Baseline Surveys pointing to the skies
ANOTHER Cork-based technology company, Baseline Surveys, has been pioneering the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to photograph and map standing crops of trees to an astonishing degree of accuracy. In many respects, this technology is complimentary to Treemetrics.
Paudie Barry, the managing director of Baseline Surveys, has a 25-year background in sur ve ying f or t he c i vi l engineering industry.
Two years ago, Mr Barry invested in drone mapping equipment and, since then, has published papers on the accuracy of this equipment which, he claims, shows that his system has produced the most accurate aerial maps in the world.
He has presented his findings to Engineers Ireland, and also internationally at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels. Mr Barr y has a permit to operate his UAVs in Irish airspace from the IAA.
Using this equipment, Baseline Surveys can locate, clusters of owners with smaller areas.
Up to 2,500 aerial photographs are processed to produce an orthophoto, which is a rectified aerial photo similar to Google Earth, but with far higher resolution. It will also provide 99pc accuracy on height information.
The photography can also help assess loss of trees due to storm damage, theft and disease.
Baseline Surveys Ltd have recently carried out trials for Coillte, and as one Coillte area manager commented, their technology provides 60pc of the forest inventory before anyone has to step foot into the forest, and to a far greater degree of accuracy than was ever possible, even with an army of foresters on the ground.