Digitalization of tree care for climate benefit in cities

BackgroundDuring the spring of 2023, a preliminary study was carried out through a collaboration between Arboair and Husqvarna. The aim has been to do a market verification of digital solutions for urban forest and tree care in urban environments.

The feasibility study has included an analysis of customer needs, mapping of existing methods and tools as well as market estimation in the European market.

The market verification shows that the methods currently used for tree inventory in urban environments are inefficient and expensive, as it is most often done manually, by a person walking around the city and collecting measurements for each individual tree.

This is then submitted into the city´s database (if the city has a database, many cities do not have a tool for this) and analyzed in the city´s own GIS system. Each city seems to handle tree inventory and the data it generates very individually and in varying ways.

A tree inventory is sometimes done every 10th year, sometimes continuously when measures are being done on the trees in question, sometimes not at all.

The reason it is not done more often, seems to be that it is a time-consuming and inefficient process, which costs a lot, and is therefore de-prioritized. There is a wish from many interviewed people that it should take place every two years.

The identified need therefore lies in developing a time-efficient and cost-effective way to collect overall data on a city´s trees.Trend analysis - Climate adaptation and information based societyClimate adaptation of cities is an issue that is becoming more and more critical. One way to do this is to use green infrastructure, i.e. trees and green areas, in a more strategic way.

This arises the need to be able to argue for the value of trees in urban environments and thus produce objective data on ecosystem services.

On the other hand, we need a more efficient way of doing tree inventories in the future, as we will have more trees to take care of.The information based society we live in today also demands more and more digital solutions and concrete data as a basis for decisions.

Through this solution of image analysis for tree inventory, we can provide exactly that, for city development or urban planning.About the actorsArboair is a startup company born out of Linköping University. We work for a digitized and sustainable forest industry.

Through our two products, both of which are based on AI-driven image analysis, we can help forest owners towards more data-driven precision forestry, which in turn favors the sustainable use of our forest.

Our technology is based on the latest research in AI and image analysis and we are a team of diversified backgrounds and skills that complement each other in a constructive way.Through the collaboration with Husqvarna, wich holds solid industry knowledge as a globally recognized producer of tree care tools, we now want to develop a product for digital tree inventory, where we apply Arboair´s existing technology to urban environments.The projectThis part of the project for which we are seeking funding is about developing a first pilot project together with a customer.

During the autumn of 2023, a project will be carried out where a proof of concept is developed and verified together with a number of cities as potential customers.

The goal of the proof of concept is to verify a first alpha version of a digital tree inventory tool where parameters such as position, number of trees, height, volume and vitality are obtained through image analysis.

In 2024, the plan is for this to be further developed in a pilot where this product is tested and further developed together.

The feasibility study has already shown an existing customer need and we are now in close contact with many potential customers and experts in the industry who want to further develop this together with us in 2024.