A national vegetation height model was calculated for Switzerland using digital aerial images.
We used the stereo aerial images acquired by the Federal Office of Topography swisstopo using the ADS80 sensor to first calculate a digital surface model (DSM) with a very high spatial resolution
(1 × 1 m and 0.5 x 0.5 m). The DSM was then normalized to obtain the actual
vegetation heights using a digital terrain model (DTM)
based on laser data with the buildings masked out, and to
produce a vegetation height model (VHM). Such a model
will be calculated in the framework of the Swiss National Forest Inventory (NFI) with consistent methods and a very
high level of detail. For covering the whole of Switzerland,
we use summer aerial images from six years.
Latest version is from 2019.