Town using drone to monitor health of Oakville forests

Insidehalton.com
Sept. 10, 2015
By David Lea

Area residents who walk in local woodlots over the next few days should not be surprised if they notice a drone hovering overhead.

The Town announced Thursday that researchers from Algoma University will be partnering with the Town’s consultant, BioForest Technologies Inc., to use drone technology to augment the Town’s existing Urban Forest Health Monitoring program.

This means that everyday from Sept. 10 to Sept. 17 a drone will fly above select municipal woodlots and take photos of the tree canopy.

Oakville’s Manager of Forestry Services John McNeil said previously the health of local forests was monitored from the ground with technicians surveying the terrain on foot and taking photos from that perspective.

“The ground-based approach has its merits and this is not replacing that approach, but it is supplementing it,” said McNeil.

“We are taking advantage of new technology. Coming from the air this is more efficient and from a different perspective.”

McNeil said the purpose of the program is to establish the current health level of the forest canopy in Oakville.

Photos taken by the drone will be stored in Town archives and compared with photos, which will be taken of the same locations later in the future.

This way if there is a decline in the health of the forests the Town will become aware of it earlier and be able to take the appropriate action, said McNeil.

“Emerald Ash Borer has taught us a lot,” he said.

“In order to be proactive and deal with the next rounds of invasive species you need to baseline your forest health otherwise you are not going to recognize changes for the good or bad when they come.”

The photos will also help the Town access the damage caused to Oakville’s tree canopy by the Emerald Ash Borer.

McNeil said the Town has budgeted for the Urban Forest Health Monitoring program and there is no additional cost to the Town for using the drone, which is owned by Algoma University.

Biologist and Algoma University Research Assistant, Mandy Ehnes, who operates the drone, said photos taken by the unmanned aerial vehicle will also help to determine bird diversity in local woodlands and help access how the destruction of ash trees by the Emerald Ash Borer has impacted bird populations.

Ehnes said the small drone is a Phantom 3 DJI Quadcopter, which costs around $3,000 when its equipment is factored in.

Between Sept. 10 and Sept. 17 the drone will be used at 36 woodland locations across the town.

Ehnes began with Iroquois Shoreline Woods on Thursday.

“I am not taking pictures of anything except tree canopy. It want to make that clear,” she said.

“I am not taking pictures of homes or backyards or anything. It is just the tree canopy we’re interested in.”

She said the drone would typically be operating about 30-40 metres off the ground.

McNeil said the information uncovered by the drone concerning Oakville’s forest health would ultimately be made public in a report to Town council.