{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,12]],"date-time":"2025-10-12T02:31:37Z","timestamp":1760236297819,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"22","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,17]],"date-time":"2021-11-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1637107200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004543","name":"China Scholarship Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["201306510005"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["201306510005"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004543","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Conventional mathematically based procedures in forest data processing have some problems, such as deviations between the natural tree and the tree described using mathematical expressions, and manual selection of equations and parameters. These problems are rooted at the algorithmic level. Our solution for these problems was to process raw data using simulated physical processes as replacements of conventional mathematically based procedures. In this mechanism, we treated the data points as solid objects and formed virtual trees. Afterward, the tree parameters were obtained by the external physical detection, i.e., computational virtual measurement (CVM). CVM simulated the physical behavior of measurement instruments in reality to measure virtual trees. Namely, the CVM process was a pure (simulated) physical process. In order to verify our assumption of CVM, we developed the virtual water displacement (VWD) application. VWD could extract stem volume from an artificial stem (consisted of 2000 points) by simulating the physical scenario of a water displacement method. Compared to conventional mathematically based methods, VWD removed the need to predefine the shape of the stem and minimized human interference. That was because VWD utilized the natural contours of the stem through the interaction between the point cloud and the virtual water molecules. The results showed that the stem volume measured using VWD was 29,636 cm3 (overestimation at 6.0%), where the true volume was 27,946 cm3. The overall feasibility of CVM was proven by the successful development of VWD. Meanwhile, technical experiences, current limitations, and potential solutions were discussed. We considered CVM as a generic method that focuses the objectivity at the algorithmic level, which will become a noteworthy development direction in the field of forest data processing in the future.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs13224627","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,17]],"date-time":"2021-11-17T09:16:11Z","timestamp":1637140571000},"page":"4627","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Processing Point Clouds Using Simulated Physical Processes as Replacements of Conventional Mathematically Based Procedures: A Theoretical Virtual Measurement for Stem Volume"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9596-4547","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zhichao","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Earth Observation, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Grietgasse 6, 07747 Jena, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yan-Jun","family":"Shen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Agricultural Water Resources, The Innovative Academy of Seed Design (INASEED), Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 286 Huaizhong Road, Shijiazhuang 050021, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xiaoyuan","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Material Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology (BUCT), North Third Ring Road 15, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100029, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yao","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6182-1249","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Christiane","family":"Schmullius","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Earth Observation, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Grietgasse 6, 07747 Jena, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1452","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1155359","article-title":"Predictive models of forest dynamics","volume":"320","author":"Purves","year":"2008","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"46","DOI":"10.1186\/s40663-020-00261-0","article-title":"A century of National Forest Inventory in Norway\u2013informing past, present, and future decisions","volume":"7","author":"Breidenbach","year":"2020","journal-title":"For. 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