Digital forest measurement has just got an instant boost of LiDAR. By using a smartphone with embedded LiDAR sensor technology, forest owners can not only collect accurate forest inventory data without any additional tools but also get an instant valuation thanks to a new partnership between Swedish and Irish forest IT developers – Arboreal AB and Treemetrics Ltd.
Please reload the page
Do you want to read the whole article?
- Six editions per year
- Full access to all digital content
- The E-magazine Bioenergy international
- And more ...
Founded in 2018, Sweden-based Arboreal AB is a developer of IT applications for forestry and forest owners on a software as a service (SaaS) basis.
In 2019, the company launched a prize-winning height measuring device in the form of a smartphone app that uses augmented reality (AR) technology to measure distance and angles to calculate tree height, an app that has since found its way to foresters and forest owners all around the world.
Smartphone with LiDAR a game-changer
Now as the first camera smartphones appear on the marketplace with space-age Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensor technology embedded, the 3D image (or indeed photo) of the measurement object or environment is taken to a whole new level.
Admittedly we were initially slightly disappointed with the LiDAR on the iPad when it was first launched by Apple but we immediately recognized the potential for LiDAR and its use in situ forest measurement. We developed our Arboreal Forest app to measure height, diameter, basal area, identify tree species, trees per hectare and calculate volumes with a smartphone, explained Johan Ekenstedt, CEO and Founder of Arboreal AB.
The announced partnership with Arboreal sees the completed integration of the Arboreal Forest app into Treemetric’s Forest HQ platform. The app uses the latest LiDAR sensor on the iPhone12 but also supports older phones from iPhone 6S upwards.
After months of work, we are delighted to announce our partnership with Arboreal from Sweden. We have fully integrated their Apple iPhone application into our ForestHQ platform. You can now get an instant forest valuation using your iPhone. We now can help the millions of forest owners to know the value of their forest before they sell or harvest their crop, said Enda Keane CEO and Co-founder of Treemetrics.
Founded in 2005, Treemetrics Ltd has developed an innovative and dynamic management system for forest owners and managers that provides a wide range of tools to analyze, manage and display the available data in sensitive areas, including earth observation and field data.
Earlier this month Treemetrics announced that it has begun developing a ‘green’ platform with support from the European Space Agency (ESA) to make it easier for forest owners globally to adopt forest certification and carbon verification.