The forestry industry has seen major leaps in technology that have subsequently benefitted productivity and work flows. Challenges such as road mapping, inventory management, forecasting for harvests, bare earth models, floodplain mapping, monitoring regrowth, adherence to regulations and planning expansion zones are a few of the areas that drone and Lidar technology can assist with streamlining.
Many have realized major benefits from the adoption and implementation of recent improvements in UAV and sensor technology including increased safety to workers and lower insurance costs among other operational efficiencies. Companies that onboard and include cutting-edge technology are positioned well to increase profitability and grow their operations substantially. With Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) regulations around the corner, companies will benefit from starting the integration process of drones and sensors early. In particular, drone integration can reduce helicopter and aircraft time and subsequently fuel cost, positively affecting the bottom line.
Map harvest units and
conduct post-harvest
waste assessments
Remove trees with
software for bare earth
terrain models
VR walkthrough
and inventory
management
The sheer size of natural forestry land makes projects extremely labour intensive, resulting in time-consuming, tedious and often dangerous tasks for crew. Furthermore, manual estimations are prone to inaccuracies that compound into large expenses that ultimately impact the bottom line.
Challenges facing the forestry industry:
Drone and sensor technologies are being implemented by organizations today to mitigate these challenges, but most importantly, make accurate data-driven analysis and decisions.
Our team has found success working with industry professionals, using DJI Matrice 600 drones, and Green Valley International Lidar sensors.
Candrone and the Green Valley team worked with the California Fire Department, using drone and Lidar technology to map and assess vastly forested lands. The fire department was able to use the data to proactively plan fuel breaks that would traditionally require intensive labor and expensive manned-aircraft operations.
As well, Candrone and researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC) used Lidar data to supplement their research on the ecology of streams and the effects on the surrounding forestry environment. We set out to the vast natural forests in Port Alberni, BC and were able to collect data from over 50 acres of inaccessible forestry land.