Forest dominant height is a fundamental structural attribute that reflects site conditions and forest growth potential. Here we present a nationwide 30 m resolution forest dominant height dataset for China (FDH-30C). The dataset is calibrated using 1,117 km² of high-density unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data distributed across all eight major […]
Effective plant area index (PAIe) is a fundamental metric for characterizing forest vertical structural complexity and ecosystem stability, serving as a critical input for ecological modeling, biodiversity assessment, and forest management. At the canopy stratum level, stratified PAIe reveals light interception and microclimatic heterogeneity, while cumulative total PAIe reflects overall plant material density and canopy […]
In June 2026, LiDAR Principles, Processing and Applications in Forest Ecology (Second Edition) was officially published by Higher Education Press. The book is co-authored by Professor Qinghua Guo, Professor Yanjun Su, Research Assistant Professor Kai Cheng, and Associate Professor Tianyu Hu
The Digital Ecosystem Group discovered and precisely measured the Tibetan cypress, the tallest tree in Asia (102.3 m) and the second tallest tree species in the world. The team also counted the number of trees in China and mapped their distribution across the country. These findings have been featured in a series of high-profile international media outlets, including Live Science, Global Times, China Daily, and others.
On August 12, 2025, the Digital Ecosystem Group was featured in a key news report on CCTV titled “Perceiving Ecological Change,” which highlighted China’s leadership as the world’s fastest and largest contributor to global greening. The full report is available at: https://tv.cctv.com/2025/08/12/VIDEFOvO4gjETKSYyti7T0IG250812.shtml. The coverage focused on the group’s field investigation of giant tree communities in the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon, Xizang, using LiDAR technology.
On August 9, 2025, Prof. Qinghua Guo was invited to CCTV’s renowned program “Voice” (开讲啦), where he shared his team’s long-standing research in forest ecology and remote sensing technology. The full interview is available at http://tv.cctv.com/2025/08/09/VIDEr20Wl6okBovl4DYMDEYl250809.shtml.
During the program, Prof. Guo detailed team’s work on developing China’s first high-resolution tree density distribution map and exploring the Asia’s tallest trees. By combining professional expertise with vivid storytelling, he made ecological science accessible to the public.
On February 28, 2025, the research findings from the Digital Ecosystem Group were featured in BBC Wildlife (Discover Wildlife), with the full report available at https://www.discoverwildlife.com/plant-facts/trees/how-many-trees-are-there-in-china. This pioneering study, published in Science Bulletin, delivers the most detailed assessment of tree abundance and spatial distribution across China to date, achieved by integrating over 400 terabytes of data from 76,000 forest plots with environmental factors and advanced machine-learning algorithms.
GeoAI research Our team is dedicated to frontier research in Geospatial Intelligence (Geo-AI), building a comprehensive technical framework centered on spatiotemporal foundation models. By integrating multi-source heterogeneous data—including point clouds, imagery, and text—we have overcome critical bottlenecks in cross-modal alignment and spatiotemporal big data mining. We focus on developing AI-driven perception algorithms and structural modeling […]
Correction: Data uploaded before May 8, 2026 may contain errors in minimum crown base height values (CBHmin) . Please re-download the latest version. Crown base height (CBH) is essential for characterizing forest vertical structure over time for sustainable forest management and serves as a key input in fire model and growth model. At plot level, […]
Spatial Intelligence & Geo-Foundation Models Our research group focuses on the core domains of Spatial Intelligent Perception and Autonomous Navigation, driven by the frontier of Geospatial Intelligence (GeoAI). We integrate cutting-edge technologies including LiDAR SLAM, photogrammetry, and multi-source information fusion, with a strategic emphasis on Geospatial Foundation Models. To meet the operational requirements of mobile […]