Aeracoop
Dronecoria
I share here our latest article on drone seeding with Artificial Intelligence:
Abstract
Aerial seeding with drones has great potential in forest restoration but faces enormous challenges to be efficient and scalable. Current protocols use blanket seeding throughout the area to be restored, meaning a high demand for seed since many seeds arrive in sites unsuitable for establishment. High precision seeding directed to safe microsites at submeter scale could reduce seed use per hectare, reducing economic and ecological costs, while increasing establishment success. Here, we propose an alternative, precision approach to make drone seeding more successful and efficient. This requires (1) submeter-scale selection of target microsites for seeding founded in ecological knowledge; (2) high-resolution remote sensing imagery to train artificial intelligence (AI) systems in target microsite recognition; and (3) process automation by transferring target microsite coordinates from the AI system to the drone. This will reduce seed inputs per unit area, seedling establishment failure risks, and drone operation costs.
Implications for Practice
- Precise drone seeding at submeter scale can be accomplished using high resolution remote sensing imagery to locate and annotate safe microsites. The detection of targeted microsites can be later automated with artificial intelligence (AI).
- The coordinates of each microsite are then transferred to the drone, which deploys seeds only in these locations. This will reduce seed use by seeding with high precision at the best microsites for seedling establishment.
- The AI system can be then used to detect the target microsites automatically in other areas, making drone seeding scalable worldwide.
- This improves current protocols of drone seeding, which drop seeds through all the area as classical aerial seeding methods instead of focusing on the best places at submeter scale.
Available here:
Add the first post in this thread.