Synthetic Forest: A UAV Laser Scanning Benchmark Dataset for Individual Tree Segmentation, Classification, and Wood Volume Estimation

Abstract

Abstract. Accurate tree-level analysis in forests via LiDAR scanning is essential for biomass estimation, canopy structure assessment, and carbon monitoring, yet remains constrained by the scarcity of large-scale annotated LiDAR datasets and the high cost of manual annotation. To address this, we present a novel approach that integrates 3D tree models with UAV-borne LiDAR simulation to generate synthetic forest point clouds with comprehensive annotations. Our approach generates diverse woodland, open, and closed forest structures, producing Synthetic Forest, a benchmark dataset of three 1 ha scenes containing 38–47 million points each, with densities of 3302–3862 points/m² and average spacing of 2 cm. Each scene contains between 70 and 216 individual trees, along with understory vegetation, deadwood, stumps, rocks, and bushes, all automatically annotated with semantic classification IDs, instance IDs, and tree IDs for volume estimation. The proposed pipeline provides automated, error-free ground truth for leaf-wood classification, instance segmentation, and wood volume estimation. We provide guidelines for generating forest plots and utilizing the datasets for diverse forestry tasks. By eliminating the need for costly field data collection, our pipeline offers scalable, customizable synthetic datasets that accelerate forest inventory. The Synthetic Forest dataset is publicly released via Zenodo (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17568131), enabling reproducible research and supporting further developments in forest monitoring and management.