ForestTECH 2020 Programme
DAY ONE
Wednesday 18 November 2020
Innovations in Forest Establishment, Planting & Mechanised Silviculture
Welcome & Introduction
FIEA
Forest Establishment & Silviculture
What’s changed in the last 50 years and opportunities for increased mechanisation
Tony O’Hara, GM Forest Resources, HVP Plantations (live remote)
CNI planting trials with the mechanised M-Planter
A viable alternative to traditional manual planting. Lessons from early trials.
Henry Fear, Henry Fear Contracting & Ben Dixon, Tree Crop Operations Manager, Timberlands Ltd (live)
Field Evaluation of Mechanised Planting of Radiata Pine in NSW
Mike Sutton, Manager, Innovation & Research, Forestry Corporation NSW, Australia (live remote)
Mechanised Scarification, Mounding and Planting Systems from Sweden
Klas-Håkan Ljungberg, CEO, Bracke Forest AB, Sweden (pre-recorded plus live Q&A)
Precision Planting. A New GPS system providing traceability of the tree crop for forest managers
Henry Fear, Henry Fear Contracting (live)
Precision Mechanised Soil Cultivation, Fertilisation and Planting
Henri Syvanen, Sales Manager, Risutec, Finland (pre-recorded plus live Q&A)
Lunch & Networking
Drone Planting and Reforestation Options
Results and lessons from recent in-forest trials
Matthew Agahai, Director of Research & Development, DroneSeed, USA (live remote)
1.20pm
Operational Drone Deliveries of Tree Seedlings
Trial results from the 2019-2020 planting seasons. How does it stack up?
Dave Herries, GM, Interpine (live)
1.40pm
Planting with Drones - Using technology and science to realise large ecological restoration projects
Andrew Walker, Co-Founder and Mechanical Engineer, AirSeed Technologies, Australia (live remote)
2.00pm
TECH Showcase
Short presentations on new product innovations
2.30pm
Afternoon Tea & Networking
3.00pm
Advanced Deep Learning for Forestry Remote Sensing
Grant Pearse, Geomatics Scientist, Scion (live)
3.30pm
Every Seedling Counts - New high precision digital mapping tools for post planting seedling survival, weed mapping and vitality measurements
Albrecht von Ruffer, CEO, Skylab GmbH, Germany (pre-recorded plus live Q&A) / Rob Hanssen, Technical Forester, Green Triangle Forest Products, Australia (Live Remote)
3.50pm
Ultra-high-Resolution Satellite Imagery for Tree Counting before Canopy Closure
Results from operational trials
Michael Breetzke, Director & Co-Founder, Swift Geospatial, South Africa (pre-recorded plus live Q&A)
4.10pm
Panel Discussion & Questions: Live link to international presenters (earlier pre-recorded presentations) on mechanical planting technologies
- Michael Breetzke, Director & Co-Founder, Swift Geospatial, South Africa
- Albrecht von Ruffer, CEO, Skylab GmbH, Germany
- Klas-Håkan Ljungberg, CEO, Bracke Forest AB, Sweden
- Markus Vihottula, Deputy CEO, Risutec, Finland
4.40pm
Mechanisation Opportunities in Forest Establishment & Silviculture - Future directions and research priorities
Russell Dale, Forest Growers Research / Mike Baker, Technical Forester, Hancock Forest Management (live)
5.00pm
Drinks, Refreshments & Networking for NZ delegates
DAY TWO
Thursday 19 November 2020
Innovations in Remote Sensing & Data Capture Technologies - Application in the Forest
Timezone: NZDT
9.50am
Welcome & Introduction
FIEA
10.00am
Combining Remote Sensing & Analytics Technologies
Advances being made in satellite imagery and operational deployment in forestry operations
Tara O’Shea, Director of Forest Programs, Planet, USA (live remote)
10.30am
Innovations in Forest Inventory
High quality data collection under canopy and VR results using the mobile LiDAR mapping solution, Hovermap
Dave Herries, GM, Interpine (live)
11.00am
A New Era of Reliable Forest Inventory
Comprehensive, consistent, reliable, and scalable forest inventory at high resolution
Dr. Ian Moss, Inventory Design Specialist, High Resolution Inventory Solutions (HRIS), Canada (live remote)
11.30am
TECH Showcase
Short presentations on new product innovations
11.45am
Making Data Meaningful in the Digital Forest
Australasian case studies demonstrating remote data collection and analysis using in-forest sensors
Jamie Lawrence, Business Development Manager, Indicium Dynamics, Australia (live remote)
12.15pm
Lunch & Networking
1.00pm
Tracking Forest Growth Rates in Real Time
A system of in-forest wireless sensors developed by an award-winning Brazilian forestry technology start-up
Esthevan Gasparoto, Chief Executive Officer, Treevia, Brazil (live remote)
1.20pm
Getting to the point: How accurate are photogrammetric and UAV LiDAR point clouds for measuring the height of young trees
Assessing the accuracy of UAV-derived point clouds, and a look at some of the variables that affect this
Robin Hartley, Manager UAV Operations and Geospatial Scientist, Scion (live)
1.40pm
Forest Scale Phenotyping
Inferring Silviculture x Genetics x Environment Interactions through Big Data
Simon Papps, Resource Planner, Hancock Forest Management (live)
2.00pm
An AU$200m Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) project
The development of a regional SBAS to radically improve the accuracy of GPS
Eldar Rubinov, SBAS Technical Manager, FrontierSI, Australia (live remote)
2.20pm
Detecting Nutrient Deficiencies using Hyperspectral Imagery
Results from recent trials to determine N&P deficiencies in radiata pine
Michael Watt, Research Leader – Geomatics, Scion (live)
2.45pm
NZ Conference Concludes
Day Two: Australian Workshop
Mechanised Planting & The Practical Application & Operational Use of Remote Sensing Data
Recent Australian Research and Operational Trials (live remote for all delegates)
Timezone: NZDT
3.05pm
Welcome & Introduction
FIEA
3.10pm
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Drone Imaging Solutions
Automated detection of radiata seedlings using drone (standard RGB, hyperspectral and multispectral) imagery. Results from operational in-forest trials
Dr Darren Turner, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Tasmania & Anthony Finn, Professor Autonomous Systems, University of South Australia, Australia (live remote)
3.30pm
How well can we Assess Softwood Plantations using Photogrammetric Techniques following an ALS-Independent Approach?
Irfan Iqbal, Remote Sensing Forester, Forest Products Commission, Australia (live remote)
3.50pm
Forest Eye - Satellite imagery analysis made easy
Caroline Schneider, Remote Sensing Developer/Analyst, Forestry Corporation of NSW, Australia (live remote)
4.10pm
From Plantations to Native Forests - Cutting-edge remote sensing methods for native forest management
Hans Blom, Manager Remote Sensing, Forest Products Commission, Australia (live remote)
4.30pm
On-line Workshop Concludes
Workshops
1 | Eagle Technology workshop - Drones and ArcGIS
Where: Cards Room, Distinction Hotel Rotorua, 390 Fenton Street, Rotorua
When: 10.30 and 12.30pm, Tuesday 17 November 2020
Attendees: Limited to 35 attendees
Cost: This workshop is free
This meeting will provide an updated overview of the ArcGIS platform (10.8.1) and a focus on GIS insights and location intelligence powered by drone flight data with ArcGIS. There will also be an opportunity for Q&A with our Forestry team.
Any enquiries about the workshop can be made to: murray_mccallum@eagle.co.nz
2 | Half-day Remote Sensing Cluster Group meeting
Where: Rimu Room, Scion, 49 Sala Street, Rotorua
When: 1.30 and 5.00pm, Tuesday 17 November 2020
Attendees: No limit
Cost: This workshop is free
This meeting will run the day before the ForestTECH 2020 conference. The meeting will combine recent research focussing on tree detection and forest health with a presentation around developing a sector-wide strategy to bring the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) to small and large forest growers.
The second part of the meeting will present a series of talks that launch a new working group focussed on tech transfer of UAV related research to industry. This “Tools for Foresters” Working Group, will comprise a cluster of foresters and researchers who will be able to beta-test research tools and methods, accelerating the research and tech transfer process.
The agenda for the meeting can be found using the link below. Places can be booked on-line (as part of the ForestTECH 2020 registration process) for those registering for the conference.
Click here to view the Meeting Agenda
Any enquiries about the workshop can be made to: michael.watt@scionresearch.com.
3 | Half-day Hovermap demo and workshop
Where: Interpine Offices, 99 Sala Street, Rotorua
When: 9.00am-12.00 noon, Friday 20 November 2020
Attendees: Limited to 20 attendees
Cost: This workshop is free
This half day workshop will cover the Hovermap LiDAR simultaneous location and mapping (SLAM) technology. It’s being run by Interpine and Emesent following the conference and exhibitions on the morning of Friday 20 November.
Any enquiries about the workshop can be made to: david.herries@interpine.co.nz