Biologists and foresters in Sault Ste. Marie are experimenting this summer with some new high-resolution airborne photographic equipment as a possible new, forest management tool.
Low-altitude helicopter flights over the Algoma forests will be using a large-scale photography (LSP) system to assess wildlife habitat, ecological and timber values in some selected plots north and east of the city.
The Ontario Forest Research Institute along with some institutional and private project partners is currently testing the accuracy, precision and cost-effectiveness of an LSP and the accompanying data capture system.
"This large-scale photography has the potential to save us a lot of money and reduce risk to our field crews," says Bill Cole, a hardwood ecosystem research scientist with the Ontario Forest Research Institute, one of the project's lead investigators. "(It will also) allow us to get to remote and (sensitive) places where we want to have a light physical footprint in, to measure things about the forest that we want to know."
The area under observation is a swath of hand-picked research plots of mostly private property, Crown forest and conservation authority lands scattered along Highway 17 running south from Wawa to Sault Ste. Marie and east to Cockburn Island in Lake Huron's North Channel.
The one-year, $575,000-project involves the Ministry of Natural Resources, Sault College's Upper Lakes Environmental Research Network (ULERN), the Canadian Forestry Service, R & B Cormier Inc., Whisk-Air Helicopters, Tembec and Domtar who have contributed either cash or in-kind support with expertise, resources or sample plot data.
Living Legacy Trust granted a large chunk of the research investment dollars delivering a $371,000-grant in mid-April to test the system.
It is the first time this system has been used in the mixed hardwood tree species of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence forests.
Two flights were planned, including a "leaf-off" run, which was conducted over the Victoria Day weekend with another repeat flight scheduled during full "leaf-out" in July.
Project researchers like Cole will be comparing their previous ground-based estimates to what they can see in the photos.
R & B Cormier, a Sault-based forestry inventory and imagery contractor, has fostered a tight relationship with Whisk-Air Helicopters of Thunder Bay to offer this photographic equipment to about a half a dozen major forest industry clients in Northern Ontario.
A 6.1-metre boom with two frame cameras mounted at either end is positioned between the helicopter skids in the aircraft's belly.
Flying 100 metres above ground and using Imax colour film, the technology produces a stereo pair of photos that can be viewed in 3-D.
"We can see things as small as a blueberry," says company owner Rob Cormier. "We have less than a centimetre pixel size."
Cormier developed the technology to replace field crews, in an effort to enhance safety, improve efficiency and accuracy.
Integrated with the photography application is a sophisticated data capture software system Cormier developed called Remote Mapping and Photogrametry System. He has a trained staff of photo interpreters to analyze the data.
Cole says the stereo imagery has proved thus far to be impressive, however, it is still too early to draw any conclusions on the functionality of the system.
"You can see individual trees, twigs, logs laying on the ground, stumps cut, but to get beyond that impressive visual image and get to the quantitative measurements is what our job will be."
Cole says the system is not intended to replace ground crews, but to determine whether to add it to the ministry's toolbox for monitoring.
"Ultimately what we're trying to do is improve our ability to monitor and measure and manage our forest resources.
"If this helicopter technology proves to be precise and accurate...it may be a great new tool for me as a researcher."
This is OFRI's first foray into remote photographic sensing of the Sault area and Cole says he is anxious to find out how precise and accurate this tool is in measuring tree crowns, size, structural complexity, diversity and growth potential.
In addition to the flights, ground crews will conduct stem mapping, location and position of individual trees on plots, measure their height and diametre, noting species and condition, and assessing wildlife habitat value such as woodpecker holes and nesting cavities.
Some imagery from satellites will be involved as part of an in-kind contribution from the private contractors, and those images will be compared to images, which will be presented in the large-scale photos.
"Our role as a science organization is to give an unbiased analysis of this system," says Cole. "Is this system something we should invest in? It will be an impartial look at how well the system can perform under very rigorous research conditions."
Cole hopes to deliver a final report of recommendations and an evaluation of this airborne system and how it compares to ground-based data by March 2004, but expects to table interim results by this fall.
