Forestry applications of UAVs in Europe: a review

Torresan, Chiara; Berton, Andrea; Carotenuto, Federico; Gennaro, Salvatore Filippo Di; Gioli, Beniamino; Matese, Alessandro; Miglietta, Franco; Vagnoli, Carolina; Zaldei, Alessandro; Wallace, Luke

doi:10.1080/01431161.2016.1252477

Cited by 349 publications

(222 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…As with agricultural ecosystems, the proliferation of UAS-based remote sensing techniques has opened up new opportunities for monitoring and managing natural ecosystems [12,[104][105][106]. In fact, UAS provides options and opportunities to collect data at appropriate spatial and temporal resolutions to describe ecological processes and allow better surveying of natural ecosystems placed in remote, inaccessible, or difficult-and/or dangerous-to-access sites.…”

Section: Monitoring Of Natural Ecosystemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Use of Unmanned Aerial Systems for Environmental Monitoring

et al. 2018

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Environmental monitoring plays a central role in diagnosing climate and management impacts on natural and agricultural systems; enhancing the understanding of hydrological processes; optimizing the allocation and distribution of water resources; and assessing, forecasting, and even preventing natural disasters. Nowadays, most monitoring and data collection systems are based upon a combination of ground-based measurements, manned airborne sensors, and satellite observations. These data are utilized in describing both small-and large-scale processes, but have spatiotemporal constraints inherent to each respective collection system. Bridging the unique spatial and temporal divides that limit current monitoring platforms is key to improving our understanding of environmental systems. In this context, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) have considerable potential to radically improve environmental monitoring. UAS-mounted sensors offer an extraordinary opportunity to bridge the existing gap between field observations and traditional air-and space-borne remote sensing, by providing high spatial detail over relatively large areas in a cost-effective way and an entirely new capacity for enhanced temporal retrieval. As well as showcasing recent advances in the field, there is also a need to identify and understand the potential limitations of UAS technology. For these platforms to reach their monitoring potential, a wide spectrum of unresolved issues and application-specific challenges require focused community attention. Indeed, to leverage the full potential of UAS-based approaches, sensing technologies, measurement protocols, postprocessing techniques, retrieval algorithms, and evaluation techniques need to be harmonized. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the existing research and applications of UAS in natural and agricultural ecosystem monitoring in order to identify future directions, applications, developments, and challenges.

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Section: Monitoring Of Natural Ecosystemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Use of Unmanned Aerial Systems for Environmental Monitoring

et al. 2018

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“…Small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been rapidly incorporated in various remote sensing applications, including forestry [33][34][35]. The use of UAVs in aerial imaging has enabled measurements with higher spatial resolution, improving the resolution of photogrammetric point clouds and the acquisition of three-dimensional (3D) structural data from the forest [36,37].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual Tree Detection and Classification with UAV-Based Photogrammetric Point Clouds and Hyperspectral Imaging

et al. 2017

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Small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) based remote sensing is a rapidly evolving technology. Novel sensors and methods are entering the market, offering completely new possibilities to carry out remote sensing tasks. Three-dimensional (3D) hyperspectral remote sensing is a novel and powerful technology that has recently become available to small UAVs. This study investigated the performance of UAV-based photogrammetry and hyperspectral imaging in individual tree detection and tree species classification in boreal forests. Eleven test sites with 4151 reference trees representing various tree species and developmental stages were collected in June 2014 using a UAV remote sensing system equipped with a frame format hyperspectral camera and an RGB camera in highly variable weather conditions. Dense point clouds were measured photogrammetrically by automatic image matching using high resolution RGB images with a 5 cm point interval. Spectral features were obtained from the hyperspectral image blocks, the large radiometric variation of which was compensated for by using a novel approach based on radiometric block adjustment with the support of in-flight irradiance observations. Spectral and 3D point cloud features were used in the classification experiment with various classifiers. The best results were obtained with Random Forest and Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) which both gave 95% overall accuracies and an F-score of 0.93. Accuracy of individual tree identification from the photogrammetric point clouds varied between 40% and 95%, depending on the characteristics of the area. Challenges in reference measurements might also have reduced these numbers. Results were promising, indicating that hyperspectral 3D remote sensing was operational from a UAV platform even in very difficult conditions. These novel methods are expected to provide a powerful tool for automating various environmental close-range remote sensing tasks in the very near future.

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“…Pests also target young pine (Pinus radiata) trees in commercial plantations (Clout 1977;Keber 1983). Identifying that damage using remote sensing cameras on UAVs (Dandois and Ellis 2013;Shang et al 2015;Torresan et al 2017) is a new tool that could enable managers to precisely target pest management activities. Once possums or browse damage are identified, UAVs could deliver baits or self-setting kill traps to precise locations (Carter et al 2016).…”

Section: What Uavs Can Bring To the Picture?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…UAVs are also being trialled to deliver merchandise from retailers, such as Amazon's "Prime Air" service (Amazon 2017). Operational regulations are rapidly advancing, especially in New Zealand (CAA; Price, personal communication), allowing UAVs to be deployed for an even wider range of activities (Perroy et al 2017;Torresan et al 2017). Here, we propose another use for UAVs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The potential of using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for precision pest control of possums (Trichosurus vulpecula)

Morley¹,

Braodley²,

Hartley³

et al. 2017

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Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and remote image sensing cameras have considerable potential for use in pest control operations. UAVs equipped with remote sensing cameras could be flown over forests and remnant bush sites, particularly those not currently receiving any pest control, to record the unique spectral signature of the vegetation and to detect the presence of possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) and the damage they cause. UAVs could then be deployed to precisely distribute either toxins or kill traps to these identified locations. Predator-free 2050 is an ambitious policy announced by the New Zealand Government where several pests, including possums, are to be eradicated by the year 2050. In order to achieve this goal, pests must be identified, targeted and controlled, requiring creative and novel ideas. UAVs provide flexibility, can fly in remote and difficult terrain, and are considerably cheaper to purchase and operate than the planes and helicopters currently used in conventional aerial pest control operations. Current challenges associated with UAVs include payload capacity, battery limitations, weather, and flying restrictions. However, these issues are rapidly being resolved with sophisticated technological advances and improved regulations. A directed and targeted approach using UAVs is an additional and novel tool in the pest management toolbox that could significantly reduce pest control costs, cover inaccessible areas not receiving any pest management, and will help New Zealand advance towards its predator-free aspiration by 2050.

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Forestry applications of UAVs in Europe: a review

Cited by 349 publications

References 58 publications

On the Use of Unmanned Aerial Systems for Environmental Monitoring

On the Use of Unmanned Aerial Systems for Environmental Monitoring

Individual Tree Detection and Classification with UAV-Based Photogrammetric Point Clouds and Hyperspectral Imaging

The potential of using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for precision pest control of possums (Trichosurus vulpecula)

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