To meet the urgent need for high-frequency and automated measurement of tree diameter at breast height in forest ecological monitoring, a continuous measurement device for tree diameter at breast height based on Internet of Things technology is designed and implemented. This device took the ESP32 (a low-cost and low-power microcontroller integrating Wi-Fi and Bluetooth functions launched by Espressif Systems of China) as the core component, integrated high-precision displacement sensors, synchronous belt drive structures and wireless communication modules, and completed the real-time collection of data on the diameter changes of trees at breast height. It simultaneously possessed the efficient storage capacity for collected data as well as the stable remote transmission function. To verify the performance of the device, two different tree species (ash and larch) were selected and a one-year field experiment was carried out in the forest farm on the campus of Northeast Forestry University. The monitoring results showed that this system can accurately reflect the variation characteristics of the diameter at chest height of trees during the growth period and the dormant period. Its measurement error was controlled within 0.1% and was highly consistent with the manual measurement results (R²=0.91). Furthermore, by combining the continuous diameter at breast height data with the measured tree height, a bivariate biomass model was used to calculate the annual carbon sink variation of individual trees, providing a reliable technical path for the dynamic estimation of individual tree carbon storage.
林木胸径持续测量装置的工作逻辑流程框图如图4所示。装置开机后,首先进行系统模块初始化,包括ADC采样、实时时钟、SD卡读写和Wi-Fi连接等功能配置。随后判断是否进入调试模式,若进入则执行相应调试操作;若不进入,则按照预设程序启动正常工作流程。系统周期性读取时间,采集ADC数据以计算实际胸径值,将数据保存至SD卡的同时,通过Wi-Fi上传至云端服务器。在完成数据采集与上传后,装置自动进入深度睡眠模式,等待定时唤醒以开始下一次循环。整个流程体现了装置自动化、智能化的特点,确保了数据采集的高效性与稳定性,为后续的数据分析与处理奠定了坚实基础。当前装置支持Wi-Fi联网上传与本地SD卡存储双模式,在无网络地区也能实现数据断点续存,并可由巡检人员定期导出数据。此外,装置已预留通信模块扩展接口,未来版本计划引入长距离通信(long range,LoRa)或窄带物联网(narrow band internet of things,NB-IoT)等低功耗远距通信技术,以提升其在复杂林区的实际应用能力。
根据测量结果分别计算设备偏差(BIAS,式中记为BIAS)、相对偏差(relative bias,rBIAS,式中记为rBIAS)、均方根误差(root mean square error,RMSE,式中记为RMSE)和相对均方根误差(relative root mean square error,rRMSE,式中记为rRMSE)评价设备的测量精准度,其公式为
LIUL, WUY F, HANZ,et al.The impact of forestry ecological construction attention on the environmental Kuznets curve[J].Forest Engineering,2023,39(6):64-74.
YANGL, XUW H, KONGL,et al.The present situation and prospects of tree diameter measuring methods[J].Journal of Sichuan Forestry Science and Technology,2018,39(2):65-70.
GUANB F.Discussion on improving the measurement accuracy of DBH of sample trees in continuous inventory of forest resources[J].Inner Mongolia Forestry Investigation and Design,2010,33(5):63-64.
CAIS, XINGY Q, DUANMUJ L.Extraction of DBH from filtering out low intensity point cloud by backpack laser scanning[J].Forest Engineering,2021,37(5):12-19.
[13]
LIUL L, ZHANGA W, XIAOS,et al.Single tree segmentation and diameter at breast height estimation with mobile LiDAR[J].IEEE Access,2021,9:24314-24325.
[14]
LIANY N, FENGZ K, HUAIY J,et al.Terrestrial videogrammetry for deriving key forest inventory data:A case study in plantation[J].Remote Sensing,2021,13(16):3138.
[15]
WUX M, ZHOUS Y, XUA J,et al.Passive measurement method of tree diameter at breast height using a smartphone[J].Computers and Electronics in Agriculture,2019,163:104875.
SUNL H, WENGW S, FANGL M,et al.Design and experiment of three-stage measurement method and device for tree DBH[J].Scientia Silvae Sinicae,2021,57(5):130-139.
SUNL H, FENGZ K, SUJ Y,et al.Development and experiment of the portable high precision measurement device for tree DBH[J].Transactions of the Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering,2022,38(15):31-41.
LIUH Y, FENGZ K, HUN,et al.Design and experiment of portable high precision equipment for tree diameter measurement[J].Transactions of the Chinese Society for Agricultural Machinery,2018,49(9):189-194.
[24]
LIS Y, FANGL M, SUNY J,et al.Development of measuring device for diameter at breast height of trees[J].Forests,2023,14(2):192.
[25]
LIANGX L, KANKAREV, HYYPPÄJ,et al.Terrestrial laser scanning in forest inventories[J].ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing,2016,115:63-77.
[26]
WANGP, LIR H, BUG C,et al.Automated low-cost terrestrial laser scanner for measuring diameters at breast height and heights of plantation trees[J].PLoS One,2019,14(1):e0209888.
LIUH R, FANW W, XUY S,et al.Single tree biomass estimation based on UAV LiDAR point cloud[J].Journal of Central South University of Forestry & Technology,2021,41(8):92-99.
MEIX S, DONGL B, CHENG M.Driving factors of carbon sink in natural Larix gmelinii forests based on structural equation models[J].Journal of Beijing Forestry University,2024,46(9):1-10.