Advancing forest biodiversity conservation with the EL-BIOS digital twin: an integration of LiDAR and multispectral earth observation data

The growing threat to biodiversity and ecosystem degradation necessitates innovative methods for monitoring and managing forested areas. This paper introduces the LIFE EL-BIOS project, a pioneering initiative to develop a Digital Twin for forest biodiversity analysis using terrestrial and airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technologies. The project utilizes advanced equipment, including the DJI Matrice 300 UAV with airborne LiDAR, DJI Mavic 3E, Quantum Systems Trinity F90+ with RGB and multispectral sensors, a GeoSLAM ZEB REVO terrestrial SLAM device, and a Leica BLK360 terrestrial laser scanner. Research spans over 40 forest plots, each 2000 square meters, in Greece's Kotychi-Strofilia Wetlands and Northern Pindos National Parks. The methodology integrates and georeferences point clouds from aerial and terrestrial sources to create unified point clouds for each area. Advanced software tools, such as 3DFIN and 3DFOREST, are then used to extract precise biodiversity-relevant parameters. This innovative data extraction method is compared with traditional in-situ measurements to evaluate the potential and limitations of the Digital Twin approach. A preliminary assessment focused on the time- and cost-effectiveness, accuracy, and robustness of this multiscale Earth Observation (EO) based mapping framework. Initial results suggest that the combined use of terrestrial and airborne LiDAR, multispectral data, and advanced analysis pipelines enhances the accuracy and speed of biodiversity measurements. Moreover, it allows for the extraction of additional information critical for developing biodiversity indicators. This study highlights the potential of multiscale and multisource EO data in creating digital twins of ecologically sensitive areas, offering a revolutionary approach to environmental conservation.