Exploring trees in three dimensions: VoxR, a novel voxel-based R package dedicated to analysing the complex arrangement of tree crowns

Interest in tree form assessments using the terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) has increased in recent years. Yet many existing methods are limited to small-sized trees, principally due to noise and occlusion phenomena. In this paper, a novel voxel-based program that is dedicated to the analyses of large tree structures is presented. The method is based on the assumption that architectural trait variations (i.e. branching angle, bifurcation ratio, biomass allocation, etc.) influence the way a tree explores space. This method uses the concept of space exploration that considers a voxel as a portion of space explored by the tree. Once the TLS scene is voxelized, the program provides tools that extract qualitative (geometrical) and quantitative (volumetric) metrics. These tools measure (1) voxel dispersion in three dimensions (3-D), (2) projections of the voxel cloud in 2-D and (3) multi-temporal changes within a single tree crown