Repeat terrestrial laser scanning for documenting and monitoring prescribed fire efficacy

Repeat terrestrial laser scanning for documenting and monitoring prescribed fire efficacy | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Repeat terrestrial laser scanning for documenting and monitoring prescribed fire efficacy Aaron E. Maxwell, Michael R. Gallagher, Samuel R. Stockton, Matthew C. Wozniak, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8388502/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background Prescribed fire is an established means to reduce wildfire risk and accomplish silvicultural and cultural objectives via controlled consumption of fuels and, most commonly, subcanopy fuels. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) has been demonstrated as a simple and efficient means to quantify fuel and ecological conditions in terms of three-dimensional forest structure at the plot-scale; however, there is currently a lack of studies that explore a repeat time series of TLS measurements for documenting fire treatment efficacy over time and to inform when a subsequent prescribed burn should be applied. We used a time-series approach to repeatedly scan 43 monitoring plots six times over a four-year period (one pre-fire, one post-fire, and yearly scans over a four-year period) within a burn unit in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, USA. Our TLS analysis evaluates metrics to quantify first-order effects on forest structure and subsequent structural changes and regrowth. Metrics include (1) the percentage of all returns within a 10 m plot radius that were not classified as ground and (2) an occlusion-adjusted percent of non-occluded voxels with returns at the plot- and three strata-levels: canopy, tall shrub, and low shrub. We also made comparisons to other commonly used burn severity assessment methods, including the visual field-based composite burn index (CBI), as well as the Sentinel-2 Multispectral Instrument (MSI)-derived normalized burn ratio (NBR) and difference normalized burn ratio (dNBR). Results We document that the time series of TLS metrics for the tall shrub and low shrub strata were very effective in characterizing post-fire dynamics of subcanopy fuels and can complement other commonly used burn severity assessment methods. Conclusions We argue that TLS-based, occlusion-adjusted methods should be considered as a repeatable, defendable, and low bias means for land managers to document prescribed fire efficacy and to inform when to re-apply treatment. terrestrial laser scanning TLS prescribed fire wildland fire fuels Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 25 Feb, 2026 Reviews received at journal 28 Jan, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 21 Jan, 2026 Reviews received at journal 15 Jan, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 08 Jan, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 08 Jan, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 17 Dec, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 17 Dec, 2025 First submitted to journal 17 Dec, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8388502","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":571694045,"identity":"713e6ef8-bdb0-4165-a6c5-c74d78c75e15","order_by":0,"name":"Aaron E. 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efficacy","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"fire-ecology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"feco","sideBox":"Learn more about [Fire Ecology](https://www.springer.com/journal/42408)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/feco/default.aspx","title":"Fire Ecology","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"terrestrial laser scanning, TLS, prescribed fire, wildland fire, fuels","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8388502/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8388502/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003ch2\u003eBackground\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003ePrescribed fire is an established means to reduce wildfire risk and accomplish silvicultural and cultural objectives via controlled consumption of fuels and, most commonly, subcanopy fuels. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) has been demonstrated as a simple and efficient means to quantify fuel and ecological conditions in terms of three-dimensional forest structure at the plot-scale; however, there is currently a lack of studies that explore a repeat time series of TLS measurements for documenting fire treatment efficacy over time and to inform when a subsequent prescribed burn should be applied. We used a time-series approach to repeatedly scan 43 monitoring plots six times over a four-year period (one pre-fire, one post-fire, and yearly scans over a four-year period) within a burn unit in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, USA. Our TLS analysis evaluates metrics to quantify first-order effects on forest structure and subsequent structural changes and regrowth. Metrics include (1) the percentage of all returns within a 10 m plot radius that were not classified as ground and (2) an occlusion-adjusted percent of non-occluded voxels with returns at the plot- and three strata-levels: canopy, tall shrub, and low shrub. We also made comparisons to other commonly used burn severity assessment methods, including the visual field-based composite burn index (CBI), as well as the Sentinel-2 Multispectral Instrument (MSI)-derived normalized burn ratio (NBR) and difference normalized burn ratio (dNBR).\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eWe document that the time series of TLS metrics for the tall shrub and low shrub strata were very effective in characterizing post-fire dynamics of subcanopy fuels and can complement other commonly used burn severity assessment methods.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eConclusions\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eWe argue that TLS-based, occlusion-adjusted methods should be considered as a repeatable, defendable, and low bias means for land managers to document prescribed fire efficacy and to inform when to re-apply treatment.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Repeat terrestrial laser scanning for documenting and monitoring prescribed fire efficacy","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-01-12 22:46:46","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8388502/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2026-02-25T16:30:42+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-01-29T00:06:59+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"94207136662835731733978967494252211582","date":"2026-01-21T19:25:06+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-01-16T03:48:47+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"331680434131867689470159115823347038101","date":"2026-01-08T20:02:45+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-01-08T14:41:30+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-12-17T23:43:25+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-12-17T23:43:08+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Fire Ecology","date":"2025-12-17T18:22:01+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"fire-ecology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"feco","sideBox":"Learn more about [Fire Ecology](https://www.springer.com/journal/42408)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/feco/default.aspx","title":"Fire Ecology","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"6d7d7bfa-1d9f-4b2a-a179-8b95813bc4a8","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 12th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-17T13:53:16+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-01-12 22:46:46","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8388502","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8388502","identity":"rs-8388502","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}