Mapping walk hindrance with LiDAR – a new layer of insight

Understanding how easy (or difficult) it is to move through a forest stand is something every forester and contractor experiences — but until recently, it has been difficult to quantify at scale.

Using LiDAR data, Interpine has developed an approach to map human walk hindrance, providing a new way to visualise and measure vegetation density that directly impacts operational productivity, safety, and cost. This is available with TreeTools SilvaCloud.

Why Walk Hindrance Matters

In operational forestry, dense understorey vegetation can significantly affect:

• Productivity – Slowing movement for survey crews and contractors
• Health and safety – Increasing fatigue, trip hazards, and limited visibility
• Operational costs – Driving variability in survey, inventory, thinning, pruning, and harvesting effort

While experienced operators understand these challenges intuitively, they are rarely quantified consistently across a forest estate. This is where LiDAR provides a powerful opportunity.

Turning LiDAR into a Walk Hindrance Layer

LiDAR point clouds capture detailed 3D information about forest structure, including vegetation at different heights. Interpine’s approach focuses specifically on vegetation density at heights that directly affect human movement.

This height range represents the zone where vegetation becomes a physical barrier to movement, either by humans or machines, including:

• Exotic or native shrubs and regenerating vegetation
• Ferns and ground cover
• Down trees / branches
• Low branches and dense young stands

By analysing LiDAR return density within this band, we can derive a relative hindrance score across the landscape. Interpine’s relative hindrance score has been incorporated in TreeTools Silva Cloud LiDAR Analysis workflow. You can simply upload your LiDAR datasets and access the provided hindrance maps. Interpine can also provide this as a custom service for large areas across full estates or landscape level.