser shots into the young trees of 55 yards
>> > (165')! Jess and I stayed upslope to perform the height routines while
>> Josh
>> > and Hugh measured girth and GPS points of the trees.
>> >
>> > The LiDar data was filtered to only show points over 160 feet so shorter
>> > trees- even though exceptional for the species- would not even show up.
>> Thus
>> > "hiding" in the tall forests of tuliptree were trees that don't quite
>> make
>> > it as tall but are none-the-less record breaking for the species. This
>> was
>> > the case with the first tree I measured in the hot spot. This was a
>> black
>> > cherry that looked really tall yet was obviously shorter than the
>> tuliptrees
>> > around it. I found a solid sighting position while Josh measured the
>> girth.
>> > Well, this tree shattered the former height record by 11 feet! At 152.2
>> feet
>> > tall this tree is a new 150 club member!
>> >
>> > Josh and Hugh would walk in the base of the ravine and state that,
>> according
>> > to the LiDAR data there should be a 175' tree within 10 feet or so. Sure
>> > enough, the LiDAR was dead-on. The 178 foot hit was also dead on, and
>> the
>> > 178.1 foot tree is now the tallest tree in JKMF and the second tallest
>> > currently known (The Rucker Tuliptree, formerly 178.2', has died back
>> from
>> > the extreme frost of 2008). In all we measured six tuliptrees over 170'
>> and
>> > there are probably a few more in this one small cove.
>> >
>> > After detailed measurements of the tallest in the ravine we headed up a
>> flat
>> > cove to check out more hot spots and check out a 175' LiDAR return. On
>> the
>> > way Jess spotted a fine white ash that proved to be of exceptional
>> height.
>> > This tree fell below the 160' threshold but not by much! The 9'10" tree
>> > reached an impressive 157.3' tall. More 170+ tulips were scattered in
>> the
>> > small cove we went up, the tallest 174.5'. Jess measured a cucumbertree
>> to
>> > 134.5' and I measured a decent white basswood to 139.7'. In this cove,
>> aside
>> > from the tuliptree, white ash and cherry nothing else made it into the
>> > Rucker Index.
>> >
>> > We headed down to find the 175'+ point. We used the GPS to get to the
>> spot
>> > yet no tree of that height was found. However, a 135 foot tuliptree was
>> > leaning heavy over a small ravine. Guess what? The leaning tree's top
>> was
>> > ~185 feet above the ravine! So, ground-truthing is still a very
>> important
>> > part of the LiDAR process and this error shows that it is certainly not
>> > full-proof. Same happened with a leaning white pine on a steep slope.
>> The
>> > tree was only 149 feet tall but the ground was easily 170 feet below the
>> > top. But, pretty dag-gone awesome to say the least! I was floored at the
>> > height accuracy and the ground placement of the hits. Incredible!
>> >
>> > We wish to point out that no 170+ LiDAR hits in the old-growth have yet
>> > proven to be legitimate; it looks as though the tallest trees in JKMF
>> are
>> > second-growth. This finding is mirrored in the Smokies and other sites
>> as
>> > well. What is also striking about this site is the impressive Rucker
>> Index
>> > is composed of trees in a very small area. This suggests that there is
>> more
>> > to be found in this impressive forest relic!
>> >
>> > So, the current Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest Rucker Index stands at
>> 15#.#:
>> >
>> > Will F. Blozan
>> >
>> > Josh Kelly
>> >
>> > Jess Riddle
>> >
>> > Hugh Irwin
>> >
>> > Eastern Native Tree Society
>>
>>
>
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