Projects:

Ecosynth: 3D Tools for Ecology

 

The Ecosynth process generates 3D scans of vegetation from sets of digital photographs acquired at low altitude from light-weight aerial platforms or the ground (Dandois and Ellis 2010).

As illustrated at right, computer vision algorithms generate 3D "point clouds" by building geometry from matching features identified in multiple overlapping photographs. 3D point clouds are then georeferenced and used to make ecological measurements.

The project began in Spring 2009 with support from the USFS and the UMBC CUERE IGERT.

The main Ecosynth page is now here.

   Ecosynth Blog
 - Overall project progres as well as weekly updates from the whole    team on progress with aircraft, cameras, and ecology.
   Subscribe to the Ecosynth Blog by Email



First publication on Ecosynth, in the open-source journal Remote Sensing:

Dandois, J. P. and E. C. Ellis. 2010. Remote sensing of vegetation structure using computer vision. Remote Sensing 2(4):1157-1176. [download]
Funders & Support
USDA USFS Shield    Baltimore Ecosystem Study   
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant DBI 1147089 awarded March 1, 2012. Initial and continuing support provided by the USDA Forest Service joint venture agreement 06-JV-11242300-135. Graduate student support by NSF IGERT 054969 to UMBC CUERE, undergraduate student support from the Baltimore Ecosystem Study DEB-0423476. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Please contact Erle Ellis for more information.