9 March 2006
Forest Management and Valuation Aided by GeoSmart Orthophotography
Geospatial solution provider GeoSmart Limited has been awarded several multi-year contracts to take aerial photographs
of New Zealand forest and process them into orthophotos by a number of forest owners and management companies.
“There are many aspects of profitable forest management that result from the use of orthophotography” according to Phil
Allen, CEO of GeoSmart. “The imagery is used to provide accurate valuations of the timber in the forest and in compiling
5 year management and harvest plans.”
When aerial photography is taken, it is distorted due to the curvature of the earth. The photo’s are scanned and
processed in the mapping room at GeoSmart’s Auckland Head Office to remove the distortion and provide accurate images.
The level of accuracy allows forest managers to update changes to roads and streams which impact on accessibility for
maintenance and harvesting. Environmental factors such as land slips and wind blown areas can also be monitored and
taken into consideration.
The maps show the cut over boundaries, which are the sections that have already been harvested, and thereby update the
status of what is on the ground. Crop status and health is monitored in order to get a true picture of available stock.
GeoSmart CEO Phil Allen is a guest presenter at the international Forest Industries Exhibition in Rotorua, New Zealand,
which runs from 9 – 11 March 2006. He will be addressing ‘Developments in forest mapping & inventory tools to maximise value in the forest.’
About GeoSmart Limited
GeoSmart is the premier aerial photography and mapping company in New Zealand. In addition to being the leading supplier
of ortho-photography, cartographic and aerial maps, they are blazing the trail in technologies for aerial tree counting
using remote sensing techniques and the patented Tree Attribute Profiler which captures tree dimensions including
height, diameter, branch size and location, and 3D sweep from the ground.
GeoSmart also leads the way with digital Smart Maps including in-car navigation, vehicle tracking and fleet management.
GeoSmart provides Location Based Services (LBS) intelligent maps for the widest range of devices including PC’s, PDA’s,
Smartphones and Mobiles. This includes SmartFIND WebMap which incorporates features for corporate web sites such as
‘Where is?’, ‘Where are my assets?’, ‘How do I get from – to-?’
Clients include Wises Maps, DOC, Cater Holt Harvey, Vodafone, Automobile Association, Navman, Siemens VDO, Toll Rail,
BMW, Holden, Honda in addition to virtually every local body in New Zealand and Transit NZ.
ENDS