Protecting and managing forests with AI

Climate change also affects forests in Germany. Currently, the biggest forest dieback since the 1980s is taking place. In Baden-Württemberg, 43 percent of all forest areas are damaged. Science will now help take countermeasures and make forest ecosystems more resistant: “Mixed forests with hornbeam, maple, or wild cherry cope with the new conditions much better than spruce forests, but are less profitable. When planting trees, soil properties play an important role,” says climate researcher Dr. Joachim Fallmann from the South German Climate Office of KIT. “Forest management has to respond and to carefully balance various aspects.” To help foresters make optimal data-based decisions, EDI GmbH, a spinoff of KIT specialized in intelligent industry software, the South German Climate Office, and KIT’s Institute of Geography and Geoecology develop a cloud-based decision support system based on artificial intelligence (AI) methods. The interdisciplinary project EDE 4.0 (German acronym of Extended Dynamic Planning of Logging) is carried out in close cooperation with partners in the forest management sector and is aimed at supporting sustainable forestry.

Intelligent Assistance System for Forest Management

The assistance system is based on a software solution made by EDI GmbH. The EDI hive IoT framework was originally designed for machine learning in the aerospace and mechanical engineering sectors. “Our development work will result in a mobile app that can be operated intuitively and uses AI to support local foresters when deciding where to log or when to plant new trees. Moreover, the system will output success perspectives when planting a tree at a specific location,” says Dr. Thomas Freudenmann, one of the founders of EDI GmbH.

For the system to supply relevant results, it first has to recognize relationships and patterns. For this purpose, many data from various areas are merged. These are data on medium-term climate development provided by the German Weather Service and KIT’s Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research. The Institute of Geography and Geoecology of KIT supplies specific forestry-related data. The forestry sector contributes information on the market environment. In addition, the assistance system will consider the local knowledge and expertise of foresters. (mhe)

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Further Information: http://ede4.0.edi.gmbh/de/

Associated Partners and Funding

The EDE 4.0 project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) based on a decision by German Parliament. The project management agency is Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V. (FNR), the central project-coordinating agency in the area of renewable resources. Associated partners are the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Rural Affairs and Consumer Protection (MLR), Forstliche Versuchs- und Forschungsanstalt Baden-Württemberg (FVA), Rottenburg University of Applied Forest Sciences (HFR), and the City of Karlsruhe.

Interactive Video Presents the Project

The EDE 4.0 project is presented by the third video of the interactive series “Sachen machen mit KI” (things to do with AI).

For the video, click: https://www.sek.kit.edu/video/ede40/ (in German)

Note: The video data are stored by an external provider (vimeo). When clicking the player, you will leave the website of KIT.

When playing the video in the interactive video player, you can change between different image and sound tracks to watch and listen from several perspectives. By a few steps, the interactive videos can also be integrated in own records via the embed code.

More about the KIT Climate and Environment Center: https://www.klima-umwelt.kit.edu/english/

Contact for This Press Release

Dr. Martin Heidelberger,
Press Officer,
phone: +49 721 608-41169,
email: [email protected]

Being “The Research University in the Helmholtz-Association,” KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility and information. For this, about 9,600 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 23,300 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.