Accuracy and time efficiency of a new app developed to source and map single tree data: A comparison to state-of-art LiDAR data collectors in terms of basal area estimates

The growing demand for effectiveness in forestry and the wood supply chain calls for the development of industry-specific digital tools. This study analyzed the accuracy of plot-level basal area estimates and the time efficiency of a new mobile application - Tree Scanner (hereafter referred to as Platform 1), using measurements sourced from a FDJ Trion P1 Scanner PLS (personal laser scanner, hereafter referred to as Platform 2) as a reference, by considering 50 plots of 300 m2 each characterized by a wide diversity in tree biometrics, age, species, and density. The results indicate that the accuracy levels achieved by the mobile application are comparable to those derived from professional Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) scanners (BIAS = 1.950 m2/ha, MAE = 2.292 m2/ha, and RMSE = 3.085 m2/ha). Furthermore, the average measurement time was significantly shorter with Platform 1 (11 s/tree) compared to Platform 2 (51 s/tree), not accounting for the additional processing time required to produce results with Platform 2. This research concludes that Platform 1 represents a promising tool for enhancing the efficiency of data sourcing for forest inventories, offering an alternative that can significantly improve the speed of acquiring crucial information for decision-making.