Developments in Airborne Discrete Return Lidar for Stream Habitat Assessments

Airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) is a technology that has advanced rapidly over the past decade, with high resolution data becoming increasingly more available for conducting detailed analyses of natural resources.  Standard products from LiDAR data acquisitions typically include the calibrated point cloud (the foundational dataset), and derived high resolution (1-meter or better) digital elevation models (DEM) and canopy height models (CHM).   While these products can be used for a number of baseline habitat analyses, the metrics needed to quantify and describe channel morphology, attributes of riparian vegetation, and relevant features of stream habitat require further geospatial manipulation.  This presentation will provide an overview of ways in which we can take the LiDAR products further.  We will provide an overview of the extraction and post processing techniques that enable the generation of value-added LiDAR products  which will provide for valuable assessments of  surface water hydrology and vegetation  characterization, including hydro-enforcement, water classification, and classification and segmentation of riparian features.