Korea Forest Service, using 'helicopter radar' for preemptive investigation of pine wood nematode disease

(Daejeon=Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Jun-ho = The Korea Forest Service announced on the 18th that it will pilot the introduction of helicopter LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) surveys to improve the efficiency and accuracy of pine wilt disease surveillance. This survey technique involves mounting LiDAR equipment on a helicopter to emit laser pulses into the forest, analyzing the reflected signals and distance information that return after passing through the canopy. Through this, it will be possible to obtain three-dimensional structural information of the forest, such as tree height and canopy structure, and verify the possibility of analyzing the distribution of dead trees. Currently, image-based surveillance using drones is mainly used, but it has the limitation of a restricted survey area. In contrast, helicopter LiDAR surveillance can survey a larger forest area in a shorter period of time. This survey will target forest areas (within a 5 km radius) where dead trees affected by pine wilt disease are distributed. In this pilot application, the reflection intensity of the laser pulse and tree structure information will be used to analyze suspected areas of dead trees, and the results will be compared and analyzed with existing image surveillance results to comprehensively review the technical usability and limitations. Kim Yong-hoon, Director of the Southern Survey Office, said, "The helicopter LiDAR preliminary survey is a step to confirm the new technical possibilities for large-scale forest surveillance," and "Through this pilot application, we will accumulate basic data for establishing a scientific and systematic forest surveillance system."