Editor's note
Digital forestry keeps getting better at measuring the world as it is. What’s less mature is tooling that helps explore what the forest could become.
This week’s items span urban and production forestry, but share a common signal: inventory and assessment are accelerating rapidly, while scenario analysis, participation, and decision exploration lag behind. As data density increases, from LiDAR point clouds to integrated sensor platforms - the limiting factor is no longer observation, but interpretation and choice.
Axel
WHAT GOT ME THINKING
Digital tools in urban forestry
Researchers review how digital tools are actually used in urban forestry and find most focus on inventory and assessment via remote sensing and GIS, with far less support for scenario planning or citizen participation. They argue future tools must better enable inclusive, participatory decision‑making to truly improve urban forest sustainability.
Axel’s notes: What stood out is how far digital tools in urban forestry have already come. Inventory and assessment are now well supported by remote sensing and GIS, giving planners a much stronger factual baseline than just a few years ago.
At the same time, the authors themselves point to a clear next step: support for scenario analysis and participatory decision-making is still limited. The opportunity is substantial. With inventories becoming richer and more reliable, tools that let practitioners explore alternatives, test trade-offs, and involve stakeholders could unlock much more value from the data that already exists.
DJI Zenmuse L3 LiDAR tests for a true forest digital twin
Thomas Purfürst reports field tests of DJI’s Zenmuse L3 LiDAR on a UAV in dense forest, showing high‑density, multi‑return point clouds that “see” through canopy to capture single‑tree structure and ground profiles in one flight. He argues this price‑range sensor could be a key puzzle piece for scalable, single‑tree‑based digital forest twins that replace coarse “digital shadows”.
ForestSens: AI insights from lidar, drones and IoT
In this Oracle TechCast, NIBIO’s Johannes Rahlf presents ForestSens, a platform that ingests LiDAR, drone imagery, machine and IoT sensor data and uses AI plus spatial analytics to turn them into actionable forest insights. The goal is single‑tree information and validated algorithms that help managers reduce environmental impact, optimize operations, and make better decisions from an integrated sensor data hub.