520 LiDAR as a Valuable Information Source for Habitat Mapping Sander MÜCHER 1 , Laure ROUPIOZ 1 , Henk KRAMER 1 , Michel WOLTERS 1 , Marion BOGERS 1 , Richard LUCAS 2 , Peter BUNTING 2 , Zisis PETROU 3 , Vasiliki KOSMIDOU 3 , Ioannis MANAKOS 3 , Emilio PADOA-SCHIOPPA 4 , Gentile Francesco FICETOLA 4 , Anna BONARDI 4 , Maria ADAMO 5 and Palma BLONDA 5 1 ALTERRA, Wageningen/Netherlands · sander.mucher@wur.nl 2 Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University/UK 3 Centre for Research & Technology Hellas, Thessaloniki/Greece 4 Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca, Milano/Italy 5 CNR-ISSIA, Bari/Italy This contribution was double-blind reviewed as extended abstract. Abstract Key is the challenge to develop a biodiversity observation system that is transmissible and cost effective. Measuring and reliable reporting of trends and changes in biodiversity requires that data and indicators are collected and analysed in a standard and comparable way. LiDAR is an alternative remote sensing technology that allows to increase the accuracy of biophysical measurements and to extend spatial analysis into the third dimension. The BIO_SOS project shows alternatives to measure habitat diversity as a proxy for biodiversity on the basis of plant life forms. The objective of our study is to assess to what extent LiDAR can be used to map and monitor plant life forms and associated General Habitat Categories (GHCs). The conclusions are that LiDAR provides accurate height mea- surements on shrubs and trees, even in early spring when no leaves are present. Canopy height models as derived from LiDAR and in combination with very high resolution sa- tellite imagery provides a powerful tool with for the identification of plant life forms and as a direct input for spatial modelling of species distribution. Since LiDAR data are not every- where available, finding alternatives for height feature extraction from optical imagery for might be worthwhile. 1 Introduction LiDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging or Laser Imaging Detection And Ranging) is an active remote sensing technique that measures the properties of emitted scattered light to determine the 3D coordinates (x, y, z) and other properties of a distant target (ST-ONGE 2005). To do so, the LiDAR instrument transmits light pulses out to a target and calculates the distance based on light. The time for light pulses to return back to the LiDAR sensor is used to calculate the distance to the target. The “xy” accuracy of the pulse center is typically 0.1–0.5 m. The accuracy in “z” is usually better than 0.2 m. Thus, LiDAR, in con- Jekel, T., Car, A., Strobl, J. & Griesebner, G. (Eds.) (2013): GI_Forum 2013. Creating the GISociety. © Herbert Wichmann Verlag, VDE VERLAG GMBH, Berlin/Offenbach. ISBN 978-3-87907-532-4. © ÖAW Verlag, Wien. eISBN 978-3-7001-7438-7, doi:10.1553/giscience2013s520. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).