New equipment aimed at tree surveying

30/07/2010

Surveying the natural world is being made easier with the launch of a new piece of software specifically for the surveying of trees.

The new programme – entitled How Big Is This? Tree – is being aimed specifically at arborists and tree surgeons. It will speed up the surveying of target trees, giving them quick and accurate measurements of tree height, canopy width and trunk diameter.

Marcus Bellett-Travers, technical developer at Trees Project, the company behind the development, said the software is accurate to within 10cm on tree height and within just one 1cm on the trunk measurement.

"How Big is This? Tree has been developed for the arboriculture market," he said. "You can measure diameter at breast height. You can work out tree height and the height and width of the canopy, how much wood there is in the tree and whether the tree would hit a building if felled."

The system works through photographs taken by a particular calibrated camera. The photos are then uploaded on to a PC and modeled through the How Big Is This? software, eliminating the need for tape measures and bulky surveying tools.