Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly used as tools to perform a detailed assessment of post-harvest sites. One of the potential use of UAV photogrammetric data is to obtain tree-stump information that can then be used to support more precise decisions. This study developed and tested a methodology to automatically detect, segment, classify, and measure tree-stumps. Among the potential applications for single stump data, this study assessed the possibility (1) to detect and map root- and butt-rot on the stumps using a machine learning approach, and (2) directly measure or model tree stump diameter from the UAV data. The results revealed that the tree-stumps were detected with an overall accuracy of 68–80%, and once the stump was detected, the presence of root- and butt-rot was detected with an accuracy of 82.1%. Furthermore, the root mean square error of the UAV-derived measurements or model predictions for the stump diameter was 7.5 cm and 6.4 cm, respectively, and with the former systematically under predicting the diameter by 3.3 cm. The results of this study are promising and can lead to the development of more cost-effective and comprehensive UAV post-harvest surveys.

Purpose of Review: Mechanized logging operations with ground-based equipment commonly represent European production forestry but are well-known to potentially cause soil impacts through various forms of soil disturbances, especially on wet soils with low bearing capacity. In times of changing climate, with shorter periods of frozen soils, heavy rain fall events in spring and autumn and frequent needs for salvage logging, forestry stakeholders face increasingly unfavourable conditions to conduct low-impact operations. Thus, more than ever, planning tools such as trafficability maps are required to ensure efficient forest operations at reduced environmental impact. This paper aims to describe the status quo of existence and implementation of such tools applied in forest operations across Europe. In addition, focus is given to the availability and accessibility of data relevant for such predictions. Recent Findings: A commonly identified method to support the planning and execution of machine-based operations is given by the prediction of areas with low bearing capacity due to wet soil conditions. Both the topographic wetness index (TWI) and the depth-to-water algorithm (DTW) are used to identify wet areas and to produce trafficability maps, based on spatial information. Summary: The required input data is commonly available among governmental institutions and in some countries already further processed to have topography-derived trafficability maps and respective enabling technologies at hand. Particularly the Nordic countries are ahead within this process and currently pave the way to further transfer static trafficability maps into dynamic ones, including additional site-specific information received from detailed forest inventories. Yet, it is hoped that a broader adoption of these information by forest managers throughout Europe will take place to enhance sustainable forest operations.

Skid trails constructed for timber extraction in steep terrain constitute a serious environmental concern if not well planned, executed and ameliorated. Carrying out post-harvest surveys in monitoring constructed trails in such terrain is an onerous task for forest administrators, as hundreds of meters need to be surveyed per site, and the quantification of parameters and volumes is largely based on assumptions of trail symmetry and terrain uniformity. In this study, aerial imagery captured from a multi-rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle was used in generating a detailed post-harvest terrain model which included all skid trails. This was then compared with an Airborne Laser Scanning derived pre-harvest terrain model and the dimensions, slopes and cut-and-fill volumes associated with the skid trails were determined. The overall skid trail length was 954 m, or 381 m·ha⁻¹ with segments varying from 40–60 m, inclinations from 3.9% to 9.6%, and cut volumes, from 1.7 to 3.7 m³ per running meter. The methods used in this work can be used in rapidly assessing the extent of disturbance and erosion risk on a wide range of sites. The multi-rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) was found to be highly suited to the task, given the relatively small size of harvested stands, their shape and their location in the mountainous terrain.

We demonstrate the efficacy of using close-range photogrammetry from a consumer grade camera as a tool in generating high-resolution, three-dimensional coloured point clouds for detailed analysis or monitoring of wheel ruts. Ground-based timber harvesting results in vehicle traffic on 12–70 per cent of the site, depending on the system used, with a variable probability of causing detrimental soil disturbance depending on climatic, hydrological and soil conditions at the time of harvest. Applying the technique described in this article can reduce the workload associated with the conventional manual measurement of wheel ruts, while providing a greatly enhanced source of information that can be used in analysing both physical and biological impact, or stored in a repository for later operation management or monitoring. Approaches for deriving and quantifying properties such as rut depths and soil displacement volumes are also presented. In evaluating the potential for widespread adoption of the method among forest or environmental managers, the study also presents the workflow and provides a comparison of the ease of use and quality of the results obtained from one commercial and two open source image processing software packages. Results from a case study showed no significant difference between packages on point cloud quality in terms of model distortion. Comparison of photogrammetric profiles against profiles measured manually resulted in root mean square errors of between 2.07 and 3.84 cm for five selected road profiles. Maximal wheel rut depth for three different models were 1.15, 0.99 and 1.01 m, and estimated rut volumes were 9.84, 9.10 and 9.09 m³, respectively, for 22.5 m long sections.

The effectiveness of generating virtual transects on unmanned aerial vehicle-derived orthomosaics was evaluated in estimating the extent of soil disturbance by severity class. Combinations of 4 transect lengths (5–50 m) and five sampling intensities (1–20 transects per ha) were used in assessing traffic intensity and the severity of soil disturbance on six post-harvest, cut-to-length (CTL) clearfell sites. In total, 15% of the 33 ha studied showed some trace of vehicle traffic. Of this, 63% of was categorized as light (no visible surface disturbance). Traffic intensity varied from 787 to 1256 m ha⁻¹, with a weighted mean of 956 m ha⁻¹, approximately twice the geometrical minimum achievable with CTL technology under perfect conditions. An overall weighted mean of 4.7% of the total site area was compromised by severe rutting. A high sampling intensity, increasing with decreasing incidence of soil disturbance, is required if mean estimation error is to be kept below 20%. The paper presents a methodology that can be generally applied in forest management or in similar land-use evaluations.