Questions
And Answers
Certain requirements have to be fulfilled to get good image quality. The better the raw images, the better the results. For the Seedling Counter SKYLAB is recommending Copter drones like DJI Mavic Pro 2, DJI Phantom 4 Pro (V1, V2, RTK), the DJI Zenmuse P1 camera which is often carried by the DJI Matrice 300 as well as fixed-wing drones like the Wingtra One or the Trinity F90+ with the Sony RX1 camera.
For mature tree Counting and Tree Height Measurements it is important that the distortions of the trees do not affect the stitching process. Wide angle cameras (e.g. DJI Phantom 4) are therefore not a good option and are not recommended.
In general however, when you sign up to one of our annual contracts for seedling survival assessments or mature tree counting, you get a free 2-month test phase. If you don’t like the results you get, you can simply cancel the contract free of charge and walk away without paying anything!
Once you’ve signed up:
For seedling and tree counting projects using drone or plane imagery, you just simply upload your raw aerial imagery and your stand boundaries into our SKYLABcloud and everything is then done automatically. Always remember to discuss drone choices, flight settings and specifications with us beforehand though, to make sure that you get the best quality data possible!
For projects that use satellite imagery (such as our Change Monitor), then you simply tell us the area that you want analysed, a start and an end date, and a monitoring frequency. Then we will do the rest!
You don’t need expensive drones, but you do need to have a good camera. The DJI Mavic Pro 2 and the DJI Phantom 4 PRO are both good, affordable choices for getting started.
For counting mature trees, imagery can be collected either by drone or by plane, since the objects are much bigger. Resolution should be around 5cm – 10cm. Certain species can even be counted accurately using very high-resolution satellite data (30cm – 50cm).
If you want to monitor much larger areas, but don’t need tree-level accuracy, then 3m – 10m satellite imagery is probably what you need. It’s perfect for locating and quantifying health problems, harvesting operations, damage following storms or fires, and for tracking illegal logging activity.
For seedling and tree counting, our standard price is €2/ha, but prices come down with larger volumes.
