Referent
Context of the ERABLE project
Climate change is leading to an increase in forest risks (drought, storms, disease and fire), forcing forest managers to monitor tree stands more regularly and more accurately. Forest monitoring can be optimised by harnessing new technologies to complement field observations. With this in mind, a group of partners already involved in the ARD Sycomore consortium have joined forces to carry out the ERABLE project: Evaluation Rapide des Arbres, de la Biodiversité et de L’Environnement forestier (Rapid Assessment of Trees, Biodiversity and the Forest Environment). This 2-year project is funded by the Centre-Val de Loire Regional Council as part of the AMI Collaborative Innovation* programme.
The objectives of the ERABLE project
The ERABLE project aims to provide forest managers with regular, detailed information on:
- Recognition of tree species and measurement of tree volume using satellite photos to measure tree growth, the impact of climate change and warn of the risk of dieback.
- Simulation of tree growth to optimise resilience and production of timber, secondary wood and ecosystem services by 5 major species in the coming years: oak (pedunculate, sessile), beech, chestnut, hornbeam and aspen.
To produce information for foresters, ERABLE relies on the analysis and interpretation of satellite photos, calibrated by field inventories, Radar, Lidar, ground and weather data. Using artificial intelligence, these data can be compared with past signals to build accurate models for detecting anomalies and predicting tree growth. The results will be accessible via a software services platform made available to forest managers.
The ERABLE and RECONFORT projects are working in synergy: observation and prediction results are combined to achieve greater reliability, particularly with regard to tree species recognition.
ERABLE is supported by a consortium of 3 players, including 2 socio-economic partners involved in ARD Sycomore.
- Cybeletech, an Orléans-based company specialising in the development of digital twins for agriculture and forestry to understand and anticipate the behaviour of plants.
- Unisylva, France’s second largest forestry cooperative, advises, manages, maintains, plants and exploits forests for its member forest owners.
- Laboratoire Prisme is attached to the University of Orléans and INSA Centre-Val de Loire. It specialises in signal and image processing.
Fibois Centre-Val de Loire, as the regional interprofessional body for the forestry and wood industry, is also supporting this project, which is part of the regional cooperation dynamic embodied by ARD Sycomore.
*In 2021, the Centre-Val de Loire Region has launched a call for expressions of interest to support projects aimed at developing a product, process or service with a proven innovative character and likely to be marketed in the medium term (3-5 years from the start of the project).
