Patent ID: 8537337

Claim:
A system for analyzing a canopy of an area of a forest from LiDAR data, comprising: a processor programmed to: analyze a number of LiDAR data point heights to locate a LiDAR data point that represents a tree top; quantify a two-dimensional spatial uniformity of LiDAR data point heights within a grid surrounding a location of the LiDAR data point representing the tree top, wherein the grid includes a number of cells where each cell is smaller than an expected size of the crown of the tree; adjust a size of a first approximation of an area occupied by the tree based on the quantified spatial uniformity of the LiDAR data point heights; and determine if additional LiDAR data points are within the first approximation of the area occupied by the tree and if so adding an area associated with a branch such that the area of the tree can be determined from the first approximation and the added areas associated with the branches.