Purpose of Review

In recent years, the use of 3D point clouds in silviculture and forest ecology has seen a large increase in interest. With the development of novel 3D capture technologies, such as laser scanning, an increasing number of algorithms have been developed in parallel to process 3D point cloud data into more tangible results for forestry applications. From this variety of available algorithms, it can be challenging for users to decide which to apply to fulfil their goals best. Here, we present an extensive overview of point cloud acquisition and processing tools as well as their outputs for precision forestry. We then provide a comprehensive database of 24 algorithms for processing forest point clouds obtained using close-range techniques, specifically ground-based platforms.

Recent Findings

Of the 24 solutions identified, 20 are open-source, two are free software, and the remaining two are commercial products. The compiled database of solutions, along with the corresponding technical guides on installation and general use, is accessible on a web-based platform as part of the COST Action 3DForEcoTech. The database may serve the community as a single source of information to select a specific software/algorithm that works for their requirements.

Summary

We conclude that the development of various algorithms for processing point clouds offers powerful tools that can considerably impact forest inventories in the future, although we note the necessity of creating a standardisation paradigm.

中文翻译：

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森林应用中处理地基点云的软件解决方案综述

 审查目的

近年来，3D 点云在造林和森林生态学中的使用引起了人们的广泛关注。随着激光扫描等新型 3D 捕获技术的发展，越来越多的算法被并行开发，用于将 3D 点云数据处理为林业应用的更具体结果。从各种各样的可用算法中，用户可能很难决定应用哪种算法来最好地实现他们的目标。在这里，我们对点云采集和处理工具及其用于精准林业的输出进行了广泛的概述。然后，我们提供包含 24 种算法的综合数据库，用于处理使用近距离技术（特别是地面平台）获得的森林点云。

 最近的发现

在确定的 24 个解决方案中，20 个是开源的，两个是免费软件，其余两个是商业产品。作为 COST Action 3DForEcoTech 的一部分，可以在基于 Web 的平台上访问已编译的解决方案数据库以及相应的安装和一般使用技术指南。该数据库可以作为单一信息源为社区提供服务，以选择适合其需求的特定软件/算法。

 概括

我们的结论是，尽管我们注意到创建标准化范例的必要性，但用于处理点云的各种算法的开发提供了强大的工具，可以极大地影响未来的森林库存。