Overview
The last major technological advancement confined to forestry occurred in 1948 when Bitterlich created the point sampling method. Since then, most of the developments transforming the forestry sector, such as genetically improvements, happened outside the forestry realm. Therefore, it is not surprising that the next forestry leap will be triggered by results in other areas, such as computer science. The advancements in computer vision, material sciences, and robotics led to a spectacular development of light weight sensors, suitable for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The main feature of UAVs is the reduced price not only of the vehicle but also of the sensors that are mounted on them. The information supplied by sensors moving close to the ground is in many cases superior to the one from satellites or airplanes. The high quality data at reduced prices is expected to change the face of forestry from an area were information was difficult to obtain (such as stem morphology or branching) to a wealth of information. Therefore, it is expected that forestry will experience a change as never before, not only in topics but also in rate. One significant difference of the new change compared with the previous ones is that it will not be confined to large organizations, where large investments are required (the case of genetics). Being available to practically anybody, mobile light weight sensors will help not only large companies but also smaller entities. The new technologies are expected to produce not only better data but also to create a new set of jobs and skills that build extensively on remote sensing knowledge.
Precision Forestry
Precision Forestry is one of the products of the current technological jump. But what is “Precision Forestry”, as it means different things to different people? Therefore, it is advisable to define the term before using it. Being at the confluence of computer sciences, material sciences, and robotics, Precision Forestry is commonly defined as "the activities supplying accurate, precise, and detailed forest relevant information fast and relatively inexpensive". Because the accent is placed on all four aspects, Precision Forestry rely heavily on remote sensing technologies. However, Precision Forestry is not confined to sensors mounted on UAV. Many applications involve sensors installed on vehicles, terrestrial unnamed vehicles, or handheld. The common thread is the fast, unexpensive, accurate, and detailed information extracted from the sensors.
Schedule (tentative)
10:00 - 10:10 Welcome
10:10 - 11:30 OSU Presentations
11:30 - 12:00 Live Stem measurements
12:00 - 13:00 Lunch (provided by FERM)
13:00 - 15:00? Discussions on identification of forest industry priorities related to Precision Forestry
Location
Contact: bogdan.strimbu@oregonstate.edu