Sustainable utilization of forest resources in Norway

The primary goal of the project was to find opportunities for an increased sustainable utilization of Norwegian forest resources. The dominating focus was increased sector competitiveness with full fulfillment of environmental goals to ensure certification of Norwegian roundwood. The core research challenge was therefore to find opportunities for better utilization of both forest- and production resources with reduced conflicts between forestry and environment in both normal and steep terrain. The work covered 3 thematic areas: ALS, harvesting machinery production information systems and long-term planning. 1. ALS. The use of ALS has opened many new opportunities in forestry. A new method was developed for more efficient identification of old-growth forests from ALS-data. The correlation between occurrence of key biotopes and landscape variables such as steepness, altitude, site index and distance from road was quantified to allow a more efficient allocation of field-mapping between these strata. Regarding traditional forest inventory practices, the precision of ALS-based volume estimates was compared between sites of varying steepness. The results showed a marginally increased average error with increased steepness, and a method was proposed to correct this. Otherwise, ALS-based digital terrain models were also used to generate depth-to-water maps. These enabled a comparison of alternative methodologies for locating forwarding corridors. 2. Harvesting machine information systems ? Combining ALS-data with tree-specific harvester production data provides the opportunity for better prognoses of volumes and assortments. The challenge in context was a sufficiently exact positioning of single trees via the harvester head so that it could be related to its ALS-data. Sub-meter positioning was attained in 2016 and the methodology was operational. The module of elasticity for the final sawn products was analyzed via ALS- and harvester data in order to quantify the effects of tree- and site factors. In this context ALS-data also provided useful information on crown- and limb characteristics. Historically, harvesting productivity and cost modeling have been based on detailed field studies of time consumption. Harvester- and forwarder production data was used to calibrate existing production norms for varying operating conditions. These were then used to develop a time-consumption and cost calculator for improved precision in production planning. Given the lack of standardized production information systems in cable harvesting a hardware/software solution combining GPS, camera and inertial measurement unit was developed for a corresponding automatic classification of work phases for cable yarders. The classification algorithm used gave low precision and a new algorithm was proposed for future testing. Most future visions of forest operations include elements of further process automation and even autonomous navigation. As a step towards autonomous navigation the potential for simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) was tested with a rover platform using a 3-D LiDAR scanner, stereo-vision and GPS. In the low-variety forest environment used for the test the technology gave acceptable mapping of stem positions and characteristics, but more robust methods are needed for more complex environments. Wheel rutting after forwarding is a particularly visible effect of forest operations. Using UAV (drone) photography a new high-precision method was developed for monitoring rutting and soil displacement. The same method is applicable for forest truck roads. 3. Long-term forest planning ? the development of the Swedish Heureka tool represents a potential advance for long-term planning for larger estates. The biological, technical and economic functions were examined where significant differences from Norwegian conditions were found for growth, yield and machine productivity. Heureka was then extended with plug-ins for Norwegian conditions, including cable-harvesting for steep terrain. The work was also supplemented with an updated analysis of forwarding path geometry for converting map distances to actual forwarding distances. An analysis of various factors? effect on long-term harvesting volumes and profitability was made in two forest estates and the user-evaluation is documented.

The ultimate goal of this project is to unveil a vibrant forest-based sector in Norway, with special emphasis on areas challenged with low accessibility, remote and inconsistent markets, steep and difficult terrain, and with fragmented forests and forest ownership patterns. In short, most of the Norwegian fjordlands and much of the hinterland. The Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute and the Dept. of Ecology and Natural Resource Management at the University of Life Sciences have in close collaboratio n with all major forest owner organizations joined forces in providing a solution based proposal to the main challenges identified in a chain wide perspective. Applications for remotely sensed and precision data are pervasive throughout - improving volum es estimates in steep terrain, modeling terrain for use in automated access planning and trail generation, full information on single tree harvesting, and avoiding key habitats through the interpretation of 3D forest structures are just some of the propos ed tasks. Finally, a flagship Swedish Decision Support System (DSS) will be revised with economic, biological and operational models emanating from these work packages, and deployed in evaluating overall sustainability in the forest sector from various viewpoints. This project is conceptualized to simultaneously move research and industry to the next level - both individually, but importantly also in a unique form of cooperation. Both business and academia have recognized the uniqueness of a project o f this magnitude, directed toward achieving an economically sustainable sector. This is evident in the overwhelming support the proposal has received from the private sector.