Modelling variation in Pinus radiata stem volume and outerwood stress-wave velocity from LiDAR metrics

Background Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) is an established technology that has been shown to provide accurate information on individual-tree and stand-level forest structure. Although LiDAR has been widely used to describe stand structural dimensions the utility of this technology to predict spatial variation in wood quality traits is largely unexplored. This study used LiDAR metrics to predict spatial variation in total stem volume (TSV) and outerwood stress-wave velocity (V) in an even-aged mature forest (25 yrs) of moderate size (stocked area of 217.8 ha). Outerwood stress-wave velocity is a good predictor of modulus of elasticity which is a key performance criterion for structural timber.