PROJECT PARTNERS
The project brings together researchers and managers from the six alpine space countries. The NEWFOR consortium includes 14 institutes:
Austria • BFW. Federal Research and Training Centre for Forests, Natural Hazards and Landscape – Department of Natural Hazards and Alpine Timberline (
http://bfw.ac.at)
• Stand Montafon – Forstfonds (www.
stand-montafon.at)
• TORG. Office of the Tyrolean Regional Government – Tyrolean Forest Service (
www.tirol.gv.at/ wald)
• TU Wien – IPF. Vienna University of Technology – Institute of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (
www.ipf.tuwien.ac.at)
France • FCBA. Technological Institute for Forestry, Cellulose, Construction Timber and Furniture (
www.fcba.fr)
• Irstea. Grenoble regional center, Mountain Ecosystems Research Unit (lead partner,
www.irstea.fr)
Germany • LWF. Bavarian Forest Institute – Forest Management Department (
www.lwf.bayern.de)
Italy • ERSAF Lombardia. Regional Agency for Development of Agriculture and Forestry (
www.ersaf.lombardia.it)
• PAT-SFF. Autonomous province of Trento : Flora and Fauna Department (
www.foreste.
provincia.tn.it)
• TeSAF. Università degli Studi di Padova – Dipartimento Territorio e Sistemi Agro-Forestali (www.tesaf.
unipd.it)
• UNITO. Università degli Studi di Torino – Dipartimento di Agronomia, Selvicoltura e Gestione del Territorio (AGROSELVITER) (
www.agroselviter.unito.it)
Slovenia • SFI. Slovenian Forestry Institute (
www.gozdis.si)
• SFS. Slovenia Forest Service (www.
zgs.gov.si)
Switzerland • WSL. Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research – Research Programme Forestry and Climate Change (www.
wsl.ch)
3 images of the same area. Left: forest height model calculated from lidar data (green=ground, red=highest trees), middle: Infra red colored optical image,
right: shaded digitial terrain model calculated from lidar data (green=low altitude, yellow=high altitude).© Irstea
may use familiar routes and access points – accelerating regional depletion. Some forests are over harvested; some under. To manage a total system effectively, you need to isolate the growing stock, and marry national – and even global – policies with local realities”. In its forthcoming semester, another
exciting NEWFOR concept – mapping utilising a drone, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) – will be explored. These are typically far cheaper to employ than larger aircraft, and also encounter fewer bureaucratic obstacles to their usage. Moreover, cruising at low altitude, they can be flown in all seasons, and perceive significant amounts of detail. NEWFOR’s version uses a commercially available digital camera, set into the craft’s fuselage, and is steered using a handheld remote control device, coupled with autopilot functionality. Monnet
anticipates that these could be
“responsively deployed – for example, to gain specific information about pest invasions, like bark beetles, and natural hazards (e.g. avalanches, rockfalls or landslide), which could unexpectedly arise.” Due to their economy, regular UAV sorties could be an apposite means of obtaining regular assessments of such phenomena. The study intends to push the units to their limits – assessing their maximum reach, visibility, and launch and landing requirements above what is often perilously uneven ground.
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Although the UAVs may be too complex for foresters to calibrate and operate, specialist teams of pilots could well emerge to cater for their needs. Throughout the study’s duration, LIDAR
will be tested, and compared against data gathered on the ground, to establish its validity. Mapping systems will ultimately be consolidated via an online platform, WebGIS, which is presently in development, but will be handily accessible to industry workers using portable terminals. To ensure end user relevance, local forest managers have been engaged to help academics appreciate and fulfil their real needs throughout trials. Impressively, the technology can automatically extract road networks for inclusion in its graphic display, detecting features that might prohibit entry into the forest for heavy vehicles, such as tight turns and slopes. Thus, the project “may also assist in future road and transport planning”, reckons Monnet. Although initial acquisition costs may be greater,
there are exciting
peripheral benefits such as this which, overall, add value throughout the monitoring chain. Indeed, there’s also a chance that such versatile methodologies could ultimately help Europe to catch up with the initial leaders in this high-flying technology – Scandinavia and the USA, whose systems cannot entirely rise to meet the operational challenges posed by alpine peaks.
★ Insight Publishers | Projects
0102030405060708090 Distance along transect (m)
Transect of a lidar point cloud (vegetation: green, ground: red) © Irstea
Altitude (m) 1360 1370 1380 1390
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