Processing and classification methods of UAV photogrammetric point clouds for forest structure and fire behaviour analysis

Juan Pedro Carbonell-Rivera

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6724-6780

Spain

Universitat Politécnica de Valencia

Juan Pedro is a Spanish geomatics engineer, born in Córdoba and raised in Valencia. He earned his PhD in Geomatics Engineering from the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), where he focused on developing remote sensing methodologies for fine-scale forest structure characterization and the estimation of fire-related variables using UAV-based digital aerial photogrammetry (UAV-DAP). His research integrated photogrammetric point cloud segmentation and classification using machine learning and deep learning techniques to identify species composition and derive key variables such as aboveground biomass.

Currently, Juan Pedro contributes to national-scale mapping of forest fuel attributes across Canada. His work integrates LiDAR data, radiative transfer simulations, and optical satellite imagery to develop scalable workflows that link LiDAR-derived structure with Landsat time series, enabling the extrapolation of vegetation and fuel characteristics across diverse forest ecosystems.

Luis Ángel Ruiz Fernández

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0073-7259

Spain

Universitat Politècnica de València

Dr. Luis A. Ruiz teaches remote sensing and digital image processing at UPV (Dept. Cartographic Engineering, Geodesy and Photogrammetry), he is a regular visiting lecturer at Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, and has been a visiting researcher at LARSE (OSU), RSGAL (UW), USFS Missoula Fire Sciences and Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences labs. Since 2013 he is editor in chief of the Spanish Journal of Remote Sensing, and since 2022 president of the Spanish Association of Remote Sensing.

His research focuses on LULC classification and change detection using object-oriented image analysis; LiDAR methods and applications in forest structure, attribute estimation and mapping; and the relation of LULC fragmentation metrics and socio-economic variables for the characterization of urban areas. He is currently involved in projects FireMode, GeoTAK, GeoCLIC, UN4DRR and RiceMon.

Javier Estornell Cremades

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0854-5358

Spain

Universitat Politècnica de València

Dr. Javier Estornell teaches remote sensing and GIS in the Universitat Politècnica de València (Campus of Gandia) and belongs to the GeoEnvironmental Cartography and Remote Sensing group (CGAT). Since 2014, he is assistant editor of the Spanish Journal of Remote Sensing. His research interests focus on the application of LiDAR data and satellite images in agriculture, forestry, and coast studies.

Submitted: 2025-06-27

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Accepted:

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Published: 2025-07-25

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4995/raet.2025.24216

Copyright (c) 2025 Juan Pedro Carbonell-Rivera, Luis Ángel Ruiz Fernández, Javier Estornell Cremades

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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This research was not funded

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Autor: Juan Pedro Carbonell-Rivera
Directores: Dr. Luis Ángel Ruiz Fernández y Dr. Javier Estornell Cremades
Lugar: Universitat Politècnica de València
Fecha: 31/03/2025
Calificación: Sobresaliente Cum Laude
Disponible: https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/220802

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References:

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Carbonell-Rivera, J.P., Estornell, J., Ruiz, L.A., Torralba, J., Crespo-Peremarch, P. 2020. Classification of UAV-based photogrammetric point clouds of riverine species using machine learning algorithms: A case study in the Palancia river, Spain. The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences XLIII-B2-2020: 659-666. https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLIII-B2-2020-659-2020

Carbonell-Rivera, J.P., Torralba, J., Estornell, J., Ruiz, L.Á., Crespo-Peremarch, P. 2022. Classification of Mediterranean Shrub Species from UAV Point Clouds. Remote Sensing, 14, 199. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14010199

Carbonell Rivera, J.P., Ruiz Fernández, L.Á., Estornell Cremades, J. 2023. Class3Dp. Available at: https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/193787

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