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A Walk Through a Laser-Scanned Forest

posted by janrinok on Saturday December 24 2016, @03:23PM   Printer-friendly
from the way-to-weigh dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

Scientists are using lasers to accurately "weigh" trees in the tropical rainforests.

The researchers, from University College London and the National Physical Laboratory created an animation of their laser-scanned trees, which they presented at the British Ecological Society meeting in Liverpool.

The method could help to monitor and combat deforestation by more accurately calculating how much carbon is locked within the rainforests, so a financial value can be assigned to in-tact forests.

A large-scale field assessment of carbon stocks in human-modified tropical forests (open, DOI: 10.1111/gcb.12627) (DX)

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  • (Score: 2) by zocalo on Saturday December 24 2016, @08:43PM

    by zocalo (302) on Saturday December 24 2016, @08:43PM (#445649)
    Sadly, despite the earlier comments, it really is all about the money - it's quite hard to make money from woodland, but considerably easier to do so from pasture - so nature be damned! I don't expect that situation to reverse either; sheep and windfarms co-exist fairly well already since they are both fine on higher pastures, but I've spotted a few enterprising sheep farmers trying something similar with solar panels on their lower pastures as well recently. Basically, the idea is that you double up on the land usage by mounting an array of solar panels in the field, elevated and spaced in such a way that enough sunlight can get by during the day to keep the grass healthy while allowing sheep access to keep it cropped (and the sheep fed). One field, and you get electricity, lamb/mutton and wool from it. It's efficient, but at this rate if you want to experience a proper wood or forest then you'll need to either go to a national park, national trust site, or somewhere too rugged to even make sheep farming viable.
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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 25 2016, @04:51AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 25 2016, @04:51AM (#445731)

    It's not like there are *no* trees in England...

    I used to visit a friend on an estate in one of the little villages outside Bath. The owner's great-grandfather (1800s) had been to California and brought back some redwood & sequoia seeds (or seedlings, I never got the full story). Anyway, they liked the southern England climate and are now huge.