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Drones Come in Handy in Pinecone Harvest Assessment

The importance of the use of unmanned aerial vehicles or drones is constantly increasing in forestry and the possibilities of their use are also expanding. Thus, the employees of JSC “Latvia's State Forests” (LVM) structural unit LVM Sēklas un stādi Latgale seed breeding station used a drone for the first time to assess the yield of pinecones growing in the pine genetic resource forest.

“Usually, we evaluate the cone harvest with binoculars from the ground, but it is not always possible to see well through the upper third of the tree crown. In this respect, drones have an advantage – in the images taken from above, the cones of the Baltic pine and fir are clearly visible. However, the use of drones will not be suitable for surveying deciduous trees, because, for example, the seeds of birch mature and reach maturity when tress have leaves. Therefore, it will be difficult to visually see the seeds even under magnification. In turn, the “cones” of black alder seeds could be seen better with a drone, but the assessment should be done in autumn, when the black alder seeds start to fall,” says Juris Trimalnieks, Head of Latgale Seed Production Department of LVM Sēklas un stādi.

When evaluating potential seed yields, drones are a particularly useful aid in mature Baltic spruce seed plantations. Likewise, the use of drones in seed plantations is useful for inspecting areas and assessing the health of trees.

Forest tree seeds are usually collected in seed plantations, which are created in cooperation with the Latvian State Forest Research Institute “Silava”, growing grafted pines. The forest grown from the seeds of these cones will be more productive, it will grow faster and will give better quality wood. The collection of seeds in forest stands takes place in rare cases and is carried out in special stands of genetic resources, where the rules of forest reproductive material provide for the restoration of clearings with seed material from the same place, or seedlings grown from the seeds collected in the respective place.

In general, at LVM drones are used for the work needs of LVM Mežkopība, Koksnes produktu ražošana un piegāde, LVM Zemes dzīles, Forest Infrastructure, Real Estate Administration, Corporate Planning Department, Communication Department and Safety Control Department.

“Mainly, unmanned aerial vehicles are used for survey purposes, as an auxiliary tool for faster, more efficient data acquisition. We mostly use them in surveying forest drainage systems, surveying potentially damaged stands and stands damaged by beavers, determining the quality of logging, determining damage caused by wind and similar works. The total number of jobs in which the use of unmanned aerial vehicles is efficient is more than 30. Previously, most of these works were carried out by our employees going on foot, walking through the specific areas of the forest, and obtaining the necessary information,” says Kārlis Linde, LVM Unmanned Aircraft Operation Manager.

Currently, the company has 297 employees who hold a remote-control pilot's license. The number of drone flights is variable – they do not exceed a few hundred in the winter months. However, in the summer and autumn months, the total number of flights reaches up to several thousand and most pilots actively use them to perform work tasks.