Drones & lidar

Forestry drones, UAV surveys and airborne or drone-mounted lidar: sensors, wildlife counts, inventory and mapping.

Satellite monitoring

Metsä prices forest work with AI, Finland audits subsidies from orbit | #064

Sep 22, 2026

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2 min read

Metsä prices forest work with AI, Finland audits subsidies from orbit | #064

Also: a digital twin for Swedish timber haulage, RIEGL's five-return drone lidar, and a free forest risk tool for US landowners

Axel Wretemark

Timber logistics

ForestX Optinex sawmill planner opens to AI agents, balloon reads wildfire risk | #061

Sep 1, 2026

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2 min read

ForestX Optinex sawmill planner opens to AI agents, balloon reads wildfire risk | #061

Also: AI maps Christmas tree plantations, terrain-aware lidar improves tree volume, Foster + Partners joins a timber robot swarm

Axel Wretemark

Nordic forestry

Muon Space banks $250M for FireSat, Sweden's electric timber trucks now a fleet | #060

Aug 25, 2026

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2 min read

Muon Space banks $250M for FireSat, Sweden's electric timber trucks now a fleet | #060

Also: SLU counts moose with thermal drones, Ponsse harvester laser guidance adds 1 to 3 percent, backpack lidar works leaf-off only

Axel Wretemark

Satellite monitoring

FGI lidar IDs nine tree species, Mai Intelligence plans bark beetle CubeSat | #058

Aug 11, 2026

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2 min read

FGI lidar IDs nine tree species, Mai Intelligence plans bark beetle CubeSat | #058

Also: Vigo IDs seven species from ground lidar, Fraunhofer wires Bavarian forest with mioty sensors, WoodComp opens a free mill database

Axel Wretemark

Satellite monitoring

OroraTech satellites expose Arkansas arson, UMaine wins $20M for bioproducts | #056

Jul 28, 2026

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1 min read

OroraTech satellites expose Arkansas arson, UMaine wins $20M for bioproducts | #056

Also: Skyforest drone seedling inventory trials, SilvaBio chestnut with lab-grown seed, Oregon maps wildfires with Intterra

Axel Wretemark

Satellite monitoring

Metsä runs wood procurement on Qutwo AI, SCA wires Tunadal fans with sensors | #054

Jul 14, 2026

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1 min read

Metsä runs wood procurement on Qutwo AI, SCA wires Tunadal fans with sensors | #054

Also: Lund maps Götaland tree species from satellite, Mila's BIRCH-Trees reads tree height and species from drone photos

Axel Wretemark

Nordic forestry

Jul 2, 2026

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4 min read

Nordic Forestry Automation raises SEK 48M for harvester automation, deep dive | #052

Sponsored deep dive: what the round funds, Generation 2 semi-automation for thinning harvesters, and the stand data NFA collects

Axel Wretemark

Nordic forestry

Nordluft wins BVLOS forest drone permit, Kanop puts forest carbon data in Claude | #050

Jun 23, 2026

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2 min read

Nordluft wins BVLOS forest drone permit, Kanop puts forest carbon data in Claude | #050

Also: Umeå teaches a forwarder crane multi-log grabs, ForestBioFacts adds an AI assistant, pine bark cleans wastewater

Axel Wretemark

Satellite monitoring

Sweden's third national lidar scan begins, New Zealand maps forests by species | #048

Jun 9, 2026

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2 min read

Sweden's third national lidar scan begins, New Zealand maps forests by species | #048

Also: Skogshubben files felling notifications direct to Skogsstyrelsen, Idemitsu and Morisora make jet fuel from Japanese wood

Axel Wretemark

Nordic forestry

AirForestry drone thinning gets SEK 20M pilots, NIBIO AI rates forest roads | #047

Jun 2, 2026

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2 min read

AirForestry drone thinning gets SEK 20M pilots, NIBIO AI rates forest roads | #047

Also: Arboair's first UK drone forest survey at the Duchy of Cornwall, and NUS uses AI bioacoustics to map rainforest biodiversity

Axel Wretemark

Nordic forestry

AirForestry drone fells first live tree, SLU lidar maps 117 million trees | #046

May 26, 2026

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2 min read

AirForestry drone fells first live tree, SLU lidar maps 117 million trees | #046

Also: SCA's AI cassette check at Bogrundet nursery, Ponsse's Buffalo Planter, and SkogsAI signs its first customer

Axel Wretemark

Nordic forestry

Kodiak driverless log trucks for West Fraser, AI reads tree age from lidar | #045

May 19, 2026

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3 min read

Kodiak driverless log trucks for West Fraser, AI reads tree age from lidar | #045

Also: Sleipner Robotics lines up unmanned forest and mine pilots, and western US utilities scale Pano AI wildfire cameras

Axel Wretemark

Satellite monitoring

Deep Forestry raises €3M, OroraTech launches wildfire satellites for Greece | #044

May 12, 2026

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3 min read

Deep Forestry raises €3M, OroraTech launches wildfire satellites for Greece | #044

Also: a loblolly pine lidar digital twin lifts yield 15%, GCC approves digital carbon MRV, and open-source GeoAgent for QGIS

Axel Wretemark

Nordic forestry

AirForestry leads SEK 48M drone consortium, SLU detects pesticides by sound | #043

May 5, 2026

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3 min read

AirForestry leads SEK 48M drone consortium, SLU detects pesticides by sound | #043

Also: Metsä and Stora Enso frame AI as baseline infrastructure, Biodiv raises SEK 2.75M, and Mongabay's ten forces reshaping forests

Axel Wretemark

Satellite monitoring

Södra AI classifies pulpwood from GPV cameras, ICEYE SAR tracks deforestation | #041

Apr 21, 2026

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2 min read

Södra AI classifies pulpwood from GPV cameras, ICEYE SAR tracks deforestation | #041

Also: DroneWild WildTAK thermal drones for Forestry and Land Scotland, Skogforsk extends postdocs.ai, and free FORVAL-XL

Axel Wretemark

Nordic forestry

Skogforsk maps root rot with harvester data, Komatsu acquires Malwa Forest | #039

Apr 7, 2026

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4 min read

Skogforsk maps root rot with harvester data, Komatsu acquires Malwa Forest | #039

Also: Canadian Forest Service maps large old trees with airborne lidar, and Mast delivers first biomass burial carbon credits

Axel Wretemark

Satellite monitoring

Thermal drones replace pellet counts, SMHI proves satellite wildfire alerts | #038

Mar 31, 2026

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5 min read

Thermal drones replace pellet counts, SMHI proves satellite wildfire alerts | #038

Also: Mellanskog picks Skogshubben for planning, Skogforsk's 10 m national biomass map, Wageningen AI decodes tropical forest loss

Axel Wretemark

Nordic forestry

Mar 17, 2026

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5 min read

Kopparfors storm salvage by drone and ML, Treemetrics launches Crann AI | #036

Also: LumberScan and Södra digitise log yard inventory, smart forestry market to double by 2032, Komatsu MaxiXT on TimberPro

Axel Wretemark

Satellite monitoring

Mar 10, 2026

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5 min read

FAO maps AI in forest monitoring, WWF AI predicts deforestation months ahead | #035

Also: ForestScan's tropical lidar dataset, Finnish startup KOKO Forest, and DeepGreenX's 70 million hectare Indonesia deal

Axel Wretemark

Satellite monitoring

Mar 3, 2026

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4 min read

AirForestry drone completes autonomous harvest, Purdue AI maps 280M city trees | #034

Also: UCL's ForestScan 3D lidar dataset, terraPulse on global forest disturbance mapping, and INTERFORST 2026's Forest 4.0 programme

Axel Wretemark

Nordic forestry

Feb 24, 2026

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4 min read

Skogforsk boom-tip control speeds harvesters, Canada rebuilds growth models | #033

Also: EcoVibes turns forest sound into biodiversity data, DeepForest drone cameras see through canopy, Triona's protected forest map

Axel Wretemark

Satellite monitoring

Feb 10, 2026

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4 min read

Purdue AI rebuilds trees from lidar, NASA satellites track boreal forest shift | #031

Also: Qarlbo biodiversity credit methodology approved, EU OPENSWARM drone swarms map forests, IoT smart forestry framework

Axel Wretemark

Satellite monitoring

Global Nature Watch AI forest monitoring, deep learning tracks logs to mill | #030

Feb 3, 2026

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4 min read

Global Nature Watch AI forest monitoring, deep learning tracks logs to mill | #030

Also: Silvador publishes carbon verification data, fast-growing species challenge AI models, lidar drones map the Maya Forest

Axel Wretemark

Timber logistics

Laser scanning gives trees a fingerprint, AutoForst links harvester to sawmill | #028

Jan 20, 2026

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4 min read

Laser scanning gives trees a fingerprint, AutoForst links harvester to sawmill | #028

Also: AI precision forestry for Finnish small owners, biomass plant reborn as AI data centre, Manulife and veritree bioacoustics

Axel Wretemark

Nordic forestry

Deep dive: Skyforest drones, STA loggers and Södra BraSatt map every seedling | #026

Jan 8, 2026

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12 min read

Deep dive: Skyforest drones, STA loggers and Södra BraSatt map every seedling | #026

Three paths to seedling-level precision reforestation: drone inventory, tool-mounted logging and robotic planting

Axel Wretemark

Drones & lidar

Metsä prices forest work with AI, Finland audits subsidies from orbit | #064

ForestX Optinex sawmill planner opens to AI agents, balloon reads wildfire risk | #061

Muon Space banks $250M for FireSat, Sweden's electric timber trucks now a fleet | #060

FGI lidar IDs nine tree species, Mai Intelligence plans bark beetle CubeSat | #058

OroraTech satellites expose Arkansas arson, UMaine wins $20M for bioproducts | #056

Metsä runs wood procurement on Qutwo AI, SCA wires Tunadal fans with sensors | #054

Nordic Forestry Automation raises SEK 48M for harvester automation, deep dive | #052

Nordluft wins BVLOS forest drone permit, Kanop puts forest carbon data in Claude | #050

Sweden's third national lidar scan begins, New Zealand maps forests by species | #048

AirForestry drone thinning gets SEK 20M pilots, NIBIO AI rates forest roads | #047

AirForestry drone fells first live tree, SLU lidar maps 117 million trees | #046

Kodiak driverless log trucks for West Fraser, AI reads tree age from lidar | #045

Deep Forestry raises €3M, OroraTech launches wildfire satellites for Greece | #044

AirForestry leads SEK 48M drone consortium, SLU detects pesticides by sound | #043

Södra AI classifies pulpwood from GPV cameras, ICEYE SAR tracks deforestation | #041

Skogforsk maps root rot with harvester data, Komatsu acquires Malwa Forest | #039

Thermal drones replace pellet counts, SMHI proves satellite wildfire alerts | #038

Kopparfors storm salvage by drone and ML, Treemetrics launches Crann AI | #036

FAO maps AI in forest monitoring, WWF AI predicts deforestation months ahead | #035

AirForestry drone completes autonomous harvest, Purdue AI maps 280M city trees | #034

Skogforsk boom-tip control speeds harvesters, Canada rebuilds growth models | #033

Purdue AI rebuilds trees from lidar, NASA satellites track boreal forest shift | #031

Global Nature Watch AI forest monitoring, deep learning tracks logs to mill | #030

Laser scanning gives trees a fingerprint, AutoForst links harvester to sawmill | #028

Deep dive: Skyforest drones, STA loggers and Södra BraSatt map every seedling | #026

Boreal Tech Brief