{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,29]],"date-time":"2026-06-29T14:09:19Z","timestamp":1782742159433,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,12,9]],"date-time":"2017-12-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1512777600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002341","name":"Academy of Finland","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["295337"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["295337"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002341","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The rut formation during forest operations is an undesirable phenomenon. A methodology is being proposed to measure the rut depth distribution of a logging site by photogrammetric point clouds produced by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The methodology includes five processing steps that aim at reducing the noise from the surrounding trees and undergrowth for identifying the trails. A canopy height model is produced to focus the point cloud on the open pathway around the forest machine trail. A triangularized ground model is formed by a point cloud filtering method. The ground model is vectorized using the histogram of directed curvatures (HOC) method to produce an overall ground visualization. Finally, a manual selection of the trails leads to an automated rut depth profile analysis. The bivariate correlation (Pearson\u2019s r) between rut depths measured manually and by UAV photogrammetry is     r = 0.67    . The two-class accuracy a of detecting the rut depth exceeding 20 cm is     a = 0.65    . There is potential for enabling automated large-scale evaluation of the forestry areas by using autonomous drones and the process described.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs9121279","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,12,11]],"date-time":"2017-12-11T12:26:37Z","timestamp":1512995197000},"page":"1279","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":29,"title":["Estimating the Rut Depth by UAV Photogrammetry"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Paavo","family":"Nevalainen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Information Technology, University of Turku, FI-20014 Turku, Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aura","family":"Salmivaara","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Latokartanonkaari 9, FI-00790 Helsinki, Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jari","family":"Ala-Ilom\u00e4ki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Latokartanonkaari 9, FI-00790 Helsinki, Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6611-6573","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Samuli","family":"Launiainen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Latokartanonkaari 9, FI-00790 Helsinki, Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Juuso","family":"Hiedanp\u00e4\u00e4","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mets\u00e4linkki Ltd., Kyl\u00e4mets\u00e4ntie 2 B, FI-28760 Pori, Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Leena","family":"Fin\u00e9r","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Latokartanonkaari 9, FI-00790 Helsinki, Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tapio","family":"Pahikkala","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Information Technology, University of Turku, FI-20014 Turku, Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jukka","family":"Heikkonen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Information Technology, University of Turku, FI-20014 Turku, Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,12,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"124","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foreco.2014.11.022","article-title":"The impact of heavy traffic on forest soils: A review","volume":"338","author":"Cambi","year":"2015","journal-title":"For. Ecol. Manag."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"50","DOI":"10.5751\/ES-05066-170450","article-title":"How forest management affects ecosystem services, including timber production and economic return: Synergies and trade-offs","volume":"17","author":"Duncker","year":"2012","journal-title":"Ecol. Soc."},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"Owende, P., Lyons, J., Haarlaa, R., Peltola, A., Spinelli, R., Molano, J., and Ward, S. (2017, December 08). Operations Protocol for eco-Efficient Wood Harvesting on Sensitive Sites. Available online: http:\/\/www.ucd.ie\/foresteng\/html\/ecowood\/op.pdf."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"383","DOI":"10.1093\/forestry\/cpw009","article-title":"Measuring wheel ruts with close-range photogrammetry","volume":"89","author":"Pierzchala","year":"2016","journal-title":"Forestry"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"89","DOI":"10.1016\/S0378-1127(99)00301-1","article-title":"Shelterwood harvesting in root-disease infected stands\u2014Post-harvest soil disturbance and compaction","volume":"133","author":"Quesnel","year":"2000","journal-title":"For. Ecol. Manag."},{"key":"ref_6","first-page":"60","article-title":"Harvesting damage caused by thinning of Norway spruce in unfrozen soil","volume":"24","author":"Lamminen","year":"2013","journal-title":"Int. J. For. Eng."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"93","DOI":"10.4141\/CJSS06033","article-title":"A modular terrain model for daily variations in machine-specific forest soil trafficability","volume":"89","author":"Murphy","year":"2009","journal-title":"Can. J. Soil Sci."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"99","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foreco.2014.05.056","article-title":"Harvest residue removal and soil compaction impact forest productivity and recovery: Potential implications for bioenergy harvests","volume":"329","author":"Curzon","year":"2014","journal-title":"For. Ecol. Manag."},{"key":"ref_9","unstructured":"PEFC (2010). Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification: PEFC International Standard."},{"key":"ref_10","unstructured":"FSC (2015). Forest Stewardship Council: FSC International Standard, FSC Principles and Criteria for Forest Stewardship."},{"key":"ref_11","unstructured":"Centre, F.F. (2017, December 08). Suomen Mets\u00e4keskuksen Maastotarkastusohje (Field control instructions of Finnish Forest Centre). Available online: http:\/\/www.metsakeskus.fi\/sites\/default\/files\/smk-maastotarkastuohje.2016.pdf."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"118","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foreco.2007.06.037","article-title":"Effects of slash reinforcement of strip roads on rutting and soil compaction on a moist fine-grained soil","volume":"252","author":"Eliasson","year":"2007","journal-title":"For. Ecol. Manag."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1212","DOI":"10.3390\/f5061212","article-title":"Estimating soil displacement from timber extraction trails in steep terrain: Application of an unmanned aircraft for 3D modelling","volume":"5","author":"Talbot","year":"2014","journal-title":"Forests"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.14214\/sf.993","article-title":"The significance of above-ground biomass, moisture content and mechanical properties of peat layer on the bearing capacity of ditched pine bogs","volume":"47","author":"Uusitalo","year":"2013","journal-title":"Silva Fennica"},{"key":"ref_15","unstructured":"Ala-Ilom\u00e4ki, J. (2005). Mets\u00e4isten Turvemaiden Kulkukelpoisuus (Trafficability of Forested Peatlands), Nature Resource Center of Finland (LUKE). Technical Report."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Salmivaara, A., Miettinen, M., Fin\u00e9r, L., Launiainen, S., Korpunen, H., Tuominen, S., Heikkonen, J., Nevalainen, P., Sir\u00e9n, M., and Ala-Ilom\u00e4ki, J. (2018). Wheel rut measurements by forest machine mounted LiDAR sensor. Accuracy and potential for operational applications?. Int. J. For. Eng., submitted.","DOI":"10.1080\/14942119.2018.1419677"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"70","DOI":"10.2136\/sssaj2011.0148","article-title":"A simplified close-range photogrammetric technique for soil erosion assessment","volume":"76","author":"Nouwakpo","year":"2012","journal-title":"Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"14","DOI":"10.1016\/j.still.2016.04.008","article-title":"Using photogrammetry to assess rutting caused by a forwarder\u2014A comparison of different tires and bogie tracks","volume":"163","author":"Haas","year":"2016","journal-title":"Soil Tillage Res."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"386","DOI":"10.3832\/ifor1165-007","article-title":"Use of terrestrial laser scanning to evaluate the spatial distribution of soil disturbance by skidding operations","volume":"8","author":"Suchomel","year":"2015","journal-title":"iForest Biogeosci. For."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"922","DOI":"10.3390\/f4040922","article-title":"A Photogrammetric Workflow for the Creation of a Forest Canopy Height Model from Small Unmanned Aerial System Imagery","volume":"4","author":"Lisein","year":"2013","journal-title":"Forests"},{"key":"ref_21","first-page":"269","article-title":"Automated Classification of Airborne Laser Scanning Point Clouds","volume":"97","author":"Waldhauser","year":"2014","journal-title":"Solving Comput. Expens. Eng. Probl. Math. Stat."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jterra.2016.09.001","article-title":"Predictability of boreal forest soil bearing capacity by machine learning","volume":"68","author":"Pohjankukka","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Terramech."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kim, A.M., and Olsen, R.C. (2012, January 14). Detecting trails in LiDAR point cloud data. Proceedings of the SPIE, Baltimore, MD, USA.","DOI":"10.1117\/12.918631"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"352","DOI":"10.1016\/j.geomorph.2011.09.023","article-title":"Multiscale analysis of geomorphological and geological features in high resolution digital elevation models using the wavelet transform","volume":"138","author":"Kalbermatten","year":"2012","journal-title":"Geomorphology"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Nevalainen, P., Middleton, M., Sutinen, R., Heikkonen, J., and Pahikkala, T. (2016). Detecting Terrain Stoniness From Airborne Laser Scanning Data. Remote Sens., 8.","DOI":"10.3390\/rs8090720"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Desbrun, M., Meyer, M., Schr\u00f6der, P., and Barr, A.H. (1999, January 8\u201313). Implicit Fairing of Irregular Meshes Using Diffusion and Curvature Flow. Proceedings of the 26th Annual Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, SIGGRAPH \u201999, Los Angeles, CA, USA.","DOI":"10.1145\/311535.311576"},{"key":"ref_27","unstructured":"Wu, C. (2017, December 08). Visualsfm: A Visual Structure From Motion System. Available online: http:\/\/ccwu.me\/vsfm\/."},{"key":"ref_28","unstructured":"Agisoft (2012). Agisoft PhotoScan User Manual: Professional Edition, Version 1.1., Agisoft."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"De Berg, M., Cheong, O., van Kreveld, M., and Overmars, M. (2008). Computational Geometry: Algorithms and Applications, Springer. [3rd ed.].","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-540-77974-2"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"193","DOI":"10.1142\/S0218195902000815","article-title":"On Deletion in Delaunay Triangulations","volume":"12","author":"Devillers","year":"2002","journal-title":"Int. J. Comput. Geom. Appl."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mohan, M.M., Silva, C.A., Klauberg, C., and Dia, M. (2017). Individual Tree Detection from Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Derived Canopy Height Model in an Open Canopy Mixed Conifer Forest. Forests, 8.","DOI":"10.3390\/f8090340"},{"key":"ref_32","unstructured":"Dalal, N., and Triggs, B. (2005, January 20\u201325). Histograms of Oriented Gradients for Human Detection. Proceedings of the 2005 IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR\u201905), San Diego, CA, USA."},{"key":"ref_33","unstructured":"Marsico, M.D., di Baja, G.S., and Fred, A.L.N. (2017, January 24\u201326). Triangular Curvature Approximation of Surfaces: Filtering the Spurious Mode. Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Pattern Recognition Applications and Methods, ICPRAM 2017, Porto, Portugal."},{"key":"ref_34","unstructured":"Abramowitz, M. (1974). Handbook of Mathematical Functions, with Formulas, Graphs, and Mathematical Tables, Dover Publications, Incorporated."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Nevalainen, P., Middleton, M., Kaate, I., Pahikkala, T., Sutinen, R., and Heikkonen, J. (2015, January 10\u201313). Detecting stony areas based on ground surface curvature distribution. Proceedings of the 2015 International Conference on Image Processing Theory, Tools and Applications, IPTA 2015, Orleans, France.","DOI":"10.1109\/IPTA.2015.7367215"},{"key":"ref_36","unstructured":"Hutchinson, M.F., and Gallant, J.C. (2000). Terrain Analysis: Principles and Applications, Wiley."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2227","DOI":"10.1109\/TPAMI.2016.2635657","article-title":"Principal Graph and Structure Learning Based on Reversed Graph Embedding","volume":"39","author":"Mao","year":"2017","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Pattern Anal. Mach. Intell."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1392","DOI":"10.3390\/rs4051392","article-title":"An automated technique for generating georectified mosaics from ultra-high resolution unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery, based on structure from motion (SfM) point clouds","volume":"4","author":"Turner","year":"2012","journal-title":"Remote Sens."}],"container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/9\/12\/1279\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T18:53:19Z","timestamp":1760208799000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/9\/12\/1279"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2017,12,9]]},"references-count":38,"journal-issue":{"issue":"12","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,12]]}},"alternative-id":["rs9121279"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/rs9121279","relation":{},"ISSN":["2072-4292"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2072-4292","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2017,12,9]]}}}