Project information
Project name
Drone-based measurements of early changes in forest health with a hyperspectral camera in a changing climate – a new tool for climate-smart forestry
Project manager
Johan Fransson
Other project members
Basam Dahy, Linnaeus University, Heather Reese, University of Gothenburg, Lars Ulander, Chalmers University of Technology
Participating organizations
Linnaeus University, University of Gothenburg, Chalmers University of Technology
Financier
The Brattås Foundation for Forest Science Research
Timetable
1 jan 2023–31 dec 2026
Subject
Forestry and wood technology (Department of Forestry and Wood Technology, Faculty of Technology)
Research group
Forestry and Wood Technology, DISA, The Bridge
Linnaeus Knowledge Environment
Green Sustainable Development
More about the project
The present project will collect, process, and analyze drone-based measurements of forest vitality using a hyperspectral camera in order to determine how early forest damage can be detected, primarily caused by drought, insects, and fungi. The project will be conducted at the forest research site Svartberget outside Vindeln in northern Sweden and at Attsjö, just east of Växjö in southern Sweden, where both natural and artificially induced damage to individual trees will be investigated.
In addition to traditional field inventories, physiological measurements on individual trees will be carried out in combination with simultaneous drone measurements during two full growing seasons (April–October). The aim is to develop indices, based on collected spectral data and field data, that are sensitive to tree vitality in order to determine how early forest damage can be detected. Early detection of damage is of great importance for minimizing economic losses in forestry, particularly as both biotic damage (caused, for example, by insects and fungi) and abiotic damage (caused, for example, by drought, storms, and fires) are expected to increase with a changing climate.
The project will be carried out in collaboration between Linnaeus University, the University of Gothenburg (GU), and Chalmers University of Technology.
Staff
