Fine Classification of Urban Tree Species Based on UAV-Based RGB Imagery and LiDAR Data

Rapid and accurate classification of urban tree species is crucial for the protection and management of urban ecology. However, tree species classification remains a great challenge because of the high spatial heterogeneity and biodiversity. Addressing this challenge, in this study, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based high-resolution RGB imagery and LiDAR data were utilized to extract seven types of features, including RGB spectral features, texture features, vegetation indexes, HSV spectral features, HSV texture features, height feature, and intensity feature. Seven experiments involving different feature combinations were conducted to classify 10 dominant tree species in urban areas with a Random Forest classifier. Additionally, Plurality Filling was applied to further enhance the accuracy of the results as a post-processing method. The aim was to explore the potential of UAV-based RGB imagery and LiDAR data for tree species classification in urban areas, as well as evaluate the effectiveness of the post-processing method. The results indicated that, compared to using RGB imagery alone, the integrated LiDAR and RGB data could improve the overall accuracy and the Kappa coefficient by 18.49% and 0.22, respectively. Notably, among the features based on RGB, the HSV and its texture features contribute most to the improvement of accuracy. The overall accuracy and Kappa coefficient of the optimal feature combination could achieve 73.74% and 0.70 with the Random Forest classifier, respectively. Additionally, the Plurality Filling method could increase the overall accuracy by 11.76%, which could reach 85.5%. The results of this study confirm the effectiveness of RGB imagery and LiDAR data for urban tree species classification. Consequently, these results could provide a valuable reference for the precise classification of tree species using UAV remote sensing data in urban areas.