US Patent 7720605 Identifying vegetation attributes from LiDAR data

Aspects of the present invention are directed at using LiDAR data to identify attributes of vegetation. In this regard, a method is provided that identifies the location of individual items of vegetation from raw LiDAR data. In one embodiment, the method includes selecting a coordinate position represented in the LiDAR data that generated a return signal. Then, a determination is made regarding whether the selected coordinate position is inside a geographic area allocated to a previously identified item of vegetation. If the selected coordinate position is not within a geographic area allocated to a previously identified item of vegetation, the method determines that the selected coordinate position is associated with a new item of vegetation. In this instance, a digital representation of the new item of vegetation is generated.