Tools for improving forest mapping and inventory

In addition to a number of large operational LiDAR trials being undertaken by Australasian forestry companies, there have been significant advances in photogrammetric software. High-resolution DSM and DTM production is no longer the domain of LiDAR scanning. It can now also be accomplished through photogrammetry and digital frame cameras. Multi-ray photogrammetry appears to be achieving a significantly higher point density and is being trialled for the first time on a New Zealand forest estate.
A new generation of satellite imagery, only available since late 2010, is also being evaluated by forestry companies this year. Early indications are that some of the satellite imagery may be suitable for routine forestry applications such as quarterly harvest area measure ups, storm damage assessment, disease mapping and forest establishment assessments which to date have been carried out using aerial photography taken from small aircraft.

The new imagery can be ordered over the internet and is available in almost real-time. RapidEye for example is a constellation of five satellites capable of downloading over 4 million km² of high resolution, multi-spectral imagery every day. The unique combination of large area coverage, high spatial resolution and the possibility of daily revisit to an area may provide superior management information solutions for the forestry industry.

Other advancements include developments in satellite aperture based radar in conjunction with optical imagery, the use of LiDAR in conjunction with multi-spectral imagery and ground based sampling and using unmanned aerial vehicles (remotely controlled aircraft) for forest mapping. All of this technology is being trialled this year.

ForestTECH 2009 set the scene and whet the appetite for technical foresters in both Australia and New Zealand. Much of the technology highlighted has been applied in extensive trials and in many instances, has already been adopted and integrated into forest inventory and planning for a number of major forestry companies in Australasia.

“Remote sensing is a critical component of Forest TECH 2011. The objective of ForestTECH 2011 is to get those companies that at the forefront of this new technology to discuss what the systems or tools are, how the technology has been adopted and what impact it’s had, financially and operationally, on the company’s operation” says FIEA Director, Brent Apthorp. “It’s apparent that in many instances that people, capital and process adoption is often more limiting than the technology development itself”.

ForestTECH 2011 will provide Australasia’s first independent platform for local foresters to outline what remote sensing technologies have been trialled, what the results have been and what it’s meant operationally and financially to the company. ForestTECH 2011 will run in Albury, NSW on 1-2 December and again for New Zealand foresters in Rotorua on 6-7 December 2011. Full details of the programme can now be down loaded from the event website, www.foresttechevents.com