Urban forests do more than create an aesthetically pleasing environment for the residents of a municipality. Trees provide habitat for wildlife, reduce carbon emissions, provide cool shade during warm months, and can even offer mental and physical health benefits to community members.
Staying on top of urban forest health looks different for every municipality, depending on their goals. Routine maintenance helps reduce liability while keeping the urban forest healthy; tree plantings help increase and maintain equitable canopy coverage in areas where it’s needed most; and management plans help municipalities prioritize urban forestry needs. But each goal requires a starting point that creates a baseline for the state of a municipality’s urban forest, like a tree inventory.
Tree inventories capture vital pieces of information, such as size, species, and location, that allows urban forest managers to track each tree and document its health, maintenance needs, potential safety risks, and more. This data can help prioritize, analyze, execute, and justify urban forestry projects.
In June 2023, Davey Resource Group announced a strategic partnership with greehill. This partnership created the new industry standard for smart tree inventories, leveraging the latest advancements in technology. Smart tree inventories use LiDAR and 360-degree high-resolution photography to create a digital twin of each tree in a project area. The data and images are then fed into a machine learning engine that is trained to identify tree species, location, diameter, leaf area index, height, leaning angle, canopy spread, and other characteristics.
The Right Timing Is Essential
Time is of the essence for smart tree inventories. Trees must have their full canopy to receive the most accurate data during scanning, making the spring and summer the ideal time for an inventory.
There is still time to add a smart tree inventory to your 2024 schedule, with spots available for scanning in late July or early August. Once trees start losing their leaves in the fall, scans will have to be put on hold until the following growing season. To learn more about smart tree inventories, watch our recorded webinar. To book a scan, contact Josh Behounek.
