Erik Næsset has created a tool to portray spatially the forest inventory
parameters of interest. He invented a straightforward and practical
method for utilizing airborne laser scanning in combination with forest
field data which automatically produces stand-wise forest data with
high accuracy. The area based method of airborne laser scanning that he
has developed has become a reference against which new inventory
methods are compared.Laser scanning is now a commercially used
practice, making a considerable difference in how forests are
inventoried throughout the world. Cost reductions of typically 40-50 prcent
for forest management inventories have been recorded. Of great
significance is the value of the statistical and economic efficiency
improvements in forest management inventories. The airborne laser
scanning technique is also useful in assessment of many other forest
ecosystem services.Professor Næsset was appointed Professor in 1996.
Since 1997 he has been Professor at the Department for Ecology and
Natural Resource Management at the Norwegian University of Life
Sciences in Ås, Norway.The Wallenberg Prize will be presented by His Majesty, The King of Sweden, at a
ceremony in Stockholm on 3 October. On 4 October, a symposium
will be arranged around the subject of the Prize-winning research and
its impact on the forest and land use issues as well as the forest
products industries.
BREAKING