Smart Solutions for Resilient
Urban Forests:
Leveraging Technology for a
Sustainable Urban Forest
Josh Behounek
Davey Resource Group
Right
Decision,
at the
Right Time,
on the
Right Tree
Feedback Loops
• Warming winters &
summer heatwaves
• Zone 8a to 9a
• Heavy flooding with
intermittent drought
• More hurricanes
Louisiana
Davey.com/climate
Software & Hardware Constraints
1900
• mastectomy
1967
• lumpectomy
1980’s
• Chemotherapy
Current
• Targeted
therapy
Current Process
Unnecessary Data Collection with Standard Fields
Reactive
Subjective
Feedback Loop - Buffalo, NY Inventory Update
Difference
2014
2001
2,635
127,080
124,445
Sites
-53,546”
817,627”
871,173”
Total DBH
-1”
6”
7”
Average
DBH
-34
247
281
# Species
2,039
2,707
668
# Removals
-4,142
44,619
48,761
# Planting
Sites
Feedback Loop - Condition Change Assessment
2001
Inventory
2014
Inventory
5,698
Poor
3 Dead
145 Poor
11 Fair
0 Good
293 Plant
5,246 New
38,199
Fair
298 Dead
3,445 Poor
26,830 Fair
962 Good
1,365 Plant
5,299 New
25,632
Good
259 Dead
717 Poor
8,952 Fair
9,783 Good
1,878 Plant
4,043 New
Individual Trees
Static Pull Testing
Static Pull Testing
Static Pull Testing
Analysis & Recommendations
Analysis & Recommendations
Analysis &
Recommendations
Sonic Tomography
Technologies Used in Tree Evaluations:
Ground Penetrating Radar
October 5, 2020
Ground Penetrating Radar
Tree Sensors &
Internet of Things
• Smart Landscape
• Watering efficacy
• Clients can view data generated by
sensors in their landscape
• Measure:
• Soil moisture – 2 depths
• Soil temperature – 2 depths
• Ambient temperature – for Nature
Clock
• Tilt
• Notifications, useful links, etc
Photo @banksy
Urban Forests
Smart Tree
Inventories
Tr
ee
Tr
ee
Tr
ee
St
ep 2:Cr
eat
e a 4D Di
gi
t
alTr
ee Twi
n ofeach t
r
ee
4D DI
GI
TAL TW I
N
M ul
t
i
spect
r
alSat
el
l
i
t
e I
m ages
Panor
am i
c I
m ages
Poi
ntCl
oud
St
ep 3:W e anal
yze each t
r
ee and ext
r
acti
nf
or
m at
i
on
Cl
ear
ance I
ssues
Li
ve Cr
own Rat
i
on
% Di
eback
Ecol
ogi
calBenef
i
t
s
Di
gi
t
alTr
ee Twi
n
Change OverTi
m e
Cohor
tAnal
ysi
s
Si
ze (
DBH,Hei
ght
,et
c)
Speci
es
LeafAr
ea I
ndex
Leani
ng Angl
e
St
ep 4:Def
i
ne out
l
i
er
s
Absolute Outliers (cohorts)
● Dead trees
● Too much lean
● Leaf Area compared to Size
● Canopy Width vs Tree Height
Relative Outliers (filtering)
● Trees > x”
● Trees in certain neighborhoods
● Certain species of trees
● Trees >40% dieback
St
ep 4:Def
i
ne out
l
i
er
s
Absolute Outliers (cohorts)
● Dead trees
● Too much lean
● Leaf Area compared to Size
● Canopy Width vs Tree Height
Relative Outliers (filtering)
● Trees > x”
● Trees in certain neighborhoods
● Certain species of trees
● Trees >40% dieback
In Field 25-100%
Remotely 0-20%
Step 5: Davey Arborists assess Outliers
Outlier Assessments
Base Information – Species, Size, etc.
Health & Vitality
Trunk Stability Index (beta)
Trunk Stability Index
Machine Learning
Advantages
● Objective
● Repeatable
● Efficient
● Precise
Removing Implicit Bias
The Future Is Now!
Smart Solutions for Resilient
Urban Forests
Josh Behounek
Josh.Behounek@davey.com
573-673-7530

Smart Solutions for a Resilient Urban Forest Presentation.pdf