{"id":3176,"date":"2018-12-18T23:08:23","date_gmt":"2018-12-18T23:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bestdroneforthejob.com\/?p=3176"},"modified":"2019-02-16T19:56:52","modified_gmt":"2019-02-16T19:56:52","slug":"droneseed-trees-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestdroneforthejob.com\/blog\/droneseed-trees-air\/","title":{"rendered":"DroneSeed Is Planting Trees From The Air"},"content":{"rendered":"

Veld fires or forest fires<\/strong> are a cause for concern since they are destroying forests and grasslands<\/strong> at a rate that is faster than they are replaced. The bushfires are natural and necessary as they help to promote new growth. However, the problem now is that they are causing permanent damage to the forests.<\/p>\n

The fires coupled with climate change, shrinking budgets, population increases, and outdated reforestation methods are compounding the challenge of tree decline. The US loses about seven million acres of forest every year. Due to a limited budget, it is not easy to replace the trees and the trend of declining forests<\/strong> seems to be growing.<\/p>\n

Current Reforestation Methods<\/h2>\n

The most common and effective reforestation method of woodland recently burned mainly involves human labor. The human planters carry the heavy sacks of seedlings, and they manually select and plant them across vast landscapes.<\/p>\n

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Due to labor intensiveness of the current reforestation method, there is an increasingly high turnover leading to a shortage of labor<\/strong>. The other challenge is that seedlings also take some time to grow in the nurseries. It is difficult to anticipate a high demand for seedlings, and this affects planning for reforestation.<\/p>\n

If no tree is replanted, invasive weeds grow in the old forests. Due to lack of labor and seedlings, the forest keepers will resort to using helicopters to kill the grass with herbicides. Helicopter spraying is a dangerous exercise given that about 80 to 100 occur yearly in the US. Again, manual labor through the use of machetes is an alternative solution to spraying, but it is not viable.<\/p>\n

Automation Is The Ideal Solution<\/h3>\n

Robotic technology is significantly developing, and it is suitable for various jobs seen as dirty, dull and even dangerous. The advantage of using robots to perform tasks that are dangerous is that there are no fears of injuries. In this particular case, agricultural drone technology is a viable option of carrying out reforestation exercise.<\/p>\n

The exercise of restoring a forest is dangerous and dirty. However, it requires more intelligence.  As such, drone technology comes in hand to perform a task that is so challenging. There are many advantages of using agricultural drone technology for reforestation and DroneSeed<\/a> is already taking the lead.  <\/p>\n

DroneSeed, a startup company in Seattle and it aims to combat this seemingly growing problem. The company seeks to use modern technology that encompasses artificial intelligence, drones as well as biological engineering. The new technology is complicated, but there is hope that it will help address the problem of tree decline.  <\/p>\n

DroneSeed anticipates offering its services to significant forestry management companies as well as government entities. The company already has an aerial vehicle license for over 55 pounds multi-craft awarded by the FAA. The aircraft has high-end LiDAR<\/strong>, camera arrays, seed dispersal mechanisms<\/strong> as well as six-gallon tanks for herbicide.<\/p>\n

How Drone Technology Functions<\/h3>\n

The agricultural drones<\/a> perform various tasks in the process of reforestation from mapping the burned forest to actual tree planting. The drones carefully plan the area with high precision and accuracy. The gadgets also play a role in identifying plant species and other objects in the area.<\/p>\n

The devices also identify the types of trees that would grow best in a particular area. The process would help in the design of suitable seed-nutrient packages for those areas. The other important aspect about drones is that they are capable of scaling the national forests that are currently facing a threat of permanent damage of fire.<\/p>\n