@article{fdi:010090276,
  title = {{V}alidation of the {DART} model for airborne laser scanner simulations on complex forest environments},
  author = {de {B}oissieu, {F}. and {H}euschmidt, {F}. and {L}auret, {N}. and {E}bengo, {D}. {M}. and {V}incent, {G}r{\'e}goire and {F}{\'e}ret, {J}. {B}. and {Y}in, {T}. {A}. and {G}astellu-{E}tchegorry, {J}. {P}. and {C}osteraste, {J}. and {L}ef{\`e}vre-{F}onollosa, {M}. {J}. and {D}urrieu, {S}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{W}ith the recent progresses in lidar technology for {E}arth remote sensing, the development of a reliable lidar simulator is becoming central in order to define specifications for new sensors, perform intercomparisons, train machine learning algorithms, and help transferring information from one scale to another. {T}he discrete anisotropic radiative transfer ({DART}) model includes such a lidar simulator. {A}lthough already tested on several virtual scenes, the {DART} outputs still need to be rigorously evaluated against actual sensor acquisitions, especially on real complex scenes of various forest types, such as dense tropical forests. {T}hat is the purpose of the present study. {A} real airborne laser scanner ({ALS}) with full-waveform capacity was first radiometrically calibrated on targets of measured reflectance. {T}he properties of the {ALS} system were then introduced in the {DART} model, along with a 3-{D} virtual scene built from terrestrial laser scans and spectroscopic measurements acquired on a forest plot near the calibration site. {F}inally, an {ALS} acquisition was simulated and the shape and magnitude of the waveforms were compared with real acquisitions. {T}he comparison between measured and simulated data was performed at different scales by aggregating waveform samples into a 3-{D} grid with a vertical resolution of 1 m and a horizontal resolution ranging from 2 to 80 m. {R}esults showed a high similarity between simulated and measured waveforms at all scales with {R}-2>0.9 and {NRMSE}<10%. {T}hese promising results open up numerous perspectives for improved spaceborne and airborne lidar data processing and for the development of new systems.},
  keywords = {3-{D} ; discrete anisotropic radiative transfer ({DART}) ; forest ; lidar ; point cloud ; radiative transfer model ; simulation ; waveform},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{I}eee {J}ournal of {S}elected {T}opics in {A}pplied {E}arth {O}bservations and {R}emote {S}ensing},
  volume = {16},
  numero = {},
  pages = {8379--8394},
  ISSN = {1939-1404},
  year = {2023},
  DOI = {10.1109/jstars.2023.3302030},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010090276},
}