Erik Næsset has created a tool to portray spatially the forest inventory

parameters of interest. He invented a straightforward and practical

method for utilizing airborne laser scanning in combination with forest

field data which automatically produces stand-wise forest data with

high accuracy. The area based method of airborne laser scanning that he

has developed has become a reference against which new inventory

methods are compared.Laser scanning is now a commercially used

practice, making a considerable difference in how forests are

inventoried throughout the world. Cost reductions of typically 40-50 prcent

for forest management inventories have been recorded. Of great

significance is the value of the statistical and economic efficiency

improvements in forest management inventories. The airborne laser

scanning technique is also useful in assessment of many other forest

ecosystem services.Professor Næsset was appointed Professor in 1996.

Since 1997 he has been Professor at the Department for Ecology and

Natural Resource Management at the Norwegian University of Life

Sciences in Ås, Norway.The Wallenberg Prize will be presented by His Majesty, The King of Sweden, at a

ceremony in Stockholm on 3 October. On 4 October, a symposium

will be arranged around the subject of the Prize-winning research and

its impact on the forest and land use issues as well as the forest

products industries.