National Institute of Forest Science Improves Efficiency and Accuracy of Forest Resource Surveys with Autonomous Drones
The use of autonomous drones is expected to improve the efficiency and accuracy of forest resource surveys.
The National Institute of Forest Science announced on January 29 that it held a field demonstration of surveying forest resources using an 'autonomous drone' equipped with LiDAR.
An autonomous drone is navigating through the forest, avoiding obstacles on its own. National Institute of Forest Science
View original imageThe autonomous drone is capable of collecting high-precision three-dimensional data while autonomously flying within the forest. The demonstrated technology enables 'Autonomous Internal Flight,' where the drone recognizes and avoids obstacles such as trees, and precisely scans tree trunks and understory vegetation as it flies through the forest.
In particular, during the demonstration, the autonomous drone used a 'hybrid survey method,' traveling between the forest canopy and interior, to accurately measure the diameter at breast height (DBH) of trees that were previously difficult to observe due to leaf cover.
While traditional manual surveys required approximately 22 hours per hectare, the autonomous drone reduced the survey time to just 2 hours and 30 minutes. Most notably, it achieved an accuracy rate of 96%, higher than that of on-site manual measurements, demonstrating the potential for unmanned survey technology using autonomous drones to be deployed in actual forest resource surveys.
Based on the technology validated during the demonstration, the National Institute of Forest Science plans to address safety issues in mountainous areas that are difficult for people to access, while further improving the efficiency and accuracy of forest resource surveys.
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Park Jeongmook, a researcher at the Forest Management Research Division, said, "The demonstration was conducted in a way that the drone entered directly from outside the forest to carry out the survey. This marks the starting point for a paradigm shift in forest surveys, and by focusing efforts on advancing technologies such as miniaturization and weight reduction of drones, it will serve as a catalyst for accelerating smart forest management."
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