There is an interesting aspect of precision agriculture: its adaptability to fields close to agriculture such as forestry.
In this case we will talk about “precision forestry”, which is a natural extension of the application of all technological tools to the care of the wooded areas.
Forest biomass production is growing worldwide in agreement
with the current global economic growth. As with precision agriculture, new technologies are an opportunity to improve forest management more accurately and precisely by reducing costs and increasing productivity.
A dominant role is played by satellite technologies. In fact, through the systematic analysis of satellite imagery, it is possible to automatically and remotely carry out a number of operations which, if carried out directly in the field, would be too expensive.
For example, you can control the growth of forest areas and create a geo-referenced inventory of available resources, measure their spatial variability over time, and then understand which areas can be used before the other.
These analyzes may allow to intervene promptly, so as to prevent the spread of insect pests such as the bark of the beetle.
For these technologies, we also mention other tools such as:
– GNSS mapping tools, which make extensive use of satellites – to collect data on the three spatial dimensions and the time variable.
– Inertial navigation systems with gyroscopes – allowing navigation in rough terrain.
– Earth laser scanner systems to give 3D models of each object on the ground.
– Radio Frequency Identificators – for identification and monitoring of each single tree
– Ultrasound decay detectors to monitor the decay state of a tree.
The potential of the industry is clear and the market increasingly needs this technological resource.
We are only at the beginning but all of these tools show a future where the state of health, production, and programming of our forests will be supported by forest management systems that will enable more rational management of natural resources with greater sustainability .
In the coming weeks we would like to deal with precision forestry in other posts, so stay tuned on
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