Studies and development of a terrestrial mobile LiDAR scanning for canopy shape assessment

Remote sensing technologies are spreading rapidly such as combination of decision support tools for farm management. Between emerging solutions, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) appears like more responsive to the specific and heterogeneous demands of the agricultural sector. In this context, and in the much more general precision agriculture domain, terrestrial LiDAR may become an effective aid to the characterization and analysis of plants growth. The knowledge of such parameter is one of the constraint for the sustainable management which takes into account the sito-specific requirements and variability (growth / yield / failed areas etc.) within the production units. To this end, some preliminary tests in an experimental olive grove located in Tuscany (Italy) conducted in collaboration with the Department of AeroespacialIngeniería y Mecánica de Fluidos, Área de IngenieríaAgroforestal the University of Seville, were carried out. First results, achieved by comparing digital LiDAR data versus volume measurements made manually or through photogrammetric analysis, have provided substantial results and an overview of the broad potential of this technology.