31 May 2017
By Bryan Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
(Left) Enda Keane, Chief Executive Officer, Treemetrics
Cork based Treemetrics, the Digital Analytics Platform for World Forestry’, has today announced a major €1.2 million contract agreement, with the European Space Agency, to roll out a pioneering Tree Growth analytics and monitoring system, which includes a unique measurement sensor that tracks the growth and health of trees. The ‘Tree sensor’ has been designed to monitor ‘minute’ increases in growth of the tree. The ground-breaking solution creates a mesh network which effectively creates a ‘digital forest’ and the resultant data is transmitted via a Satellite Communications platform, providing real time analytics for forest managers.
There are over 4 billion hectares of forests across the world, and they are increasingly under threat due to deforestation and degradation
Enda Keane, Chief Executive Officer, Treemetrics said:
“The Internet of Tree’s system was inspired by the Fitbit product and we are leveraging the very latest advancements from the Internet of Things Transformation. Collecting regular up-to-date data in the Forest is expensive given the extent and remoteness of this vital resource. We are on a mission to deploy many millions of forest sensors around the world to better understand forest growth and enable more sustainable management. The new sensor and supporting communication system, is a world first for the forestry industry, and promises to transform global monitoring and enable deeper understanding of forest growth.”
Minister of State for Training, Skills and Innovation, John Halligan, T.D said:
“I am excited about the positive impact this digital analytics and measurement technology can provide to ensure real-time monitoring of our Trees, as Forests are the ‘Lungs of the Earth’ and cover over 30% of the Planet. People are very concerned with the level of damage occurring as a result of increasing climate temperatures.”
“I am delighted that Treemetrics, working in partnership with the European Space Agency, have pioneered this innovative Satellite Communications and data Analytics’ Platform, which promises to help us to better understand our changing environment and create a more sustainable planet for future generations. I wish them every success in rolling out this project around the globe.”
