LV EN RU DE FR

Precise Forestry

Course developers

Course abstract

The study course provides students with knowledge about the forest inventory, management planning methods used in forestry, the possibilities of using and processing various data, practical experience of using instruments, software, insight into the latest innovative solutions.

Learning outcomes and their assessment

• Knows about surveying trees and forest compartments; types and methods of forest inventory; types of remote sensing technologies and data; the software of geographic information systems and forest management; the possibilities of using open data and open services.
• Is able to use and process data and databases available in forestry; experience in finding and using the various available register and remote sensing data; experience working with various software such as QGIS, Fusion, Snap, Pix4D, DroneDeploy.
Knowledge and skills are assessed by preparing practical work for each topic of the course content. Number of practical works at least 6, in each of which 1 to 3 course content topics. They change depending on the open data available in each study year, changes in the specification of used software. Students will assess their competence by completing two e-questionnaires. The content of e-surveys according to the topics of the course content, but the details may change depending on the most up-to-date information in the forest industry.

Course Content(Calendar)

1 Forest inventory methods. 3h
2 Types of data and technologies used in forest inventory. 3h
3 Forest inventory methods and software used in other countries. 3h
4 Forest property management software in Latvia and abroad. 3h
5 Forest stands, forest data modeling and analysis methods. 3h
6 Geographical information systems in forestry. 3h
7 Forest remote sensing inventory methods, technologies. 3h
8 3D laser scanning in forestry. 3h
9 Possibilities of using state and other registers. 3h
10 Practical use of satellite data using open source software. 3h
11 Acquisition and processing of drone data using commercial or open source software. 3h
12 Forest stand growth modeling algorithms, practical usage. 3h
13 Calculation and updating of forest stand inventory data. 3h
14 Assessment of forest ecosystem services, landscape ecological planning. 3h
15 The latest tools and technologies in forestry. 3h
16 Newest research related to precision forestry. 3h

Requirements for awarding credit points

Completed practical work. Successfully passed the exam. The exam is organized as the work of course students in at least two groups, where each during exam preparing presentation (all students participate in the presentation with their own section) on the task given according to the course content. Presentations are listened to, evaluated, questions are asked to the presentation group from other groups.

Description of the organization and tasks of students’ independent work

Students independently acquire the indicated literature sources, perform practical work.

Criteria for Evaluating Learning Outcomes

Completed all practical work, completed e-questionnaires give 70% of the total grade, which can give an automatic course credit. Exam, in addition to practical work, e-survey assessment to provide additional value or improve it.

Compulsory reading

1. National Forest Inventories, Assessment of Wood Availability and Use, Editors: Vidal, C., Alberdi, I., Hernández, L., Redmond, J.J. (Eds.). Springer International Publishing, 2016.
2. Remote Sensing of Forest Environments, Concepts and Case Studies. Editors. M. Wulder, S.Franklin (Eds.). Springer Science+Business Media New York, 2003.
3. Practical Handbook of Remote Sensing, Samantha Lavender, Andrew Lavender, Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2003. 244 p.

Further reading

1. Forestry Applications of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) 2019. A special issue of Forests. ISSN 1999-4907. Pieejams: https://www.mdpi.com/books/pdfview/book/3123
2. Forest Management: to sustain ecological, economic, and social values. Lawrence S. Davis... et al. Boston: McGraw-Hill Publishing Co, 2001. 816 p.
3. Advances in forest inventory for sustainable forest management and biodiversity monitoring. Edited by P. Corona... et al. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003. 441 p.
4. QGIS and Applications in Agriculture and Forest. Volume 2. Editor(s): N. Baghdadi, C. Mallet, M. Zribi, 2018.

Periodicals and other sources

1. GIS News. Pieejams: https://www.gim-international.com/news/gis
2. GPS World. Pieejams: https://www.gpsworld.com/

Notes

The study course is included in the academic master's study programs of the Faculty of Forestry in the sections Forest Ecology and Forestry, Forest Works and Engineering and Forest Economics and Politics - a compulsory theoretical specialization course in full-time studies.