An unmanned aerial vehicle visible light remote sensing image dataset of four forest dynamic plots in subtropical China

The evergreen broad-leaved forest is a zonal vegetation type in the subtropical regions of China. However, due to complex vertical structure and relatively dense canopy of subtropical forests, we are lack of reliable data in current canopy studies of this forest. Here we present a large dataset of visible light remote sensing images of four large-scale (>20 ha) forest dynamic plots in Tiantongshan and Baishanzu of Zhejiang, and Dinghushan and Chebaling of Guangdong. These data were collected by unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with visible light camera in August of 2014 or September of 2016. By combining the UAV data with ground survey data, we generated four data files for each plot: Orthoimages and surface digital models with spatial resolution of ~5 cm, forest canopy height data with spatial resolution of 1 m, and data quality reports of the orthoimages. This dataset of evergreen broad-leaved forest provides significant supports for the studies in forest canopy ecology, biodiversity and ecosystem function.