AI as a game changer for forest management
A three-year research initiative, supported by the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), the Federal Research Centre for Forests (BFW) and the Institute of Forest Growth at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), is investigating how artificial intelligence can support forest management.
Pioneering project in Upper Austria
The research is taking place on around 5,000 hectares of ÖBf land in the Ebensee area (Upper Austria). Parameters such as the diameter and height of trees, crown density, proportion of deadwood and natural regeneration are measured here. The data obtained is analysed using self-learning algorithms and translated into models that enable a more precise assessment of the condition of the forest.
The research initiative also aims to better monitor protection forests, which play an important role in natural hazards such as avalanches or rockfall. Maintaining and establishing climate-resilient forests is crucial, and the data collected will help forests to be more resilient. New technologies will help to improve existing methods and develop a modern, digital forest inventory procedure for forestry practice. Together with BOKU Vienna's expertise in the field of "digital forest inventory" and AIT's know-how in the field of autonomous systems, the entire data flow will be digitised in order to answer essential questions about forest management more easily.
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Source: bundesforste.at
