Title:

Silas Little Experimental Forest, New Jersey, terrestrial laser scan data for Tier 3 forest census plots, 2023-2025

Author(s):

Gallagher, Michael R.; Brown, Kevin C.; Cole, Jason A.; Patterson, Matthew M.; Minicuci, Natale P.; Wall, William M.; Bendixen, Nicole M.; Cook, Jacob H.; Loudermilk, E. Louise; Pokswinski, Scott; Parsons, Russell; Ney, Jacob; Eli, Chandler; Maxwel, Reed; Stone, Harry; Skowronski, Nicholas S.

Publication Year:

2026

How to Cite:

These data were collected using funding from the U.S. Government and can be used without additional permissions or fees. If you use these data in a publication, presentation, or other research product please use the following citation:

Gallagher, Michael R.; Brown, Kevin C.; Cole, Jason A.; Patterson, Matthew M.; Minicuci, Natale P.; Wall, William M.; Bendixen, Nicole M.; Cook, Jacob H.; Loudermilk, E. Louise; Pokswinski, Scott; Parsons, Russell; Ney, Jacob; Eli, Chandler; Maxwel, Reed; Stone, Harry; Skowronski, Nicholas S. 2026. Silas Little Experimental Forest, New Jersey, terrestrial laser scan data for Tier 3 forest census plots, 2023-2025. WFSI Data Portal. https://doi.org/10.60594/W4R30M

Abstract:

This dataset contains terrestrial laser scan data collected at Silas Little Experimental Forest Tier 3 forest census plots installed in the 380,000-ha New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve by the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station, Silas Little Experimental Forest. The Tier 3 forest census plots are a long-term biometric dataset originally established as part of the North American Carbon Program (NACP) multi-tier and long-term forest monitoring network (Denning, A.S. et al. (2005), https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0008-2) where Tier 3 measurements focused on forest biometric data. These plots are centered around the Silas Little and Cedar Bridge eddy covariance towers that have been continuously measuring forest carbon and water fluxes and collecting associated micrometeorological data since 2005 (https://doi.org/10.17190/AMF/1246096, https://doi.org/10.17190/AMF/1246043) using Forest Inventory and Analysis plot-level layout including four subplots. Biometric plot data were remeasured at both the Silas Little and Cedar Bridge sites in 2022-24 (https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2025-0040).

This terrestrial laser scan data includes PTX-formatted point cloud data collected using four different scanners including a Leica BLK360 Gen 1 & Gen 2, FARO Focus Premium, and Trimble X7, in deciduous plant "leaf off" (winter, dormant season) and "leaf on" (summer, growing season) conditions starting in 2023 with proposed yearly scans of the plots moving forward.

Denning, A.S. et al. (2005) Science Implementation Strategy for the North American Carbon Program. Report of the NACP Implementation Strategy Group of the U.S. Carbon Cycle Interagency Working Group. Washington, DC: U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Program, 68 pp.

Keywords:

biota; Natural Resource Management & Use; Terrestrial Laser Scanner; TLS; fuel structure and loading; New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve; Leica BLK360; FARO Focus Premium; Trimble X7; dormant season; growing season; Pinelands; Atlantic Coastal Plain; pitch pine; shortleaf pine; pine/oak forest; Silas Little Experimental Forest; New Jersey

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