Remote Sensing for Integrative Forest Management
It’s been a busy year for the TRANSFORMIT research team at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). Throughout 2025, they’ve been working with researchers from the University of Life Sciences in Vienna (BOKU), the Natural Resources Institute of Finland (LUKE), and the Finnish Geospatial Research Institute (FGI) to explore how new technologies can help us manage forests in a smarter and more environmentally friendly way.
This approach is called Integrative Forest Management (IFM), which means looking after forests in a way that balances wood production, nature protection, biodiversity (the variety of plant and animal life), and climate goals.
The team has now completed a major report for the European Commission. This report shows how remote sensing – the use of drones, satellites, and other tools to collect data from a distance – can be used to support IFM. With the report done, the researchers will now focus on creating new tools that can help local forest projects (called Living Labs) and forest enterprises to better protect and increase biodiversity when planning their forestry work.
Curious to know more?
Here are some key findings from the report and data analysis:
- Airborne laser scanning helps to monitor the forest structure
Using a technology called LiDAR (a laser system mounted on an airplane or drone), scientists can scan the forest and create a detailed 3D map of its structure. This shows how trees are spaced, how tall they are, and how complex the forest layers are. In many cases, only a small amount of extra information was needed to understand the forest well enough for planning.
- Aerial images could help to identify tree types and deadwood
Although they didn’t have many high-quality aerial images (photos taken from planes), the researchers reviewed other studies that show how these images – especially when combined with spectral sensors (tools that detect different wavelengths of light, even ones the human eye can’t see) – can be used to identify different types of trees and detect dead wood, which is important for many forest species.
- Satellite images can monitor forest changes over time
By looking at satellite images taken over several years (called time-series), the researchers could detect signs of damage or disturbance in forests – such as storms and wildfires. This information helps in spotting potential risks early and improving forest management. This part of the study was done closely with FGI in Finland.
- Ground-based laser scans build 3D forest models
On the ground, researchers used high-resolution terrestrial laser scans (a laser scanner set up inside the forest) to create highly detailed 3-D models of the forest. These models are incredibly useful as they let researchers study individual trees in great detail and can improve estimates of forest biomass in natural forests, as well as identify individual trees that are important for biodiversity.
What’s next?
The SLU team will now dive deeper into these indicators of biodiversity and focus on using these remote sensing tools to better measure biodiversity within forests. One big goal is to help countries develop their national plans to restore damaged ecosystems – something required under a new European law called the Nature Restoration Regulation (NRR).
In collaboration with LUKE, they will both compare and contrast the use of Decision Support Systems (DSS) – software systems that include tools to help forest managers make better choices – across Finland and Sweden. New remote sensing methods will then be developed, specifically designed to support and improve forest planning for biodiversity.
Article written by Jacob Parry from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)