Data Collection Method for Creating Digital Twin of Planted Forests

Yuriy V. Sukhanov, Aleksey S. Vasilev

Abstract


The complete enumeration of trees employed in forestry typically pertains solely to ripening and maturity stands and does not incorporate the utilization of digital stocking models, which could potentially simplify this task in small wood cutting areas, as well as when addressing research or environmental concerns. The existing digital models of forest stands provide data on the size, species, and categories of technical feasibility of forest plants. However, they lack the capability to store information on the spatial structure of the stand and the actual location of the woody plants that comprise it. The objective of this project is to devise a methodology for acquiring data on forest stand accounting, thereby enabling the creation of digital twins of forest stands and their subsequent updating. In order to attain this objective, the methodologies of analyzing scientific and technical literature, functional and technological analysis, and the brainstorming method were used. As a result of the research, a methodology was proposed for gathering data to generate digital twins of the forest. This methodology is intended to be implemented during the stage of establishment forest crops and facilitates the determination of spatial coordinates for each plant subject to accounting. Knowledge of these coordinates will further facilitate the creation of flight assignments for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) during remote survey of the territory. In addition, it will help to rationally plan the location of utility corridors for the movement of forest machines, taking into account the minimization of damage to the remaining trees and the negative impact on the soil. It will also help to assign forestry measures using automated and robotic systems. A digital twin of the forest obtained using the proposed method will allow for a highly accurate implementation of a comprehensive accounting of woody plants, assessing the processes and indicators of the development of forest and green spaces, assigning agrotechnical and forestry measures, and more rationally planning logging.

Keywords: digital model of forest stand, digitalization of forestry sector, artificially regen erated stands, forest inventory, complete enumeration, stand spatial structure

© 2025 Serbian Geographical Society, Belgrade, Serbia.

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Serbia.


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