Abstract
Involving city dwellers in the planning and management of urban forests is commonplace today, and its continuous development can be observed, which is enhanced by access to mobile technologies.
New mobile devices, e.g. iPad Pro/iPhone (Apple) with a built-in LiDAR sensor, today enable the engagement of city communities, e.g. in mass (crowdsourcing) inventory creation of urban trees, which is an expensive activity of managing green infrastructure. Previous results of the authors’ work have shown that the use of the iPad Pro allows for precise registration of tree locations, determination of DBH, the distance between trees, estimation of trunk diameter at different heights from the ground, or inclination of tree trunks. From the perspective of the local community, the iPad Pro/iPhone can be a solution for registering the location of trees and their DBH in the immediate vicinity, providing precise 3D point clouds, mesh models and textures – directly to the cloud computing server. Procedures of this type would certainly ensure faster and more frequent updating of data on trees and their growth or trunk condition. They would also allow a determination of the ecosystem services (ES) provided by trees or lost when they are cut, based on prediction models using DBH as an independent variable. The DBH value measured with mobile applications running on the iPad Pro can be almost as accurate as TLS measurements (FARO Focus 3D), of course, depending on the distance of the scanner from the tree.
Measurement errors (RMSE) are 2.2 to 3.4 cm. The relative location of trees in a park or street can be precisely determined (RMSE 12.3 cm) and the absolute values are largely dependent on the quality of the GNSS reception.
An experiment testing the estimation of ecosystem services in the i-Tree Eco (USDA Forest Service) software based on DBH measurements using the iPad Pro, TLS scanner, tape measure and other devices showed some limitations, and not only those due to the precision of the iPad Pro mobile solution itself. In terms of using the functionality of the iPad Pro/iPhone mobile solution for augmented reality (AR), the process of planning the planting or replanting of trees involves city residents in the care of urban forests. Engaged citizens can decide or request the planting of new trees or investment in landscaping (e.g. benches) for their community based on a more measurable practical approach.
New mobile devices, e.g. iPad Pro/iPhone (Apple) with a built-in LiDAR sensor, today enable the engagement of city communities, e.g. in mass (crowdsourcing) inventory creation of urban trees, which is an expensive activity of managing green infrastructure. Previous results of the authors’ work have shown that the use of the iPad Pro allows for precise registration of tree locations, determination of DBH, the distance between trees, estimation of trunk diameter at different heights from the ground, or inclination of tree trunks. From the perspective of the local community, the iPad Pro/iPhone can be a solution for registering the location of trees and their DBH in the immediate vicinity, providing precise 3D point clouds, mesh models and textures – directly to the cloud computing server. Procedures of this type would certainly ensure faster and more frequent updating of data on trees and their growth or trunk condition. They would also allow a determination of the ecosystem services (ES) provided by trees or lost when they are cut, based on prediction models using DBH as an independent variable. The DBH value measured with mobile applications running on the iPad Pro can be almost as accurate as TLS measurements (FARO Focus 3D), of course, depending on the distance of the scanner from the tree.
Measurement errors (RMSE) are 2.2 to 3.4 cm. The relative location of trees in a park or street can be precisely determined (RMSE 12.3 cm) and the absolute values are largely dependent on the quality of the GNSS reception.
An experiment testing the estimation of ecosystem services in the i-Tree Eco (USDA Forest Service) software based on DBH measurements using the iPad Pro, TLS scanner, tape measure and other devices showed some limitations, and not only those due to the precision of the iPad Pro mobile solution itself. In terms of using the functionality of the iPad Pro/iPhone mobile solution for augmented reality (AR), the process of planning the planting or replanting of trees involves city residents in the care of urban forests. Engaged citizens can decide or request the planting of new trees or investment in landscaping (e.g. benches) for their community based on a more measurable practical approach.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | 25th European Forum on Urban Forestry (EFUF2023) |
Subtitle of host publication | Urban Forests as nature-based solutions. Book of abstracts. Krakow, 24-26 May 2023 |
Editors | Rik De Vreese, Agata Czaplarska |
Publisher | European Forest Institute |
Pages | 89 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 978-83-62168-31-6 |
ISBN (Print) | 978-83-62168-30-9 |
Publication status | Published - 23 May 2023 |
Keywords
- mobile solution
- urban trees