Determining the current position in a forest is essential for many applications and is often carried out using smartphones. Modern smartphones now support various GNSS constellations and multi-frequency analyses, which are expected to provide more accurate positioning. This study compares the static autonomous GNSS positioning accuracy under forest conditions of four multi-frequency multi-constellation smartphones as well as six single-frequency smartphones and a geodetic receiver. Measurements were carried out at 15 different study sites under forest canopies, with 24 measurements lasting approximately 10 min each taken for the 11 GNSS receivers. The results indicate that, on average, multi-frequency smartphones can achieve a higher positioning accuracy. However, the accuracy varies greatly between smartphones, even between identical or quasi-identical tested smartphones. Therefore, no accuracy should be generalised depending on the number of usable frequencies or constellations, but each smartphone should be considered separately. The dual-frequency Xiaomi Mi 10 clearly stands out compared with the other smartphone with a DRMS of 4.56 m and has a 34% lower absolute error than the best single-frequency phone.

The aim of the study was to provide a comprehensive overview of global long-distance road transportation of industrial roundwood. The study focused on the maximum gross vehicle weight (GVW) limits allowed with different timber truck configurations, typical payloads in timber trucking, the road transportation share of the total industrial roundwood long-distance transportation volume, and the average long-distance transportation distances and costs of industrial roundwood. The study was carried out as a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire was sent to timber transportation logistics experts and research scientists in the 30 countries with the largest industrial roundwood removals in Europe, as well as selected major forestry countries in the world (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, Türkiye, the United States of America and Uruguay) in February 2022, and closed in May 2022. A total of 31 countries took part in the survey. The survey illustrated that timber trucking was the main long-distance transportation method of industrial roundwood in almost every country surveyed. Road transportation averaged 89% of the total industrial roundwood long-distance transportation volume. Timber truck configurations of 4 to 9 axles with GVW limits of around 30 tonnes to over 70 tonnes were most commonly used. The results indicated that higher GVW limits allowed significantly higher payloads in timber trucking, with the lowest payloads at less than 25 tonnes, and the highest payloads more than 45 tonnes. The average road transportation distance with industrial roundwood was 128 km, and the average long-distance transportation cost in timber trucking was €11.1 per tonne of timber transported. In the entire survey material, there was a direct relationship between transportation distance and transportation costs and an inverse relationship between maximum GVW limits and transportation costs. Consequently, in order to reduce transportation costs, it is essential to maximise payloads (within legal limits) and minimise haul distances. Several measures to increase cost- and energy-efficiency, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in road transportation logistics, are discussed in the paper. On the basis of the survey, it is recommended that up-to-date statistical data and novel research studies on the long-distance transportation of industrial roundwood be conducted in some countries in the future.

Traceability is the ability to follow the processes that a raw material or product goes through. For forestry, this means identifying the wood from the standing tree to the mill entrance and recording all information about the technical (production) and spatial (transportation) manipulation of the timber by linking it to the ID. We reviewed the literature for developments in timber flow traceability. Findings range from disillusionment with the non-application of available forestry technology to enthusiasm for the advancement of technology that—given appropriate incentives of an economic, environmental, consumer-oriented and legislative nature—can rapidly lead to widespread end-to-end media-interruption-free implementation. Based on our research, the solution lies in optical biometric systems that identify the individual piece of wood—without attaching anything—at three crucial points: during assortment at the skid road, at the forest road and at the mill entrance. At all of these points, the data accruing during the timber supply process must be linked to the ID of the piece of wood via data management.

The measurement of roadside wood stacks in the forest still plays an important role in many forestry operations. Traditional manual measuring methods can be laborious, inaccurate and error-prone. Therefore, the issue is whether 2.5D or 3D optical remote sensing measuring methods provide more precise or detailed results and advantages in further data processing. This study examined and partly developed nine different manual, photo-optical, iPad®-LiDAR and handheld laser scanner-LiDAR-based wood stack measurement methods. Forty-seven wood stacks, ranging from 8.9 to 209.3 m3 (totalling approximately 2700 m3), were measured and compared using these nine methods. All the methods give volume estimations, and none can be seen to give the real or true wood stack gross volume. Surprisingly, the results varied significantly within and between the individual methods, with up to a 9% mean relative deviation. The relative deviation is strongly dependent on the size of the wood stack. The 3D measurement methods using iPad® RGB and LiDAR recorded lower timber volumes than the other methods, in contrast to the method based on samples taken with handheld laser scanner-LiDAR, which overestimated the volume. Generally, optical- and laser-based surveying techniques could be more widely applied in measuring wood stacks in the future. However, such automatic wood stack gross volume determination approaches still face some challenges, regarding accuracy in the case of the 2.5D methods and the lack of automatisation in the case of 3D methods. Consequently, further research is required in the near future.

The Sustainable Development Goals, developed in 2015 by the United Nations, are a set of 17 internationally agreed-upon goals to be reached by 2030. The forest sector stands out as an important player in tackling climate change and strengthening sustainable initiatives. However, in addition to investigating the synergies and trade-offs between the forest sector and the SDGs, it is important to comprehend how this relationship has been measured. We conducted a systematic review to understand which methods have been used to understand the contributions of the forest sector to the SDGs. Following the PRISMA protocol, we screened 1064 articles from the Scopus and Web of Science databases, written in English and published between 2015 and November 2022. With the assistance of CADIMA 2.2.4 and Atlas.Ti 22, 83 articles were selected for further investigation. As a result, we categorized the studies into eight methods: content analysis, personal perceptions, interpretative analysis, frameworks, models, impact analysis, time series data, and SDG index. The approaches used include nature-based solutions, literature reviews, the Delphi method, case studies, the iSDG model, SDG 15 indicators, Earth observations, and remote sensing. In conclusion, although the SDGs are widely referenced, studies that measure and explore the relationship between the forest sector and SDGs in a more holistic way are still lacking. This systematic review aimed to offer an overview of the methods being used to address this topic and stimulate future research.

The influence that parameters crookedness and taper have on the stack volume was analyzed by using a 3D-simulation model in this study. To do so, log length, diameters at the midpoint and both ends, crookedness, bark thickness, taper and ovality were measured in 1000 logs of Scots pine. From this database, several data sets with different proportions of crooked and tapered logs in stack as well as with different degrees of taper and crookedness were created and taken as basis to simulate the stacks and carry out the analysis. The results show how the variation of these parameters influences the stack volume and provide their volume variation grades. These rates of variation were compared with measurement guidelines of some countries and previous research works. In conclusion, the parameters crookedness and taper influence the stack volume to a considerable extent. Specifically, the stack volume is increased as the crookedness degree or the proportion of crooked logs increases. In contrast, the stack volume is reduced as the taper degree or the proportion of tapered logs increases. Furthermore, the results demonstrate the capability of this simulation model to provide accurate results which can serve as a basis for future studies.