Dear Satey,

You should try with the free software FUSION by USDA. Altough the software has also some capabilities to reconstruct tree canopy architecture and export results as georeferenced CSV file, you should be cautios when using it considering that forests in India are not as simple to modelise if compared with those for which the algoritm has been tested (Boreal Forests in North America).

http://forsys.cfr.washington.edu/JFSP06/lidar_&_ifsar_tools.htm

Best regards

I have used Terrasolid software (automatic detection) and the results were very various - much better for single trees and line of trees, worse for tree complexes.

I've tested LIDAR data from central Europe with average density of 4p./m2 and 12 p./m2. I have also achieved quite good results by utilizing GIS software. You can try detection of local maxima of DSM/DCM (digital surface model or digital canopy model) that can be produced in any lidar software and even in some GIS ones.

Hello,

I am working on an algorithm to detect individual trees by identifying tree trunks. So you need high density multi pulse airborne LiDAR, where you can identify linear structures of single trunks. This approach provides a principal component based model of the trunks, the tree positions and the tree heights. But an validation of this approach and an analysis of the crown/canopy is not done yet.

If you like get more Information about tree crowns you should take a look at the approaches of Holmgren(2008) and Zhou (2010).

Holmgren, J., Å. Persson, and U. Söderman. "Species identification of individual trees by combining high resolution LiDAR data with multi‐spectral images." International Journal of Remote Sensing 29.5 (2008): 1537-1552.

Zhou, Jia, et al. "Tree crown detection in high resolution optical and LiDAR images of tropical forest." Remote Sensing. International Society for Optics and Photonics, 2010.