In forestry management, the introduction of drones has brought about a major transformation in the forestry industry, a whole new approach to surveying and maintaining land. The rise of drones and drone technology has brought positive and important changes to forest management and forestry inspections, and optimized the operational deployment of forestry organizations.
The role of drones in forestry management
In forestry, drones can be used for forest area delineation and mapping, logging planning, forest structure estimation and inventory, carbon inventory, damage assessment, forest pest detection, stand mapping, forest fire detection, and post-fire mapping.
How are drones helping forestry management?
A drone with a camera is not only a landscape photographer, but also a forestry inspector. In order for drones to contribute to forestry needs, protect forest resources and improve ecology around the world, drones need high-performance camera gimbals and excellent drone flight control performance.
It is even said that drones can be configured with LiDAR or multispectral sensors to obtain high-precision terrain data and vegetation information. The drone is equipped with an infrared thermal imaging camera, which can respond quickly when a forest fire breaks out, and detect the fire source early for fire fighting and rescue operations. Drones can also expand their payload capacity for items such as transporting items, planting crops, and spraying pesticides.
How are drones deployed and used in forestry?
1. Forest resources monitoring - a bird's eye view
Forestry inspection drones have completely changed the way forest resources are monitored. When the commander sets an automatic planning task for the drone, the drone can conduct inspections according to the predetermined route and capture data such as forest category, distribution range, area, etc., which has the advantages of fast, accurate and real-time. This not only reduces the on-site workload, but also improves work efficiency.
Automated drones can fully demonstrate the cost-effective nature and potential of drones by planning routes, surveying, and automatically returning to base to improve operational efficiency. Recommended by: Autel Dragonfish, Autel MAX 4T.
2. Forest fire monitoring - emergency disaster management
Drones have become an important addition to emergency management tools as they enable a quick bird's-eye view of disaster areas, collect data in real-time and make quick, informed decisions. In the event of a forest fire, early detection and monitoring are critical to preventing the spread of fire and minimizing damage to the environment and nearby communities. Forest inspection drones can play a key role in this, providing remote and flexible monitoring capabilities that can help detect and contain fires before they become uncontrollable.
Drones with thermal imaging can quickly find fire points and coverage areas, issue specific coordinate alarms and prompts to relevant departments, and provide timely information to facilitate the rapid deployment of firefighting forces and reduce loss of life and property. Recommended by: Autel 640T, Autel MAX 4T.
3. Wildlife monitoring becomes possible
Wildlife monitoring is an important aspect of forestry management. Drones can effectively study and monitor the population and distribution of animals across forested areas while minimizing disturbance to animals and avoiding any potential harm to monitoring personnel. With their high timeliness and low cost, these drones are becoming an indispensable tool for wildlife protection.
To inspect wild animals at night, you can use thermal imaging drones. This type of drone uses heat to find targets instead of visible light imaging. It can fully observe animal habits and monitor behavior at night. Recommended by: Autel 640T, Autel MAX 4N.
4. The administrative work of forestry law enforcement has been maintained
In the end, drones used for forestry inspections have proven invaluable for enforcing forestry laws. Drones equipped with high-definition cameras and thermal imagers can provide forestry law enforcement with rapid response and improve operational efficiency. In the case of illegal logging, drones can quickly capture aerial photos of affected areas and trees, providing accurate information for monitoring and addressing illegal activities.
Final Words
The introduction of forestry drones has brought a wide range of benefits to forestry management, becoming a potential game changer for the forestry industry. Forestry drones can provide faster and more efficient surveillance, disease and insect identification, forest fire detection, wildlife tracking and forestry law enforcement.
Autel drones appear in forestry management in the form of multi-rotor foldable drones. Compared with large helicopters, Autel drones are more convenient and effective. It is also important to note that when using drones for forestry work, it is imperative to comply with relevant legal regulations and principles of privacy protection and ensure safe operation so as not to cause undue disturbance or risk to the environment.
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Drones in Forestry: Applications of Multispectral Imagery