ESTIMATE OF TREE VOLUME USING ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETS

The artificial neural network consists of a set of units containing mathematical functions connected by weights. Such nets are capable of learning by means of synaptic weight modification, generalizing learning for other unknown archives. The neural network project comprises three stages: pre-processing, processing and post-processing of data. One of the classical problems approached by networks is function approximation. Tree volume estimate can be included in this group. Four different architectures, five pre-processings and two activation functions were used. The nets which were statistically similar to the observed data were also analyzed in relation to residue and volume and compared to the volume estimate provided by the Schumacher and Hall equation. The neural nets formed by neurons whose activation function was exponential presented estimates statistically similar to the observed data. The nets trained with the data normalized by the linear interpolation method and equalized presented better estimate performance.