Laser-scanning elephants

Working together with a team from Wageningen University in the Netherlands and University College London, we are exploring the potential of T-lidar laser scans to map the structure and form of tropical forests. In August and September, the team visited our GEM plots in Gabon. While at Lope National Park, an elephant (a solo male called Billy) passed by and became the first 3D laser scanned elephant ever! The colours in the first image indicate height above ground.

Now the team has just arrived at Tambopata, Peru, where they will be scanning our plots along the Amazon-Andes transect over October. Over the next year we will build up an exciting dataset on the struc