To make informed decisions, land managers require knowledge about the state of the ecosystems present. Vegetation structure is a key indicator of the state of forested systems; it influences habitat suitability, water quality and runoff, microclimate, and informs wildfire-related characteristics such as fuel loads, burn severity, and post-fire regeneration. Field data used to derive vegetation structure are limited in spatial and temporal extent. Alternatively, forest growth simulation models estimate vegetation structure, but do not capture all factors influencing vegetation growth. Assessment of vegetation structure can be improved by using observations to derive maps which can be used to calibrate modeled forest structure, leading [...]
